Why You Should Make Brown Sugar Syrup
You won’t believe how easy it is to make this Starbucks brown sugar syrup recipe! With just two ingredients and a few minutes, you’ll have a rich syrup with notes of caramel and molasses—at a fraction of the cost of store-bought versions.
If you love Starbucks’ brown sugar syrup, you know it’s what makes drinks like the Iced Brown Sugar Oat Milk Shaken Espresso so good. But spending over six bucks on a grande? No thanks. Once you see how simple and cheap it is to make your own coffee syrups at home, you won’t look back!
And sure, you could just stir in some brown sugar—but a liquid sweetener, like this vanilla syrup, blends effortlessly into your favorite drinks.
What You'll Need!
- Brown Sugar: Light or dark brown sugar works here. Dark brown sugar has a stronger molasses flavor, while light brown sugar is a bit more subtle.
- Water
That’s it! Two simple ingredients.
*Refer to the recipe card below for full ingredient information.
That's really it? What about vanilla or cinnamon?
You can absolutely add more flavor to this syrup if you’d like, but the original brown sugar syrup in coffee shops is just a simple brown sugar syrup.
Case in point: Starbucks also has a Brown Sugar Cinnamon syrup—which means the regular brown sugar syrup is plain. Basically, it’s like classic syrup, just made with brown sugar instead.
If you want to add more flavor, vanilla and cinnamon are great additions!
- Vanilla: Add 2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract. Be sure to do this after you remove the pan from heat!
- Brown Sugar Cinnamon Syrup: Pop a cinnamon stick into the pot and let the mixture steep for 10-15 minutes to get some flavor out of the cinnamon. I would personally avoid ground cinnamon because it makes the syrup cloudy. (It's fine, I just prefer to use a cinnamon stick instead!)
How to Make Starbucks Brown Sugar Syrup
- Step 1: Add water and brown sugar to a small sauce pan. Turn the burner to medium-low heat and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Step 2: Stir occasionally until the brown sugar dissolves. As soon as it dissolves, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Top Recipe Tips
- You don't need to boil this syrup for a long time, simply heat the mixture long enough to dissolve the sugar. This usually happens a few minutes after the mixture comes to a simmer.
- You can use the syrup right away in all of your coffee drinks, but I would let the mixture cool slightly before pouring into a glass jar to avoid temperature shock which can break the glass.
- Storage: Store the syrup in an airtight container (like a mason jar) in the refrigerator. It’ll stay fresh for about 2-3 weeks. Discard if it gets cloudy.
Starbucks Brown Sugar Syrup Recipe
Equipment
- small saucepan
- glass jar with lid
Ingredients
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Place the brown sugar and water in a small saucepan.
- Turn heat to medium-low and stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves. This only takes a few minutes. You'll notice the mixture goes from cloudy to clear when the sugar has dissolved.
- Once the brown sugar dissolves, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Notes
Nutrition
Ways to Use This Delicious Brown Sugar Syrup!
- Add a splash to your favorite coffee drinks. Use as much or little as you like to reach your desired sweetness. It's great in iced coffee or iced tea, and it's delicious in hot coffee, too!
- Make an iced brown sugar latte, brown sugar shaken espresso, or brown sugar cold brew.
- Use it to sweeten an Iced Sparkling Americano!
- Make a batch of brown sugar sweet cream by swapping the syrup in my Starbucks vanilla sweet cream recipe!
- Use as a sweetener for cocktails in place of simple syrup for an added depth of flavor.
- Add a drizzle over oatmeal or yogurt for a touch of sweetness!
Recipe FAQ's
Absolutely! Just keep the 2:1 ratio; 2 parts sugar to 1 part water.
Yep! Just add your brown sugar and water to a microwave save dish. Heat for 1 minute at a time, stirring after each minute, until the brown sugar dissolves. It should only take about 2-3 minutes to fully dissolve the brown sugar.
You can use light brown or dark brown sugar in this recipe. If you use white sugar, well then it's not going to be brown sugar syrup—it'll be more plain in flavor, like Starbucks' classic syrup instead!
Want to Make Even More Coffee Syrups at Home?
We're just getting started! You can make so many more syrups, right at home like this homemade caramel syrup and Starbucks classic syrup!
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