I wanted a graham cracker syrup for one very specific reason: s’mores iced coffee.
And somehow that turned into making an entire little collection of homemade coffee syrups.
This one brings together sugar, honey, molasses, cinnamon, vanilla and a little butter extract. And no, there are no actual graham crackers floating around in the bottle.
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what does graham cracker syrup taste like?
Graham cracker isn’t really one single flavor. It’s warm sugar, honey, molasses, cinnamon, vanilla and that slightly buttery baked flavor all working together. The butter extract is what gives this syrup that little extra “cookie” note without actually putting graham crackers in the bottle.
I don’t keep dark brown sugar in my pantry, so I use white sugar and molasses here. Since they’re dissolving into syrup anyway, there’s no need to make brown sugar separately first.
the taste test
When I first tasted this syrup on its own, it leaned a little honey-and-vanilla forward. I thought the honey might be too noticeable. Then I actually used it in coffee—and I wouldn’t change it. The honey disappeared into the other flavors, and the graham cracker flavor came through exactly how I wanted.
So I kept the recipe exactly as made. This is one I’d taste in the drink before deciding it needs fixing.
what i use it for
My first use for this was homemade s’mores iced coffee, with toasted marshmallow syrup, chocolate and toasted marshmallow cold foam. It also gives you a graham-inspired flavor to play with in iced coffee and lattes. Start with a little syrup and adjust your drink to taste.
a quick cold-foam tip
You can also use this syrup to flavor homemade cold foam. Add a little graham syrup to heavy cream, froth until thick and spoonable, and spoon it over iced coffee. Start small and add more syrup to taste so the foam doesn’t get too sweet or too thin.
homemade graham cracker coffee syrup
A graham cracker-inspired coffee syrup made with white sugar, molasses, honey, cinnamon, vanilla and butter extract.
ingredients
- 656 g white sugar
- 25 g molasses
- 35 g honey
- 350 g water
- 3–4 cinnamon sticks
- 3½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon butter extract
instructions
- Add the white sugar, molasses, honey, water and cinnamon sticks to a saucepan.
- Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Simmer for about 3 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat, cover and let the cinnamon sticks steep for about 10 minutes.
- Remove the cinnamon sticks. Stir in the vanilla extract, fine salt and butter extract.
- Let the syrup cool, transfer it to a clean bottle and refrigerate.
recipe note: the syrup may taste honey-and-vanilla forward on its own. Taste it in coffee, where those flavors come together. The ¼ teaspoon of butter extract is part of this recipe.
how i store it
I keep this syrup refrigerated in a clean glass bottle. This is a refrigerator syrup, not a shelf-stable canning recipe.
I use a bottle for the main batch and a smaller squeeze bottle for making drinks. Both stay in the refrigerator.
more homemade coffee syrup
If you’re building your own little coffee bar at home, try the cinnamon dolce syrup we make every week too.