Gingerbread Syrup

Gingerbread Syrup brings the festive flavor of the holidays to coffee drinks and cocktails! Made with brown sugar, molasses and spices, this sweet syrup tastes just like the classic cookie.

This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one and buy something, Feast + West receives a small commission at no additional cost to you. All opinions are our own. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Homemade Gingerbread Syrup recipe

Gingerbread men are one of my favorite holiday cookies to make and eat. They are so simple but so fun!

The year that I discovered the gingerbread latte at my local coffee shop was a big deal and I enjoyed as many as I could throughout the seasons to follow.

I have since moved away, and this year I decided to try making them myself with my own gingerbread syrup for my morning coffee.

This simple syrup recipe is made with all the flavors of classic gingerbread: sugar, molasses, spices and a hint of orange zest.

Why you’ll love this recipe

Gingerbread Syrup is going to be a great addition to your home coffee bar this holiday season. Here’s why you’re going to fall in love with it:

• It’s an easy recipe to make and has the taste of gingerbread cookies.
• You can make a big batch and enjoy it throughout the winter months.
• This easy syrup makes a great gift for coffee lovers during the Christmas season.

Use it to make Gingerbread Lattes for a holiday brunch, a cookie decorating party or just any wintry morning when you need a little holiday spirit. You can even stir it into hot tea or hot chocolate to bring them this favorite holiday flavor.

What is simple syrup?

Traditional simple syrup is an easy-to-make liquid sweetener that is used in all kinds of drinks and desserts.

It’s made with sugar and water, and sometimes other flavorings like fruit, herbs and spices. (In this case, we’re using molasses and spices!)

Sweetening cocktails, tea and coffee drinks are the most common uses for simple syrup, but it can also be drizzled over breakfast foods like pancakes and desserts like ice cream.

Cake bakers also use it to moisten cakes before adding icing to keep them from drying out.

This simple syrup would be so good drizzled over gingerbread pancakes especially!

Ingredients

You need a few specialty ingredients to make this sugar cookie syrup, but if you’re planning to bake ginger cookies, you might have them on hand. However, all of them should be available at most supermarkets:

Brown sugar

Brown sugar helps to give this syrup a caramel and molasses flavor, as well as a dreamy dark color. You can use either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. Demerara sugar would also work.

In a pinch, you can also use granulated sugar instead, but brown sugar will provide the best gingerbread flavor.

If you need a sugar-free gingerbread syrup, you can use your favorite sugar substitute. Check out this sugar-free syrup recipe for more on how to do this, then resume this syrup recipe.

Water

While the sugar and spices are the stars of this recipe, the type of water you use will make a difference.

If your tap water is safe to drink, tap water will work fine. However, filtered or distilled water will yield even better results. The purer water will help to make your syrup last longer in the fridge, up to about a month.

Spices

The flavors of this syrup come from the simple ingredients it’s infused with. You’ll need a few baking items and whole spices:

• fresh ginger
• molasses (blackstrap molasses is fine!)
• cinnamon sticks
• allspice berries
• zest from an orange
• high-quality vanilla extract

You can use ground spices instead, but you will have to strain them out at the end with a fine mesh strainer.

Feel free to customize the flavors with other whole spices like nutmeg, black peppercorns, star anise or whole cloves. Any of these would be a nice touch!

How to make Gingerbread Simple Syrup

Like the name suggests, making homemade simple syrup is so easy. Here’s what to do:

First, grab a medium saucepan and add the sugar and water. Warm over medium heat.

Add the sugar, water, molasses, cinnamon stick, allspice berries and orange zest.

Stir until the sugar has dissolved, then turn the heat to low and cook for another 15 minutes. Don’t let it boil. Remove from heat.

Once the mixture has cooled slightly, discard the orange zest and spices. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Cool to room temperature before storing.

Store in a food-safe, airtight container (like glass bottles or mason jars) for future use.

Uses for Gingerbread Syrup

You can use this Christmas syrup for more than just lattes! It’s great in so many holiday drinks and desserts.

• Stir it into cold brew, iced coffee or hot coffee for a holiday treat.
• Add it to chai tea for even more spiced flavor.
• Stir it into a Christmas White Russian or Old-Fashioned cocktail.
• Mix it into an espresso drink like a cappuccino or a latte. Iced drinks work too!
• Brush it onto a gingerbread cake before frosting it.
• Pour it over breakfast pancakes.
• Drizzle it over an ice cream sundae with gingersnap cookies crumbled on top.

More coffee syrup recipes

Make these coffee syrups anytime or give them as gifts during this time of year.

• Vanilla Syrup
• Cinnamon Syrup
• Pumpkin Spice Syrup
• Sugar-Free Syrup
• Caramel Syrup
• Chocolate Syrup
• Brown Sugar Syrup
• Sugar Cookie Syrup