Homemade Coffee Syrup Recipes: Vanilla, Caramel, and Hazelnut

Almost every flavored coffee drink at a café — vanilla latte, caramel macchiato, hazelnut coffee — gets its sweetness and flavor from a bottled syrup. Making these at home is straightforward for most flavors, costs a fraction of the commercial product, and allows you to control sweetness and intensity.

Basic Simple Syrup

The foundation for all flavored syrups. Most café syrups are diluted variations of this.

Method: Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar fully dissolves. The mixture does not need to boil — remove from heat as soon as it is clear. Cool completely before transferring to a clean glass jar. Refrigerate.

Vanilla Syrup

Ingredients

• 300ml simple syrup (above)
• 1 vanilla bean (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)

Method

Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add both the seeds and the pod to the sugar-water mixture before heating. Simmer gently for 10 minutes. Cool, remove the pod, and transfer to a jar.

Use: 1–2 tbsp per drink in lattes, iced coffee, cold brew, or milk-based drinks.

Caramel Syrup

Caramel requires more attention than other syrups but produces a result close to commercial caramel sauce.

Ingredients

• 200g (1 cup) granulated white sugar
• 2 tbsp water (for initial caramelization)
• 100ml (7 tbsp) heavy cream or whole milk, warm

Method

1. Combine sugar and 2 tbsp water in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat
2. Do not stir — swirl the pan occasionally as the sugar melts and begins to color
3. Continue until the sugar turns a deep amber color (about 5–7 minutes from first color)
4. Remove from heat immediately and pour in the warm cream slowly in a thin stream
5. Stir vigorously — it will bubble violently then settle to a smooth sauce
6. Cool before transferring to a jar

Hazelnut Syrup

Ingredients

• 300ml simple syrup
• 1–2 tsp hazelnut extract
• Optional: 50g (1/2 cup) toasted hazelnuts

Method

Extract method (fast): Add hazelnut extract to cooled simple syrup and stir. Adjust amount based on desired intensity.

Infusion method (more natural): Add toasted hazelnuts to the sugar and water before heating. Simmer 15 minutes. Cool fully, then strain through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth.

Lavender Syrup

Ingredients

• 300ml simple syrup
• 1 tbsp dried culinary lavender

Method

Add dried lavender to the sugar and water before heating. Once sugar dissolves, remove from heat, cover, and steep 10–15 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. Do not simmer too long — lavender becomes bitter when overcooked.

Storage and Dosage Reference

Summary

• Equal parts sugar and water, dissolved, is all simple syrup requires
• Vanilla: infuse vanilla bean in warm syrup, or add extract to cooled syrup
• Caramel: dry or wet caramelization followed by cream addition — watch the temperature
• Hazelnut: extract method is fast; nut infusion method produces more nuanced flavor
• Store refrigerated in clean glass jars; label with date made

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