I’ll admit it: I’m a sucker for cinnamon. Cinnamon infused lattes, cinnamon rolls, cinnamon coffee cake…I love it all! So, when I found myself repeatedly buying cinnamon drenched drinks like Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Latte and the fall Dutch Bros drink – Cinnamon , I knew it was time to create my own cinnamon simple syrup at home for when I needed a cinnamon coffee in my life: STAT.
Luckily, once I learned the base for simple syrup that’s perfect for coffee and mastered my delicious vanilla simple syrup recipe (it’s so easy), I knew I could just add cinnamon.
I played around with a couple different versions before landing on this one that is super easy and absolutely delicious. Add a tablespoon or two to your favorite iced coffee and wam bam – delicious coffee that tastes like a $5 coffeehouse drink.
How To Make Cinnamon Simple Syrup:
Cinnamon simple syrup only has 3 ingredients: water, sugar and cinnamon sticks. I prefer the taste of sticks to powdered cinnamon, but I did see some recipes that used powdered as well.
By simmering water and sugar, the sugar melts into the water creating a simple syrup that will fuse with coffee, iced or hot, instead of sinking to the bottom like plain sugar will.
For simple syrups that are perfect for coffee, I like a 1:1 water and sugar ratio. One cup of water to one cup of sugar fills one of my syrup bottles perfectly with enough left over to make coffees right away and have a whole bottle left to store. For the perfect amount for the bottle, use 3/4 cup of water and 3/4 cup of sugar.
If I’m making multiple quantities, I just multiply. We can easily go through two of these bottles a week, so I would just make a double batch.
I also tried different quantities of cinnamon sticks and landed on 2 simmered for 10 minutes. One recipe used 4 and while it was really delicious, I didn’t feel it had enough cinnamon power to justify using 4 cinnamon sticks for one bottle of syrup.
Let’s jump in to the recipe! Also, know that affiliate links are used in this post for products I use and love. This means at no cost to you, I may receive a commission if you make a purchase through my links. Cheers to that!
Step By Step Cinnamon Simple Syrup:
- Simmer one cup of water and one cup of sugar until the sugar starts dissolving. This happens pretty quickly.
- After you see the sugar starting to dissolve, add 2 cinnamon sticks.
- Once sugar is fully dissolved, cover and simmer on medium to low for about 10-15 minutes. You can do longer, but the simple syrup will start to slowly thicken and evaporate, so don’t forget about it.
- You do not need to boil, but a low simmer/boil is fine.
- Pour into a glass syrup container. I like these ones, because they come in a set and have labels with a chalkboard marker.
- Store in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.
If you want even more cinnamon flavor, put the cinnamon sticks in the bottle with the simple syrup. Yum. If not, go ahead and throw them away.
Your Cinnamon Simple Syrup Questions Answered:
Does it matter what brand of cinnamon sticks I use?
No, it doesn’t matter. If you have one on hand – use that. If not, I like an organic one like this, simply because I am trying to reduce chemicals in my food. If you have access to a spice shop, that’s a great way to get spices like cinnamon sticks with less packaging.
What if I simmer it too long?
It is probably still usable unless you burned it. Even if the syrup ends up a bit reduced and thicker, you can still use it – you just may want to use less in your coffee.
Does the brand of sugar matter?
Not really. I use the organic, unbleached sugar for the same reasons as the cinnamon sticks, but I’ve used all types of sugar and it’s been fine. I have not tried this with sugar replacements, so if you are using something like Swerve, you may want to test out a small batch first.
How can I use my cinnamon simple syrup?
I think it’s delicious in coffee. You could also use it in tea drinks. You could even gift it to a fellow coffee lover with a funny coffee mug and a bag of coffee beans for the perfect gift!
My Favorite Sweet Cinnamon Iced Coffee Drink:
Using cinnamon cinnamon simple syrup in your coffee drinks is as easy as switching out the vanilla or other flavoring for this one.
Here’s a super easy recipe I use to make cinnamon infused coffee drinks at home:
- 1 cup hot or iced/cold brew coffee (like this one)
- 1-2tbsp of cinnamon simple syrup (I like it sweeter, so it’s 2 for me)
- Splash of creamer (diehard for this one)
- Add ice if drinking cold
That’s it! Seriously so easy! It comes together in seconds and it’s so good. For more details on how to make a sweet cinnamon iced coffee drink – check out the full post coming soon.
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Do you love cinnamon coffee drinks? If you prefer vanilla, check out our iced vanilla latte recipe, too. Very similar but with a vanilla syrup base.
We’ll be back soon with more simple syrup recipes. We really love how easy they are and how they make homemade coffee taste like they were made by a barista!
Get roasted,
A
