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3-ingredient Basil Simple Syrup is lovely for making homemade drinks and desserts. Use fresh from your garden basil, or store bought. Sweeten with honey, maple syrup, agave or, for Keto, your favorite low carb sweetener. So much fun each summer, or year round, you’ll love the flavor of Basil Simple Syrup, made without sugar!
Below, I share more ideas of how to use this incredibly flavored herbal treat.
Basil Simple Syrup fits a variety of diets, including Paleo, AIP, Keto, Vegan, GAPS and Gluten-free.
Ingredients in Basil Simple Syrup
This version of Basil Simple Syrup is made with honey, maple syrup, agave — or your favorite liquid low carb sweetener, such as allulose.
The only other ingredients are: fresh basil and water!
How to make refined sugar-free Basil Simple Syrup
- Heat water and sweetener in a saucepan, stirring, until sweetener has dissolved.
- Add fresh basil, and allow it to steep 30 to 45 minutes.
- Strain, and chill.
Easy!
Where to use Basil Simple Syrup
Get the incredible flavor of basil in a syrup that’s great for stirring into summer drinks or topping ice cream.
My first favorite use for Basil Simple Syrup is to pour it into homemade Lemon or Limeade. I did this just last night for my daughter’s birthday, and it was a true joy (almost unexpected) how excited the whole family was about the Limeade. They loved it and couldn’t get enough, plus all the compliments.
Want to feel good inside? Make Basil Simple Syrup with Limeade for family or friends. It’s so special and makes people happy.
My second favorite use for Basil Simple Syrup is *macerating strawberries in it, and then topping a special dessert — lovely each spring and summer when strawberries are at their best, and we really want to enjoy fresh basil, too. A dessert people will talk about because the flavors are so delicious and interesting, but universally pleasing.
(*Macerating means to soak in a sweet solution, to pull out the natural sugars and create a more flavorful berry and syrup.)
Here’s a complete list of ideas, including the Limeade and strawberries:
- Add to lemonade or Homemade Limeade.
- Macerate fresh strawberries.
- Top ice cream.
- Soak (drizzle) layers of cake, in a layer-cake, alternating with frosting or especially custard.
- For those who eat dairy, not AIP: Pour over crème fraiche or sour cream, and top with strawberries (see recipe in Notes below). This dessert includes the macerated strawberries and is really good, but simple and easy to assemble.
- Toss with fruit salad, with optional yogurt stirred in, too.
- Drizzle over fresh watermelon and optional ricotta cheese (not AIP).
- Make snow cones with it.
- Use in salad dressing.
Basil for dessert
Fresh basil: on pizza, in pesto and now … steeped into a simple syrup and added to a special drink or dessert!
This versatile herb deserves a lot of repetition in our savory meals and sweet desserts — all spring and summer long. Enjoy!
Basil Simple Syrup (honey sweetened, or Keto version, refined-sugar-free)
Equipment
- saucepan
Ingredients
- 1 cup basil leaves packed, about 1.5 ounces
- ½ cup filtered water
- ½ cup honey , maple syrup, agave nectar, or Keto low carb liquid sweetener, such as allulose
Instructions
- Heat the honey (or preferred sweetener) and water in a small saucepan, over medium-low heat, stirring until honey is fully dissolved and syrup is steaming hot, but not yet simmering.
- Plunge basil into hot syrup, stirring briefly and pressing down to make it go under the liquid (at first it will seem like there is too much basil and not enough syrup, but the basil will wilt). Allow basil to steep while syrup cools, about 30 to 45 minutes.
- After steeping for 30 minutes, the basil wilts and loses its bright green hue. The syrup now rises up over the leaves. The syrup is ready to strain.
- Pour syrup through a mesh colander into a bowl, and apply some pressure to basil with a wooden spoon to extract most of the last liquid. Compost the basil. Store your Basil Syrup in the refrigerator, in a sealed jar, until you're ready to use it.
- Enjoy refined sugar-free Basil Simple Syrup stirred into strawberries (and served with cake or another dessert), poured over ice cream, to sweeten or flavor homemade lemonade or Limeade, in a layer cake; drizzle on watermelon and ricotta, or liven up a humble fruit salad. Also see Notes below for a special easy dessert with strawberries and crème fraiche.
Notes
Basil Simple Syrup with Fresh Strawberries and Cultured Cream/Sour Cream (Primal, Keto)
This recipe shares how to macerate fresh strawberries in Basil Simple Syrup, then pour the summer flavor explosion over the most decadent food in the world, creme fraiche, also known as cultured cream, or real sour cream. Hand spoons out to your guests, and savor this incredible summer treat. serves 4 Ingredients- 2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
- ½ cup Basil Simple Syrup
- 3 cups natural probiotic sour cream or other well-sourced cultured cream or crème fraiche
The following nutritional data is for the Keto version of the recipe.
Nutrition
You can Pin this recipe here:
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Naomi says
I’m into fruit and herbs right now, this looks divine! I love Elsa Beskow too, her illustrations are so beautiful and imaginative, and for me nostalgic.
Megan Stevens says
Thanks for sharing! What fun connections. Elsa Beskow really crosses international lines with her brilliant illustrations, magical plots and loving imagination, just perfect for grown up kids, and kids. 🙂
Ally says
What timing I’ve finally made my way over to your sweet virtual nook, Megan! Paul and I were just waxing poetic about basil and berries, our most favorite summer treat. We are especially fond of blackberry + basil (a late summer flavor, perhaps? ;). Anyways, glad to finally stop by. I’ll just make myself at home and enjoy the reading.
Megan Stevens says
Thanks, Ally. Glad to have you!!! 🙂 I also love blackberries and fresh mint together and think it’s so cool how here in Oregon, and also over in England, where I lived for a semester during college, they literally grow wild side by side all over the countrysides…nature’s little hint. 😉