Who knew you could create an entire recipe using just one ingredient. One of my absolute favorite things to eat in the Summer is maple butter on a warm slice of toast. There are few things that are as delicious as maple butter, in my opinion. However, finding recipes online for maple butter usually involve two ingredients: maple syrup and butter. This is one of those situations vegans deal with all the time where we stop and think, “WHY is there dairy in this?!”. I have learned that my recipe for maple butter is actually more like “maple cream”, but since I use it like I would butter, I’m changing the name! You can actually go out and buy maple butter and cream as your local sugar farm! However, I personally love making it myself so today I’m going to show you how to make an easy vegan maple butter.
Easy Vegan Maple Butter
The best thing about this recipe is that all you need is maple syrup. The worst part about this recipe is the actual process itself. It can be a little nerve wracking to make sure you’re doing everything right. Cooking maple syrup can be risky. One second you have maple syrup, the next it has turned into maple candy and you’re screwed.
This maple butter is
Creamy
Incredibly simple to make
Absolutely brilliant on toast, pancakes, waffles, or just spooning it directly into your mouth
Related recipe: Easy Garlic Tofu Tacos | Vegan
My best advice I can give you for this recipe is that you ABSOLUTELY need a thermometer for cooking, preferably a long one or one of those fancy laser ones I keep seeing on the internet. Here’s a link to a regular one and here’s another to the fancy laser one I really want.
Recipe for Vegan Maple Butter
While the only ingredient you’ll need for this recipe is maple syrup, you should also grab a wooden spoon, a pot to put it in, an extra pot to transfer to, ice cubes, a bowl, and that handy thermometer. Also recommended are jars you can use to pour the butter in when done stirring.
Choose a BIG pot. Especially if you’re making a batch the size I mentioned. I have been using an enormous canning pot, but a regular stock pot would be perfect. One time I used one of my normal sized pots I use for pasta and it took me two hours to make the maple butter because the syrup kept boiling over. Never making that mistake again! Of course, this does depend on the amount of syrup you’ll be using.
When you finally get the syrup the right temperature, this is where your muscles will come in to play. It’s time to stir your life away. It’s going to feel like you have been stirring for 75 years. Keep going, trust me. It will look like nothing is happening for a while and then suddenly magic starts to happen. The syrup turns lighter and lighter until it turns into the beautiful vegan maple butter it was born to be. However, DO NOT OVERSTIR. If you stir too much, it will turn harden and turn into maple candy. As soon as the syrup looks just like the photos, STOP. I’m looking at you, Virgos and your “too much” gene.
Looking for more vegan recipes? Check out: Cranberry Walnut Oat Bars | Egg-Free & Vegan
Ingredients
- 16oz or 2 cups of maple syrup
Instructions
- In a large pot or stock pot, pour the maple syrup in over medium high heat
- Using a thermometer, boil the maple syrup until it reaches 235ºF, DO NOT STIR; just let the maple syrup boil
- When temperature is reached, immediately take it out and pour into another pot that is sitting in an ice bath. This will keep the syrup from getting any hotter and help it cool faster.
- When the syrup has reached 100ºF, you can remove from the ice bath and start stirring
- Don't be discouraged, but you'll have to stir for a while, 15+ minutes depending on the amount of syrup you used.
- Do NOT stir vigorously, keep a steady pace the entire time. If you stir too fast, you could add unnecessary air pockets
- The syrup will start to lighten in color and thicken up.
- When the syrup loses its shine and starts to hold it's shape when you stir, STOP stirring
- If you stir past this point, it will harden and turn into maple candy, which is not what we're looking for here.
- You can now transfer the cream into your jars or whatever you'd like to store it in. I keep it in jars.
- Serve on warm toast, pancakes, waffles, or whatever your heart desires
Notes
Syrup can sit unrefrigerated for up to 30 days in the pantry
If you end up making this delicious vegan maple butter, tag me on Instagram @thetinyherbivore so I can see your creations! Feel free to use the hashtag #thetinyherbivore so I definitely don’t miss it! What do you guys think of this recipe? Let me know in the comments below or DM me on Instagram!
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