Maple Cinnamon Vanilla Syrup

This is the syrup behind our Ingredient-Honest Cinnamon Vanilla Latte — real maple syrup standing in for the cane sugar our Standard syrup uses, and whole cinnamon sticks slowly steeped in rather than ground cinnamon stirred through. Ground cinnamon whisked cold into maple syrup stays gritty and doesn’t fully dissolve; simmering whole sticks in the warm maple pulls the cinnamon oils out cleanly instead, which is why this tier gets a real stovetop step where the Standard syrup could get away with just dissolving.

What “Ingredient-Honest” Means Here

Maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla extract — three ingredients you could read off the label without a dictionary. No dissolved granulated sugar, no gums, no cinnamon sediment settling at the bottom of the jar (the whole sticks come back out before bottling). It’s not a “diet” version like our Sugar-Free tier; it’s a rebuilt-from-real-food version, and like our Ingredient-Honest Caramel and Vanilla syrups, it isn’t a lower-sugar swap — maple syrup carries a similar amount of sugar to cane sugar, gram for gram. The upgrade here is ingredient sourcing and a rounder, more complex cinnamon flavor from the whole-spice infusion, not fewer calories.

This batch (9 servings)$7.70 total

Per 2 tbsp serving~$0.86

Assumptions: real maple syrup at typical grocery pricing (~$8-9 for a 12oz bottle, same figure our other Ingredient-Honest syrups use) and whole cinnamon sticks at typical grocery spice-aisle pricing (~$4 for a jar of about 6 sticks, so ~$0.65 each — this recipe uses 3). Maple syrup and whole cinnamon sticks are both pricier than their standard-tier equivalents, which is why this is the most expensive of the three cinnamon vanilla tiers. See the Ingredient-Honest Cinnamon Vanilla Latte for the full per-drink math against café pricing.

Storage & Shelf Life

• Keeps about 2 weeks in a sealed jar in the fridge — the simmering step here means it keeps as long as the Standard syrup, unlike our no-cook Ingredient-Honest bases.
• Thickens more in the fridge than the Standard syrup does — a few seconds in a warm water bath loosens it back up.
• Double the batch if you go through cinnamon vanilla lattes quickly — everything scales evenly (2 cups maple syrup, 4-6 cinnamon sticks, 1 tsp vanilla).

Swaps & Notes

• Save the spent cinnamon sticks for a garnish — rinsed and dried, one makes a nice stir stick for the finished latte, echoing the classic café presentation without buying a second set.
• In a hurry? Ground cinnamon works in a pinch (whisk in 1-2 tsp off the heat, no simmering needed), but it stays slightly gritty in maple syrup the way it doesn’t in a thinner sugar-water syrup — the whole-stick method is worth the extra 10 minutes if you can spare it.
• This isn’t a lower-sugar or lower-calorie recipe. Caramel and cinnamon vanilla share the same honest note on this site: swapping cane sugar for maple trades one concentrated sugar for another. If lower sugar is your goal, see the Sugar-Free Cinnamon Vanilla Syrup instead.

What to Make With This

2 tbsp of this syrup, stirred into hot espresso before adding steamed milk, is the Ingredient-Honest Cinnamon Vanilla Latte. If cost matters more than ingredient sourcing, the Cinnamon Vanilla Syrup uses the same core flavor with cane sugar and ground cinnamon; if minimizing sugar is the priority, see the Sugar-Free Cinnamon Vanilla Syrup.

Recipe Card Summary

Maple Cinnamon Vanilla Syrup

• 1 cup maple syrup, infused with 2-3 whole cinnamon sticks, plus vanilla
• Makes ~9 servings (2 tbsp each) · Prep: 5 min · Total: 15 min (mostly infusing + cooling)
• Cost: ~$7.70/batch, ~$0.86/serving

FAQ

Is this actually lower in sugar than the Standard cinnamon vanilla syrup?

No, and we don’t want to imply otherwise — it’s a similar amount of sugar, just from maple instead of refined cane sugar. If lower sugar is your goal, see the Sugar-Free Cinnamon Vanilla Syrup.

Why whole cinnamon sticks instead of ground cinnamon?

Ground cinnamon whisked cold into maple syrup stays gritty since there’s no water to fully dissolve it into. Simmering whole sticks in the warm maple extracts the cinnamon’s flavor oils cleanly, leaving a smooth syrup once the sticks come back out.

Do I need to make this every time I want a latte?

No — one batch covers about 9 drinks over two weeks. The Ingredient-Honest Cinnamon Vanilla Latte recipe assumes you already have a jar on hand.