Recipe: Homemade Coffee Syrups

I may have mentioned a time or two that I LOVE coffee. If you don't know this about me, I'll go ahead and let you know I have a pretty healthy obsession. 

A few months ago, I made a Facebook status jokingly that said something like this: Maybe I should buy an expresso machine so I'm not tempted to go spend $4 at the coffee shop for the drinks I want. 

Well, an old friend from college was kind enough to just offer me her expresso machine…um yes!

So, I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with some fancy coffee drinks (when I perfect the proportions I'll blog about those, too). 

These homemade coffee syrups were the first step in taking me to my awesome mocha drinks, so I thought I'd share the recipes with you. Plus, they make pretty adorable gifts and Mother's Day is right around the corner.

Vanilla Coffee Syrup:

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Peppermint Coffee Syrup:

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-2 tsp. peppermint extract (depending on your taste preference)

To prepare:

Heat water and sugar on stove top until sugar dissolves. Make sure you stir constantly. Add in extract. Pour into a 1 pint mason jar (or dispenser). 

If you are giving this as a gift, I definitely recommend cutting out a little fabric to put on the lid of the jar! I definitely want to try some more flavors next, but I don't want my home to be too inundated with coffee syrup at once. Anyone have any other flavors they love? Perhaps I'll try them next!

—Holli Anne