Orange Sugar Syrup Recipe For Pancakes And Drinks (2024)

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This homemade orange syrup is amazing! It will take your pancake breakfast to the whole new level! You can also use it to sweeten your drinks!

I discovered this simple orange sugar syrup as a by-product of another recipe: homemade candied orange peels. I was making candied orange peels by cooking them in water and sugar, and after the orange peels were cooked, they were swimming in a delicious sugar syrup that was colored orange and has amazing orange flavor as well. So it was like killing two birds with one stone – I had delicious candied orange peels and amazing syrup that I could use on my pancakes and to sweeten my ice tea :)

Here’s a picture of candied orange peels:

And here’s the picture of the orange sugar syrup that resulted from cooking orange peels in sugar and water:

Making the orange flavored sugar syrup is super easy. All you need to do is boil the orange peels with sugar and water! Scrape off the white pith from the orange peels before using them for this recipe, as the white stuff is bitter. What you need is the orange zest part of the orange peel, as that’s what will give your syrup an amazing orange flavor!

If you go to my candied orange peels recipe, you will notice that I used my Instant Pot to make them. The directions for orange syrup below are for the stove top version (no Instant Pot needed). If you own an Instant Pot, then certainly use it, as it makes your life easier (just pressure cook all the ingredients for 20 minutes on High pressure). If you don’t have Instant Pot, follow the recipe card on the bottom of this article as written – simmer the orange peels, sugar and water for 30 minutes in a saucepan.

This orange sugar syrup uses 2:1 sugar to water ratio (2 cups sugar, 1 cup water). If you are going to use it in co*cktails recipes and want it to be a true simple syrup (1:1 sugar to water ratio), simply stir in 1 additional cup of water after you remove the orange peels. For pancakes, 2:1 ratio is better as the syrup will be thicker (and it will thicken more in a refrigerator once it cools down).

If you like this homemade orange syrup, you will also love these other easy recipes from my site:

• Homemade Blueberry Syrup – made with real blueberries, this homemade syrup is simply amazing with pancakes or ice cream!
• Orange Bundt Cake – this homemade orange bundt cake is super moist and full of orange flavor! Great to give as a homemade food gift too!
• Cranberry Orange Bread – this is a perfect holiday loaf made with real cranberries! You can taste the orange in every bite!

See also:

• Cranberry Orange Sauce– make this homemade cranberry orange sauce with just 2 ingredients – cranberries and orange juice concentrate!
• Homemade Orange Chicken – who needs a Chinese takeout when you can make this orange chicken yourself!
• Easy Chocolate Chip Pancakes – very simple homemade pancakes recipe that turns out perfect every time!