Pecan Simple Syrup for Coffee
Learn how to make homemade pecan syrup for coffee with just three simple ingredients. The secret is all in the technique! This recipe captures the fresh, nutty flavor of toasted pecans for café-style lattes and Starbucks copycats at home — lightly salted for the perfect sweet-salty contrast!
Use this syrup in my Iced Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Latte.
Whenever seasonal drinks pop up at Starbucks or a local coffee shop, I’m always drawn to the nutty flavors: hazelnut, pistachio, walnut, chestnut praline, or pecan. But while I’ve made my own pumpkin spice syrup recipe and dried lavender syrup I was always intimidated by making homemade pecan syrup for coffee — would simmering nuts with a simple syrup mixture really infuse enough flavor to give me a pecan syrup worth using in a latte?
This week I gave it a try, and found that YES, not only did it give me a boldly flavored syrup, it also tasted fresher and less processed than commercially available syrups — like pecan pie in liquid form. Yum!
So this fall I’ll be enjoying pecan lattes whenever I want, without the hefty coffee shop price tags. And that makes it worth its weight, for sure!
Testing notes
When I develop a recipe I want to make it as accessible and simple as possible without losing quality. That’s why when I tested this, I tried three versions ranging from simplest to most complex. I wanted to see if adding extra steps actually made a difference in the final product.
Each version had the same ratio of sugar to water to pecans, with a pinch of salt added at the end. The method was the only difference.
Method 1: Dump and simmer. 6/10
Throw everything in a pot (sugar, water, and pecans), simmer for 10 minutes, and strain. Add a pinch of salt.
Not bad, but not as strong as I’d like.
Method 2: Toast, dump, and simmer. 7/10
Toast the pecans over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Then add sugar and water, simmer for 10 minutes, and strain. Add a pinch of salt.
This is a decent method if you don’t feel like breaking out your blender or food processor. Toasting the pecans takes only an additional couple minutes and no extra equipment, with a slight improvement in flavor.
Method 3: Toast, simmer, and blend. 9/10
Toast the pecans over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Then add sugar and half the water, and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove half the pecans and add to a food processor with the remaining water and blitz it to puree. Return the puree mixture to the saucepan and simmer an additional 2-3 minutes. Strain and add a pinch of salt.
Boy howdy. Hands down, no comparison, this was the best syrup with the strongest pecan flavor. Just to make sure I wasn’t biased, I also made my husband do a blind taste with all three versions and he agreed this version was the best. I took off one point for complexity but the flavor was 10/10.
Since my food processor splashed with the liquidy mixture, I simplified on the next go-round by using an immersion blender right in the pot.
I don’t like to recommend additional steps if the reward is minimal for the labor. This time? I absolutely recommend you use the blending method when making pecan simple syrup for coffee.
Because when your pecan coffee syrup is diluted by coffee and milk in a latte, you want the strongest pecan flavor you can get.
Ingredients
Substitutions or additions
Use brown sugar. If you’d like a more caramely flavor, swap the granulated white sugar for light brown sugar.
Add vanilla or pecan extract. For more complexity, add a teaspoon of vanilla extract after removing the syrup from the heat. For a stronger pecan flavor, add pecan extract. Pecan extract can be difficult to find so I wanted to make sure this recipe worked without it.
How to make homemade pecan coffee syrup
Toast the pecans. Add chopped pecans to a dry saucepan and toast over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until they smell toasty. Careful, they go from perfect to burnt quickly! (image 1)
Add sugar and water. Simmer for 10 minutes (images 2-3).
Blend the pecans. Use an immersion blender to puree the mixture as much as you can (image 4). You can also transfer the mixture to a blender, puree the mixture, and return to the saucepan. Simmer for an additional 5 minutes (image 5).
Strain and store. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove most of the pecans (image 6). Save the pecans for later!
Strain a second time through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth to remove the finer pulp (image 7). Add salt and stir. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks (image 8).
If you plan on using this syrup to make Iced Pecan Crunch Oatmilk Lattes, save some of the pureed pecans to make the pecan crunch topping!
Tips & Tricks
- If you don't think you'll use all the syrup within a week or two, store some in the freezer. Don't bother freezing it in ice cube trays: The sugar content is so high it will stay soft and scoopable even when frozen. You can use glass baby food containers to store a variety of homemade syrups in the freezer!
What do I do with the leftover pecans?
Don't throw out the pecans after straining! These candied pecans are delicious little flavor bombs can be used for so many things!
- Save the sticky pecans in a jar to use as a topping for ice cream, waffles, or pancakes.
- Plan to make pecan oatmilk lattes? Use a couple tablespoons of the pureed pecans as part of the pecan crunch topping (instructions in the latte recipe post!).
- Spread the pecans on some parchment paper and dry in the oven at 250 degress Fahrenheit, breaking up clumps with a spatula every 15 minutes or so, until dry and crispy (about 30-45 minutes). Use the crunchy candied pecan clusters as a salad topping (like on my spinach and arugula salad!), on yogurt, or just as a snack.
How to use pecan simple syrup
- Add to iced coffee.
- Use to make a copycat Starbucks pecan crunch oatmilk latte or pecan cortado.
- Use in this cold foam recipe to make a flavored pecan cold foam.
- Drizzle on ice cream.
- Drizzle on a cake for a sticky sweet infusion.
More coffee shop syrup recipes you'll love
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Pecan Simple Syrup for Coffee
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cup water
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Add chopped pecans to a small saucepan and toast over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. They should start to smell toasty — be careful, they can burn quickly after toasting!
- Add sugar and water. Stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender to puree the pecan syrup mixture and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Alternately, you may transfer the mixture to a blender and puree there before returning to the pot and simmering.
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the larger pieces of pureed pecans. Strain a second time through a fine mesh sieve lined with a couple layers of cheesecloth to remove the finer pulp. Add salt and stir. Store refrigerated for up to two weeks, or freeze some for a longer storage time!
- Save pureed pecans to make pecan crunch topping for pecan crunch oatmilk lattes, if desired. Enjoy a splash of syrup in your morning latte!
