Add some spring flavor to your favorite drinks with our homemade blackberry simple syrup! We used fresh seasonal blackberries to make this syrup, and it has simple ingredients and is very easy to make.
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If you love spring flavors and are looking for new ways to add different flavors to your favorite drinks, use fresh blackberries to make an easy batch of simple syrup!
This is a little bit of a Starbucks copycat recipe of sorts since I came up with this blackberry syrup to create my own version of their midnight drink, but decided to just leave this blackberry syrup as a standalone recipe without the copycat drink recipe since I couldn’t get everything exactly right.
If I create a close replica of the Starbucks midnight drink, I’ll add it to this post! In the meantime, you can make this syrup to add to your favorite drinks, and you can check out our easy blackberry lemonade recipe that we created last summer!
Why we love this recipe
Just like our other fruit syrups, our blackberry syrup has simple ingredients and is actually very easy to make. The results are a delicious, perfectly sweet and tart syrup that comes together in about 30 minutes.
This blackberry simple syrup is great in lemonades, cocktails, mocktails, or you can use this over ice cream, pancakes, waffles, and more.
Our syrup isn’t super thick, like pancake syrup, but we have instructions for making this syrup thicker if you want to use this more for pancakes vs drinks.
How to make blackberry syrup with fresh blackberries
Here are the steps to make blackberry simple syrup at home with fresh blackberries. This is just an overview, the printable recipe is at the end of the post.
- Wash the blackberries thoroughly and remove any leaves.
- Add them to a medium-sized saucepan along with the sugar, water, and lemon juice.
- Stir together and cook over medium heat until the liquid begins to simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. You will want the blackberries to soften and release juice, but not be mushy.
- Once 10 minutes are done, turn off the heat and pour the blackberries and liquid into a metal mesh strainer over a bowl or pitcher.
- Allow the syrup to drain for about 5 minutes. You can gently press the blackberries to get more juice, but don’t press the fruit pulp through the strainer.
- Set aside the cooked blackberries, you can use them in oatmeal, smoothies, etc.
- Pour the syrup into a jar with a lid or an airtight container and store in the fridge for 1-2 weeks. The syrup will thicken as it cools, however, this syrup isn’t super thick (it’s not as dense as our vanilla syrup).
If you want a thicker syrup, you can reduce the water by half (or completely) and the sugar, fruit, and lemon juice will provide the liquid. Or you can return the strained syrup to the pot and simmer it down a bit more to evaporate the water and thicken it.
Can I use frozen blackberries in this recipe?
Frozen blackberries should work in this recipe instead of fresh. We have used frozen wild blueberries for our blueberry syrup and the recipe turned out great with them. So frozen fruit should work in this recipe, too.
If you are using frozen blackberries, you’ll want to reduce the amount of water by half or completely (like we mentioned in our blueberry syrup post), since frozen fruit tends to hold and release more water.
Your cooking time may be slightly longer as well since it will take more time to reach a simmer with frozen fruit vs fresh fruit.
⭐️ If you make our blackberry syrup recipe, please leave a star rating and comment below letting us know what you think! ⭐️
Easy Homemade Blackberry Simple Syrup
Ingredients
- 18 ounces fresh blackberries
- ¾ cup unbleached sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Add the washed blackberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice to a medium saucepan and stir together.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until the liquid begins to simmer. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
- You want the blackberries to release their liquid but you don't want the fruit to be very mushy. The berries still need to have some shape so you don't get a lot of fruit puree into the syrup.
- Remove from the heat and pour the fruit and juice into a mesh strainer to separate the syrup, pressing slightly on the fruit to help release the juice/syrup. Press gently on the fruit to encourage the juices to come out, but don't press the fruit or puree through the strainer.
- Allow the fruit to drip the juice/syrup into the bowl for about 5 minutes. You can use the leftover fruit for smoothies or oatmeal.
- Allow the syrup to cool completely and store in a jar in the fridge for 1-2 weeks.
Notes
Nutrition
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Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie which she founded in 2011. Sarah is based in Wyoming and has been managing food allergies for herself and her 2 children for over 20 years. Sarah was also a certified personal trainer for 12 years, as well as a group fitness instructor, health coach, running coach, and fitness nutrition specialist.