While I shudder somewhat inwardly suggesting anyone do anything other than ingest the real deal, I appreciate that finances are a concern. You can actally melt down your own sugar and add water and then flavor with maple. It's good for syrup -- I did it myself when I lived in Easter Europe where there basically wasn't any syrup of any sort.
You basically heat up a bunch of sugar in a pan until it melts [stir a LOT, burnt sugar is a disaster!] then when it's pretty much melted you add water [this is a volatile mess and will puff up a lot of steam, please be ready for this and don't be looking in the pan], keep stirring over the heat and add flavoring. This will tend to solidify when it sits for a while so store in a glass container and reheat in a microwave or in a pan of warm water.
When blueberries are in season, go out with your little ones and pick a gazillion of them on the cheap, and freeze most of them. Then you can make blueberry syrup all winter long. (A cup or so of blueberries, enough water to almost cover them, however much sugar you want [you won't need much] and a low simmer for ~45 minutes to cook down).
Frozen blueberries are also awesome on school-bound peanut butter sandwiches (pb on both slices with frozen berries in between, they're yummily thawed by lunchtime).
Also have santa bring you an ice-cream maker and make vanilla ice cream with blueberries (and/or blueberry syrup) in the summer.
nom nom nom plus family togetherness, can't beat that. posted by headnsouth at 4:02 PM on October 16, 2008
This will tend to solidify when it sits for a while so store in a glass container and reheat in a microwave or in a pan of warm water.
A little bit of corn syrup will prevent crystallization of sugar syrups. posted by stavrogin at 4:04 PM on October 16, 2008
We shall not, of course, speak of high-fructose plonk.
Why not? Sugar is sugar is sugar. HFCS is fructose and glucose. Homemade replacements made out of table sugar will be fructose and glucose. And it all gets broken down into the same stuff in your gut by the same enzyme.
The problem with HFCS isn't the molecule itself, but the fact that because it's cheap, it gets put into everything.
But since we're talking about pancake topping and not a six-pack-of-Coke-a-day habit ... why worry?
OK, in the spirit of answering the question directly ... try dark agave syrup, although it might not be cheaper than real maple syrup. posted by Cool Papa Bell at 4:11 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
If you need a bit of a pure fix, the USDA says that Pennsylvania has traditionally had the lowest prices for syrup. Local Harvest lists a gallon for $7.00 less than New York and Vermont. posted by saffry at 4:19 PM on October 16, 2008
Can you get golden syrup where you are? That's what we like on pancakes down here.
Brown sugar with lemon juice squeezed on is delicious as well. posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:20 PM on October 16, 2008
it might not still be true, but i found grade b to be more flavorful and much cheaper. i got mine at trader joe's. posted by lester at 4:27 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
Aside from any chemistry, corn syrup tastes kinda gross so I understand that.
What about honey? I like honey on pancakes almost as much as maple syrup. posted by Neofelis at 4:39 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
Just saw this for the first time today actually. Potato based mock maple syrup. It sounds weird, but these people swear by it. It's almost crazy enough to make sense. posted by piedmont at 4:49 PM on October 16, 2008
You know, it lasts forever and you can buy it in bulk. I bet you can get a much, much better price than your average retail shelf if you dig. posted by rokusan at 4:54 PM on October 16, 2008
You could try molassas, although the taste is such that you either love it or HATE it. I admit, I put Nutella on my pancakes. God christ, I love chocolate. posted by Foam Pants at 4:55 PM on October 16, 2008
The ideal solution, very kid-friendly: fruit syrups. Raspberry, boysenberry, etc. posted by yclipse at 5:04 PM on October 16, 2008
The ideal solution, very kid-friendly: fruit syrups. Raspberry, boysenberry, etc.
The popular supermarket brands that I see are usually mostly HFCS (plonk?) with some flavor and color added.
When I was a kid, we frequently used cane syrup. It might not be cost-effective, since it's often sold as an exotic specialty item in areas that it's not native to. posted by gimonca at 5:24 PM on October 16, 2008
Like jessamyn suggests, my family used to dissolve brown sugar and water and boil until the crystals dissolve...adjust water to make a thicker or thinner syrup as desired. You can add maple flavoring if you like, but we generally just had plain brown sugar syrup. posted by lemonade at 5:32 PM on October 16, 2008
You know, since you're in upstate NY, you could search around in your area and see if there's a local producer who sells direct for cheap, or maybe through a farmer's market. Finding a cheap product might be tough, but it might be an interesting hunt. posted by gimonca at 5:33 PM on October 16, 2008
When I was a kid, we did the thing with boiling brown sugar in water and cooking it down that's describe above. You can also use honey, if you're just looking for a sweet sticky liquid and not specifically for maple flavor. Maybe experiment with different kinds of honey - clover is what you usually get if you just buy honey, but tulip poplar (for instance) is very dark and strong and tastes almost like molasses. posted by dilettante at 5:40 PM on October 16, 2008
This may be maple syrup blasphemy, but can you sort of stretch it? Like, combine real maple syrup with sugar syrup. I've never tried it, so it might be terrible, but it was my first thought after reading your question. posted by Meg_Murry at 5:45 PM on October 16, 2008
I've found it at good prices at both Trader Joe's and Costco. We get grade B, and are pleased. posted by The corpse in the library at 5:46 PM on October 16, 2008
When I was a kid, Mom would heat light corn syrup and mix in Maple flavoring, but as the others have suggested, a simple sugar syrup would work equally well.
As long as they're not drowning the pancakes in syrup, that should do nicely.
A better way to stretch your maple syrup supply and control your children's consumption would be to mix some maple syrup directly into your pancake batter, adding flour or pancake mix to keep the same consistancy. posted by Kioki-Silver at 6:04 PM on October 16, 2008
Macerated fruit is nothing like syrup, but still very tasty on pancakes. Chop up a bunch of strawberries, peaches, etc. or mash smaller stuff like blueberries or raspberries, then stir in sugar until it tastes about as sweet as you want. Leave it in the fridge to sit for as long as you can stand (preferably overnight, but an hour should be fine), and the fruit will have released juices enough to dissolve the sugar and melt everything into tasty goodness. posted by vytae at 6:48 PM on October 16, 2008
New York state doesn't officially allow grade b syrup to be sold, but your local co-op will have it under a different (or blacked out) label. Much cheaper than grade a. posted by headnsouth at 7:16 PM on October 16, 2008 [1 favorite]
Thirding Grade B syrup. It actually tastes more like maple. Syrup is graded for its color, nothing else, and the lightest colors are most prized for some reason - Grade B is dark, and usually stronger tasting. posted by Miko at 8:01 PM on October 16, 2008
Honey is so very much better for you.
Alternatively, and I don't mean to sound superior, you could try to teach your kids to enjoy the sweet flavours of fruit, rather than syrup on pancakes. Yuk. posted by Mephisto at 8:35 PM on October 16, 2008
Nthing "lower" grade of syrup and stretching the maple goodness with corn syrup, brown sugar, molasses, diluted honey, etc. posted by desuetude at 10:07 PM on October 16, 2008
Not sure if they sell it in your neck of the woods, but if you're just looking for a replacement syrup to use, my daughter really likes this stuff. It's about $3-$4 a bottle, and while the flavor isn't as intensely sweet as maple syrup, it is quite good. No HCFS, in fact the two main ingredients are water and grape juice. It does contain a bit of sucralose, and I do mean a bit. I hate Sucralose's taste normally, and I didn't even know it was in here until I looked at the label. It's also a little lighter and less viscous than maple syrup, but I find it a nice alternative. posted by barc0001 at 10:12 PM on October 16, 2008
A blog I read every once-in-a-great-while just posted a recipe and I thought "who would want to make their own syrup?" (just never occured to me that people would do that). And now I have an answer. Here's the blog posted by Badmichelle at 10:13 PM on October 16, 2008
Apple cider syrup! I prefer it without the cinnamon, myself. It's especially good on cornmeal waffles.
I also prefer the taste of grade B maple syrup- it's more flavorful. posted by oneirodynia at 11:23 PM on October 16, 2008
Can you get golden syrup where you are?
It's called cane syrup up here. Amy Ruth's in Harlem serves it with their waffles. posted by brujita at 11:49 PM on October 16, 2008
My mom always used Mapleine which is a reasonable approximation of maple syrup. Directions are on the box, you just mix sugar with water, bring to a boil, and add the flavoring. Unfortunately the stuff only seems to be sold in the midwest so I had to improvise when I moved. I found out maple flavor mostly comes from vanillin, the same chemical that gives vanilla its characteristic flavor, so I tried making vanilla syrup one time and it turned out PURE AWESOME. Especially over banana/chocolate chip pancakes with peanut butter smeared on top (yeah, I go overboard sometimes).
Vanilla Syrup
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
Mix sugar and water in a sauce pan, put on high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, stir to dissolve sugar, and add 1 tsp vanilla extract.
That's it, couldn't get any more simple. For a more realistic taste you can burn the sugar a little bit as jessamyn suggests, caramelized sugar is the other main flavor in real maple syrup. Alternatively, you can add a little cinnamon to the syrup or pancakes, vanilla and cinnamon are best friends. posted by TungstenChef at 1:16 AM on October 17, 2008 [1 favorite]
I grew up using commercial syrups (Log Cabin, Mrs. Butterworths, etc). Then I discovered the real thing. OMG. Yes, it is not cheap! However, I have always found that it takes much less real maple syrup to eat a pancake than the commercial crap. Also, the darker maple syrups are better. The worst is "Grade A Light Amber". It's powerfully sweet, and little maple taste. I simply won't make pancakes at home if I can't get real syrup, and I've managed these last 10 years living across the Atlantic. (and sometimes I do take my own real syrup to restaurants :-P) posted by Goofyy at 2:37 AM on October 17, 2008
Great timing - I just made, last weekend, a huge batch of rose hip syrup (recipe) which is delicious on pancakes. It's practically free to make - you buy caster sugar in bulk, and pick the berries from the side of the road (if they grow in upstate NY, that is). posted by primer_dimer at 3:57 AM on October 17, 2008 [2 favorites]
You might try adding some fenugreek to your sugar syrup. It's often used in imitation maple syrup. You can buy it in capsule form in the heath food section much more cheaply than in the spice aisle and then break open the capsules and sprinkle it in your home-made sugar syrup. As someone who takes a lot of fenugreek every day, I can attest that it smells just like maple syrup. posted by otherwordlyglow at 6:28 AM on October 17, 2008
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You basically heat up a bunch of sugar in a pan until it melts [stir a LOT, burnt sugar is a disaster!] then when it's pretty much melted you add water [this is a volatile mess and will puff up a lot of steam, please be ready for this and don't be looking in the pan], keep stirring over the heat and add flavoring. This will tend to solidify when it sits for a while so store in a glass container and reheat in a microwave or in a pan of warm water.
Here are some recipes for other flavors: rose water syrup, berry syrup, lightened maple, honey, mock maple
posted by jessamyn at 3:57 PM on October 16, 2008