While I was at the store the other day I thought it would be nice to bring home a little something special for the kids. I was thinking strawberry syrup to make strawberry milk! Yum! Loved that stuff when I was a kid! Do they have a healthier choice these days I wondered......
I could only find the artificial strawberry, high fructose corn syrup, red #40 kind. I remember loving this stuff when I was a kid, but I couldn't bring myself to buy it.
I scoured the shelves for a healthier alternative and could not find anything.
I challenged myself to come up with a way my kids could enjoy strawberry milk and keep it natural and wholesome.
When I got home I got right to work. I boiled down 7 cups of strawberries with 1 cup of sugar.
Boil the strawberries for at least 10-15 minutes on medium heat, It should get good and foamy (pink foam gathers on the top). Remove from the heat and let it cool. Once it has cooled a little, taste it for sweetness. If it doesn't seem sweet enough add another 1/2 of sugar while it's still warm so the sugar will dissolve nicely.
In a blender pour the strawberries into it and puree.
Once I had the strawberries blended to a nice smooth syrup-y texture I poured my strawberry puree into a mason jar for easy storage in the frig. I cooled it down for a few hours. You don't want to pour the strawberry at this point into the milk because it just makes the milk warm and not very nice.
Once the puree was good and cold I poured a 1/3 cup of milk into a jar and added 1/3 cup -1/2 cup of strawberry "syrup". The strawberry had a very thick consistency. It wasn't watery. I secretly wanted to dump the whole thing down my throat. It was sooo good all by itself!!!
The results are in and it is thumbs up all around!! Big smiles!! And they drank glass after glass until it was completely gone!
The milk remained it's same consistency. It didn't get thick and hard to drink. The kids drank it through straws and were blowing big pink bubbles with the milk. The strawberry "syrup" blended nicely with the milk. I simply used a spoon to stir it.
Just like store bought syrup. The only difference with the flavor, compared to store bought, is that it tastes like real strawberries and it's not overly sweet.
This works nicely with soy milk as well. It blended the same as the regular milk did.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!
What a fabulous idea! Strawberry milk was one of my favorites when I was a kid, but I also didn't want to buy the syrup in the store after reading the label. I know what we'll be making when our strawberries start coming in!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this!! My kids love that syrup...but like you I just cannot buy it with all the "extra" stuff in it. I'm going to make that today for my kids. I might even try another fruit as well.
ReplyDeleteVisiting from Deeper Roots at Home link up. I just have not had time to post yet. :-)
Thanks for the sweet comments! Please let me know how the other fruits turn out! Great idea!!
ReplyDeleteOh, this sounds so yummy!!! We,ve made a version with our raw honey and uncooked strawberries in the blended until totally syrupy and then add raw milk to the blender...a bit like a smoothy, but still milk! I LOVE your blog :) Thank you for linking up and hope you'll be back =)
ReplyDeleteI like this idea as my five-year-old is addicted to strawberry syrup. Do you have any idea how long this would last in the fridge, or if it could perhaps be frozen?
ReplyDeleteIt's hard not to love that syrup! It is really good. That's why I had to come up with a syrup/puree that would be just as yummy and good for you! I am guessing that it will last easily up to a week and possibly two weeks in the frig. Ours has never lasted more than a few days ;). I am sure it would freeze just fine, but I am not sure what the consistency would be like afterwards, maybe a little watery? I think I may set some aside and freeze it just to see what happens. Good questions! Thanks for asking them and commenting here!
ReplyDeleteSounds awesome!
ReplyDeleteNew follower!
Thanks for the great recipe/tips we are trying to stay away from HFCS too!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing an awesome idea!
ReplyDeleteWanted to thank all of you for your encouraging comments!
DeleteThis is just the post I needed to read, I bought the strawberry powder once and I regretted it because my 2 year old almost became an addict. 3 days ago, my mother in law stopped by and actually gave us a big box of the same powder because she saw it was "missing" in our pantry and the kids "need" it...it was the only thing she stopped to get at the store, wow. Well I didnt want to offend or reject her gift so its just sitting there unopened, I feel bad but I can't bring myself to give it to my kids ever again. I really am happy that she cares for us though. I told my husband I will make the strawberry milk myself and he thought that was silly. Oh boy, is he in for a surprise. I'm so glad I found someone that has actually done it, with great pictures. Thank you for blessing me with this :-)
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I hope your family enjoys it! Thank you for leaving such a sweet comment! Good Luck! :)
ReplyDeleteI think peaches with a little almond extract would be divine too!
ReplyDeleteNew follower here, and as a mom of a little boy who is SUPER sensitive to Red Dye 40, this is a godsend! I have mine cooling right now and a 4 year old that won't leave the dang door shut!!
ReplyDeleteDo you think this would work with bananas? Oooooh or bananas AND strawberries?!?
Strawberries and bananas sounds delicious!:) thank you for following!:)
Delete