26 Recipes That Feature A Sweet Kick Of Maple

Maple syrup is the ultimate North American ingredient. This continent is where most maple sap is collected and where this golden, luscious syrup feels most at home. Though we generally think of maple syrup as the saucy condiment drizzled on top of pancakes, French toast, or waffles, this noble liquid has enormous potential in the kitchen. It is a terrific alternative to sugar and can be used whenever the dish calls for some sweetness. Much more than that, it delivers tons of flavor and imparts a sophisticated, nuanced character.

Maple syrup is packed with a distinctive, finely tuned medley of flavors and aromas reminiscent of caramel and toffee with woody and earthy undertones. It is a fantastic topping on desserts, but it also performs well as a cooking ingredient. Its richness especially comes through in sauces, marinades, glazes, and creams. As it marries well with many sweet and savory ingredients, the combinations where you can use it are virtually endless.

This recipe list puts maple syrup in the spotlight and showcases its versatile and highly flexible character. It is a comprehensive guide for all maple lovers, but it can also inspire you to think of another way maple syrup can upgrade and add value to your home-cooked specialties. Maple syrup has a high price tag, but a little goes a long way, so invest in real maple syrup, as cheap replacements will always give subpar results.

Carrots and bacon are perfect partners, and with a touch of maple syrup, this partnership gets upgraded into a flavor-packed treat that you can serve as a swanky appetizer or a creative side dish with meatloaf or roasts.

The dish starts with carrots that are wrapped with a thin strip of bacon. Each piece is generously brushed with maple syrup — an additional coating is required mid-bake — and left in the oven until the veggies are soft and the bacon crisps up to create a crunchy, maple-infused coating.

Recipe: Bacon-Wrapped Maple-Glazed Carrots

This is a no-frills recipe that calls for only five ingredients but yields an exquisite snacking option that couples sweet and salty flavors.

Make sure not to use pepitas — greenish seeds found in some pumpkin varieties — as only raw pumpkin seeds in the shell are suitable for this recipe. You can either scoop them from the pumpkin or simply go with the store-bought varieties. The seeds are coated with a mix of coconut oil, maple syrup, pumpkin pie spice, and salt before they are baked until they attain caramelly flavors and some crunchy bite.

Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

This roasted veggie salad is packed with colors, textures, and flavors. It is a nourishing mix of roasted eggplants, peppers, tomatoes, and chickpeas coupled with a savory balsamic dressing that gets a boost of sweetness from maple syrup. Feel free to play with add-ons and turn this bowl into your new favorite salad for colder seasons.

This salad has enough flavor to work as a main course, but it could make an excellent side dish with roasted, grilled, or fried dishes. Meat and fish would work equally well.

Recipe: Chickpea And Roasted Eggplant Salad

These donut bars are perfect for those willing to put in a little more effort to get spectacular results. The maple is included in the glaze, and though it plays a supporting role, it delivers a ton of flavor.

The donut dough is enriched with eggs and butter and gets its aromatic kick from cinnamon. Instead of frying, the recipe developer suggests baking as a healthier alternative that will not affect the flavor. Each donut is coated with a smooth caramel maple glaze, but the recipe also makes a chocolate-coated version.

Recipe: Baked Maple And Chocolate Bar Donuts

If you're a fan of sweet and salty combos, this chocolate-laden dessert is right up your alley. The recipe is foolproof as it uses boxed cake mix and canned frosting, with a few ingenious additions that will take these chocolatey cupcakes to a new level.

While chocolate makes the base of the dessert, maple extract and cream cheese frosting are coupled to create a fluffy, flavorful topping. As the final and the most indulgent element, each cupcake is sprinkled with bits of gooey, caramelized candied bacon.

Recipe: Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes

This recipe upgrades the traditional candied yams and swaps sugar with a hefty dose of maple syrup that will add more complex qualities. Along with maple syrup, the gooey, butter-based sauce is infused with various spices that create a wonderful blend of flavors. The combination is slowly baked until the yams become buttery tender and caramelized on the edges and the sauce attains a thick, luscious texture.

This is an impressive side dish to serve at your festive holiday dinners. It is the perfect accompaniment to meat courses and would go exceptionally well with all roasts.

Recipe: Candied Yams

The peaches in this recipe are not hidden or smothered with other elements. They are elegantly dressed with a lip-smacking butter-based marinade sweetened with sugar and boosted with vanilla, cinnamon, and maple syrup. When all prepped and glazed, the peaches are baked until they become soft and tender, with sticky, caramelized edges. A scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream is all that these peaches need.

This is a recipe where you can't go wrong, but make sure to pick your peaches wisely and make this scrumptious dessert when you have access to the juiciest, ripest fruit.

Recipe: Baked Peaches

Sweet potato pie is usually associated with Thanksgiving, but this wonderful combination of sturdy pastry shell and silky-smooth filling deserves to be eaten throughout the year. This classic, foolproof recipe uses store-bought crust, making the preparation easy and hassle-free. The filling is enriched with eggs, sugar, and vanilla, but the secret to a deeper flavor and more nuanced sweetness comes from the addition of maple syrup.

This pie comes unadorned, but feel free to lighten it with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Recipe: Classic Sweet Potato Pie

If you are a fan of sweet caramel popcorn, this homemade version will convince you that creating this classic theater snack at home is way easier than you thought. You'll only have to whip up a gooey caramel sauce and spread it over popcorn.

The sauce relies on brown sugar that delivers a deeper and more nuanced flavor and adds maple syrup to the mix to amp up the body and aromatics. Butter, corn syrup, and a pinch of salt round up the mix, and all that is left to do is put the caramel-coated popcorn in the oven until it becomes crisp.

Recipe: Sticky-Sweet Caramel Corn

Skip store-bought caramel for this homemade version that requires minimal skills and whips up in no time. You'll just have to melt butter, sugar, and maple syrup and combine it with cream and vanilla extract.

The result is glossy, smooth caramel that you can use as a classic dessert sauce with many chocolate or fruit-packed cakes or pies. It is an amazing garnish on top of ice cream and can also add a nice caramel flavor to coffee. Make sure to chill it if you want a denser and more compact consistency. 

Recipe: Homemade Caramel Sauce

If you like your baked apples whole and packed with a super flavorful filling, look up this recipe that adds a slow cooker to the mix for a completely hassle-free experience.

The apple cores are removed and stuffed with a wonderful mix of butter-smothered oats, maple syrup, and cinnamon. The filling bakes with the apples, and as it plumps up, it releases all its warming aromas into the fruit. Serve these buttery apples while still warm, preferably with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of yogurt or whipped cream.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Baked Apples

In this recipe, the vibrant yellow acorn squash gets rubbed with spices and seasonings before it is popped in the oven until it becomes buttery soft. The preparation is painless — it takes no more than 10 minutes to get ready for the oven. The squash is coated with olive oil and gets a herbaceous kick from fresh thyme. The center of each piece is filled with a spoonful of maple syrup for an extra dose of sweetness.

Baked acorn squash makes an exceptional side dish. Serve it while it is still warm, ideally with roasted meat.

Recipe: Baked Acorn Squash

In this recipe, maple syrup appears in two separate elements, which means you can expect much of its character to come through. It is first used in the tofu marinade and again in the tahini dressing that gets a zesty kick from lemon juice and ginger. The suggested combo in this recipe pairs quinoa, rice, and various veggies, but you can always toy with add-ons.

This is a nutritively rich option that does not sacrifice flavor. It looks and tastes beautiful and would make a great addition to your regular recipe rotation.

Recipe: Ginger Maple Tofu Grain Bowls