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Recipes

Chill Out This Summer With Lavender-Infused Lemonade

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at FAU chapter.

I’m obsessed with lavender. Candles, body washes, flavored honey – you name it. So when I found out that you can actually cook with this pretty little bud, I went straight to Amazon to buy a package of food-grade lavender buds and set out to explore exactly what you can do with them.

Lemonade

Photo courtesy of bonnieplants.com

After hearing about a wonderful-sounding lavender latte at some mystical coffee shop during a weekend trip to Savannah but not being able to get my hands on one, I knew that I had to figure out a way to make my own. And thus, this lavender simple syrup was born.

Since then, I’ve been experimenting with lavender-infused drinks. And, while the lavender simple syrup is great for the adventurous coffee drinker, this kid-friendly lavender lemonade is by far the best pairing. So do yourself a favor, put a bag of lavender buds in your Amazon shopping cart, and sip on, my fellow flower children.

Lemonade

GIF courtesy of giphy.com

Lavender Simple Syrup

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 5 minutesCook time: 10 minutesTotal time: 15 minutesServings: servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Photo by Morgan Nielsen

    Make a simple syrup by heating sugar and one cup of water over medium heat until the mixture is just starting to boil (I added purple food coloring at this point as well for ~aesthetic~ but that’s 100% up to you).

  2. Photo by Morgan Nielsen

    Add the dried or fresh lavender buds to a quart-sized Mason jar or similar seal-able container, and pour the hot syrup over the buds.

  3. Let the lavender soak in the syrup for anywhere from a few hours to overnight, depending on how strong you want your syrup to be.

  4. Photo by Morgan Nielsen

    When ready, use a fine mesh strainer or some other method to separate the mushy lavender out of the syrup. I used a cup-sized filter that’s designed for loose leaf tea.

Lavender Lemonade

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 5 minutesCook time: minutesTotal time: 5 minutesServings:8 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. IMG 8437 2 e1461905936469

    Squeeze lemons until you have one cup of lemon juice. It took me 4 big lemons, but that can vary depending on size and the amount of juice you can get per lemon. Either way, you need a cup of lemon juice.

  2. Photo by Morgan Nielsen

    Add the lemon juice to a large pitcher and pour in the cold water while stirring to make sure it’s all incorporated.

  3. Add your lavender syrup (more or less can be added based on your taste preferences) and stir well.

  4. Photo by Morgan Nielsen

    Garnish with lavender buds and lemon slices and enjoy!

Morgan is a recent graduate at Florida Atlantic University, with a degree in Biological Sciences. As a barista/shift supervisor and certified “Coffee Master” at Starbucks Coffee Company, she’s definitely got the inside scoop on all things caffeine. When she’s not busy impulse buying sushi mats and fondue sets on Amazon, you can usually find her testing out a new recipe in the kitchen (and crossing her fingers that the smoke alarm doesn’t go off). She makes a point to try to make dinner every single night, and rarely makes the same thing twice. Her dream kitchen includes an ice cream machine and an island with a built-in hibachi stove. Even though her degree is in biology, Spoon has helped her discover her passion for writing and editing, and hopes to land a job that allows her to use the social media and writing/editing skills that Spoon has taught her.