You don’t have to be Canadian to love the maple flavor! Think about maple syrup and all the wonderful things you can combine with it – I’m thinking pancakes, waffles, French toast, and more!
The thing is, the maple flavor lends itself as a tasty addition to a ton of different foods (we’ll talk about that a little later). However, it’s not always easy (or nutritionally wise) to blast maple syrup into everything…
And that’s exactly where maple extract comes in! It’s a wonderful way to add the maple flavor easily and conveniently to virtually anything you can think of with just a few drops. Plus, it’s stronger than something like maple syrup, so you don’t need as much of it for the same effect.
However, you want to be sure you’re using a high-quality and effective maple extract, otherwise you’d be missing out on a lot of things while throwing money away. Luckily, that’s exactly what we’ll explore in this article! We’ll discuss everything you need to know about maple extracts, and give you a list of the best and most high-quality maple extracts that you can buy!
Let’s jump in!
What is maple extract?
Maple extract is a liquid that contains a very concentrated maple flavor. It’s quite powerful, and is made by steeping either maple sap or high-quality maple syrup in alcohol – usually unflavored vodka.
The alcohol acts to extract all the delicious flavors out of the maple product, taking several weeks to complete. The liquid is then strained, leaving us with the wonderful maple extract! You’ll also enjoy a long shelf-life with your maple extract, as the alcohol acts as a kind-of preservative here!
This stuff is super strong, so you only ever need a couple drops to effectively give the maple flavor to something.
Also a quick note: you may see maple emulsions on this list, which is essentially the same thing except extracts are alcohol-based while emulsions are water-based. This makes changes to their boiling points, as emulsions don’t evaporate the way extracts do in bakes, creating a stronger flavor in the final dish. That’s not necessarily bad, just keep that in mind when planning out how you want your bakes to taste!
How to use maple extract in recipes
Maple extract can really be used however you want! It’s great as a replacement for maple syrup in recipes that call for it, but you can also use it to make maple ice cream, maple frostings and icings, cranberry sauce, and even as a substitution for things like vanilla extract to give your dishes a unique and new flavor! You can also simply add a couple drops in addition to recipes that call for something like maple syrup or molasses to enhance the flavor.
Since maple extract is stronger than maple syrup, I recommend you use ½ a teaspoon for every teaspoon of maple syrup – the extract is essentially twice as strong. Although, maple syrup tends to be sweeter than maple extract due to the added sugar, so keep that in mind!
Vanilla Bean Kings, which is a brand we’ll talk about later, recommends starting with ¼ teaspoon of maple extract to things that call for maple flavoring, and then adding more as desired – a little goes a long way with maple extract.
Now, if you’re wanting to use maple extract instead of vanilla extract, for example, use half as much maple extract as the recipe calls for vanilla extract. This could add a cool twist to some classic dishes like pancakes, cookies, French toast, and more!
2 great recipes to use your maple extract
Maple extract is a great addition to things like ice cream and frostings, but can also be an addition to recipes that call maple syrup or other maple products to enhance the taste. Whatever you substitute it for or use it as, try these recipes as well:
- Sweetened tiger nut milk: This is an awesome recipe if you’re looking for a dairy-free milk for straight drinking or adding to your morning coffee! You could use the maple syrup they call for, or you can easily add maple extract instead! This will give you a delicious maple flavor in the milk!
- Apple cider vinegar smoothie: We all know how important it is to get apple cider into your daily diet for its awesome health benefits, but what if you want to put a tasty twist on this great recipe? It calls for maple syrup as an option for sweetening it, but you can either switch that out for about ½ to 1 teaspoon of maple extract or simply keep the syrup but add a few drops of maple extract to your liking!
How to choose the best maple extract
Along with the many great maple extracts come many bad ones, which is why we’ve gone ahead and made this list of criteria that’ll ensure every product we review is properly and fairly reviewed:
- Ingredients: We like to avoid any artificial ingredients and sweeteners – why include that stuff if natural ingredients are the best? We also look for transparency in ingredient lists – we don’t need any sketchy company behaviors!
- Consumer feedback: It’s so important to listen to what the people are saying, as customer reviews are one of the cornerstones in deciding whether a product is good or not – plus, it gives us an idea of how much the brand cares about their customers!
- Track record: It’s easy to break a reputation, and hard to build one up. That’s why we check out every brand in closer detail to make sure that they’re passionate, honest, and dedicated to creating the best maple extracts they can!
- Price: Spend a little or spend a lot, we’ve got maple extracts that are budget-friendly as well as some that will make your wallet a little lighter.
Let’s get into the rankings!
#1 Best Overall: OliveNation
At the very top spot we have OliveNation!
These guys have been impressing us more and more with their flavoring agents, and they’ve absolutely knocked it out of the park with their maple extract!
It has a great balance of flavors along with an awesome price of $1.75 per fluid ounce. On top of all that, they’ve managed to pull this off in a completely organic package! I personally love organic stuff, and I highly recommend it in general, but I don’t often have organic products ranking very high since they sometimes have issues with flavoring or are really expensive…but not this one!
I’m very impressed with not just the price and flavoring for an organic product, but just how good this stuff works in bakes and other dishes. You’ll find organic alcohol, organic maple syrup, and organic caramel color all part of this great extract.
Definitely give this one a try!
Ingredients: Alcohol*, Maple Syrup*, Caramel Color*, Water – *Organic Certified.
#2 Runner-Up: McCormick
Not a surprise to see McCormick near the top of the pack.
This brand is basically synonymous with “flavoring agents,” and I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve seen these in store or even have them in your pantry!
McCormick’s maple extract is absolutely delicious with a perfect blend of flavor, adding a great taste to anything you add it to. OliveNation just edged it out for the number 1 spot because it’s completely organic while having an insanely good flavor and even being slightly cheaper, but you won’t be disappointed with McCormick here either.
Give it a go!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, Natural Flavor, & Extractives of Mountain Maple.
#3 Trusted Brand: Watkins
Watkins is consistently called our “trusted brand,” and I have no doubt that they can become yours too! They’ve been making awesome products with amazing quality for over 150 years – in fact, they’ve been in the same factory that long!
Their maple extract is a very well balanced and natural tasting extract, testifying to Watkins’ attention to detail and passion in making flavoring agents. It’s also the best one to buy in bulk on this list, coming in a 12 fluid ounce option if you prefer that. Plus, the price isn’t too bad at $2.19 per fluid ounce.
You’ll be sure to like this one!
Ingredients: Water, Alcohol, and Maple Concentrate, and Caramel Color.
#4 Best GMO-Free: Native Vanilla
We really value things like non-GMO extracts here at Coconut Mama, and Native Vanilla has created a great GMO-free maple extract!
Native Vanilla is wonderful in that they only use natural and sustainable products, which is something we absolutely love to support. On top of that, their maple extract remains a high-quality choice with a great flavor, showing how awesome natural ingredients are.
It does come in at a little more expensive, costing $3.75 per fluid ounce. However, supporting their cause while enjoying a truly great maple extract is worth the premium I would say!
Give this one a go!
Ingredients: Water, alcohol, maple concentrate, and caramel coloring
#5 Best Kosher: Vanilla Bean Kings
Once again, Vanilla Bean Kings have made it as the “best kosher” option for one of their extracts!
And they continue to be on our lists for good reasons, as Vanilla Bean Kings consistently puts out top-notch extracts, with their maple extract being no different! It’s a wonderful tasting extract that puts the delicious taste of maple in anything you want. It’s strong, balanced, and powerful, along with being kosher-certified and gluten free!
I highly recommend this one!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, and Natural Flavors.
#6 Best Keto: Dolce Foglia
At number 6 we have Dolce Foglia’s maple extract!
On top of having a really cool name, Dolce Foglia’s maple extract is the best option if you’re looking for something that fits into your keto diet – and even your paleo diet! This maple extract is dietary versatile, and offers a solid flavor as well.
However, it is the most expensive on this list, coming in at $7.48 per fluid ounce! You won’t regret it, as it’s a solid option that’s great for keto and paleo diets, but just keep the price in mind if you don’t strictly need to adhere to those dietary guidelines and want to save a few dollars with another brand. It also has some artificial flavoring.
Try this one out!
Ingredients: Natural & Artificial Flavoring.
#7 Great Value: LorAnn
At number 7 we have LorAnn, a brand that’s been making our “bests” lists more frequently as of late.
Now, this isn’t an extract, but an emulsion, which is something to just keep in mind. Regardless, it’s a good-tasting product that has some awesome value! It comes in at just $1.25 per fluid ounce, which is an amazing price for the quality of product you get!
I generally prefer using extracts because I like that the flavor bakes out a little more than in emulsions, but this maple emulsion is definitely worth considering as it does a fantastic job of adding the maple flavor to whatever you need!
Ingredients: Water, propylene glycol, natural and artificial flavors, xanthan gum.
#8 Honorable Mention: Frontier Co-op
Another emulsion, Frontier Co-op rounds out our list with their maple flavoring agent.
Now, something cool about Frontier Co-op is that it’s a, well, co-op. All this means is that the company is member-owned, mainly by the stores and other organizations that sell their products. They state that they’re owned by their wholesale customers, claiming an impressive 40,000 member owners – that’s a lot! But what I really like about them is that they prioritize ethical practices!
Give these guys a try, I’m quite certain you’ll like their maple emulsion!
Ingredients: Glycerin, Natural Flavors, Organic Maple Syrup, Molasses, Sugar.
Others we reviewed
As you can see, there are quite a few awesome maple extracts and emulsions out there. However, we sometimes come across products we wouldn’t recommend in our testing.
Two of these are Happy Home’s and Butler’s maple “extracts.” They’re both actually imitation maple extracts, which means they use artificial ingredients to try and make something similar to real maple extract – they’re mimicking them.
Now, we at Coconut Mama enjoy natural ingredients and the “real deal” when it comes to maple extracts, of which there are great options in the list above – because why would we choose an imitation if we can get the real stuff?
Therefore, we don’t recommend Happy Home’s or Butler’s maple products, but encourage you to look at the natural options we have in our ranking here!
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