We were ambitious this year and tapped double the maple trees we tapped last year. Now we find ourselves with a year’s supply of syrup already and limited energy remaining to keep up the effort of evaporating the many remaining gallons of sap. To prevent the sap from just going to waste, we’ve come up with and tried out several ideas to use sap and make the most of our flowing bounty.
Below are our 3 favorite ways to use maple sap, aside from just boiling it into syrup. We have even more ideas in our book, which you can find here:
Note: If you want to try any of the below but don’t have any sap, you can make your own! Here’s how to make maple sap from water and syrup at home: for every cup of sap desired, add 2 teaspoons of pure maple syrup to 1 cup (8 ounces) of water.
1. Use Maple Sap to Bake bread
We found that the sap behaves differently than water in some ways, so start slow and only add 3/4 of the recipe’s water (but using sap instead) to start. Then keep adding sap to reach the desired dough consistency, then you can continue with letting it rise and bake it as normal. We found that the crumb is tight, making for excellent sandwiches, and the texture is velvety smooth and quite unique.
2. Brew coffee or tea with maple sap
Skip adding ultra processed cane sugar by brewing tea or coffee with maple sap and get truly raw sweetness!
3. Drink Maple sap as an energy drink
Maple sap has been enjoyed in its own right for centuries, dating back to Native Americans who drank it in the springtime as a sort of revitalizing health tonic. There may be many benefits to drinking maple sap (sometimes called “maple water” commercially), as a result of its high levels of manganese, natural electrolytes, and a slew of other nutrients. Not to mention that it’s an unaltered source of excellent hydration. To me it just tastes good and makes me feel great, and brings a deeper connection to the hard work of firewood, where the trees are warming and hydrating me at once.
For more ideas on how to use excess sap, as well as a complete guide for making your own maple syrup from your own maple trees, check out our book:
Ferrin Brook Farm 