I was dumb the other day and left strawberries sitting on the counter instead of putting them back in the fridge. Agh! What was I thinking?! Apparently, I wasn’t! So now instead of nice, plump, juicy fresh strawberries, I was left with half a pound (yes, half a pound!) of slightly shriveled, mildly dehydrated, far-from-fresh strawberries. Blech. But I couldn’t bring myself to throw them out, and I didn’t feel like making a smoothie, so I racked my brains for something I could do to save the strawberries. I still hadn’t had breakfast yet, so I opted for strawberry syrup to top my French Toast.
Am I the only one who does brain-dead things like leaving food out on the counter all night long, by the way? I hope not!
A Tasty Recipe for No-Longer-Fresh Strawberries
1 cup sliced berries
1/2 cup apple juice
Place the berries and apple juice in a pot on the stove, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Once boiling, turn heat down to low and allow to simmer, occasionally stirring and breaking up pieces with a wooden spoon.
When strawberries are softened and mixture is slightly thickened, remove from stove and let it stand for about a minute before using.
QUICK enough for breakfast! I’d say probably about 10 minutes or so was all it took, start to finish. And the strawberries simmered on the stove while I fixed my French toast, and everything was ready to eat at the same time.
Very EASY, easy enough for morning brain (if you’re a night owl like me!). Even easier would be pre-sliced frozen strawberries if you happen to have them.
Since I used strawberries otherwise destined for the trash, it was pretty CHEAP, too. But at any rate, it’s still pretty inexpensive because I usually try to pay $2 or less per pound of strawberries.
And HEALTHY, of course. Apple juice serves the same purpose as sugar would in this recipe; it sweetens and thickens the syrup just slightly. The good thing is, it’s a lot better for you than sugar would be!
This recipe is incredibly versatile, also. You can use any berry you want or have on hand. I’ve thought of several different things you can do with the syrup:
~as topping for French toast, pancakes or waffles
~on ice cream or banana sorbet
~on a slice of plain cheesecake
~mix with plain yogurt
~mix with lemonade for restaurant-style strawberry lemonade
[...] fresh berry syrup [...]