How to Make Maple Sugar (& 12 ways to use it)

Last Updated on April 16, 2024 by Michelle

Yes, you can make maple sugar, right in your own kitchen. You could also buy all-natural maple sugar. But then you’d miss the magic that happens right before your eyes, right in your own kitchen, when the liquid syrup magically changes to powdered sugar.

Is maple sugar a good sugar to use?

How much maple syrup do I need to make maple sugar?

One quart of syrup will yield about 1.5 – 2 pounds of sugar.

You just need some genuine maple syrup (use code SOULYRESTED to save), a commercial-quality mixer, a candy thermometer, and a good dose of patience. (I’ve been told that if you’re very patient, and have strong hands, you can attempt to do this by hand. But we’ve never attempted it. In the mixer it can take 15 minutes or more of mixing, so I can’t imagine how long it would take by hand.)

How much maple sap do I need to make maple sugar?

Before making maple sugar, you have to turn maple sap into maple syrup. (Yeah, no one ever said the best stuff was easy.)

You’ll need about 40 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup.

So if you want to make 2 pounds of maple sugar, that will equate to about 10-15 gallons of sap you’ll need to collect.

Go here for all you need to know for How to Make Syrup–20 Tips for Beginners

Can I substitute regular sugar for maple sugar?

I often replace regular sugar with maple sugar in a recipe. It makes it a little more delicious and a lot more nutritious. Dive into my Complete Guide to Sugars right here.

Do I need special equipment to make maple sugar?

I should warn you that making maple sugar pretty much meant the death of my standard kitchen aid. The motor just isn’t up to that kind of work too many times. We upgraded to a professional kitchen aid (like this one) and I truly love this baby. Now I can make maple sugar whenever I want, and my mixer is a workhorse, always up to the challenges this maple-sugar-lovin’ lady dishes out.

How to make maple sugar

1. Heat.

First, heat the syrup to  252-257˚F. No need to stir it at all at this point. Once it reaches the right temperature, remove the pan from the heat and pour the now-darker-and-thicker syrup into your mixer’s bowl.

2. Mix.

Mix. And mix. And then mix some more. This step will probably take about 15-20 minutes.

Warning: this definitely puts a beating on a standard mixer’s motor. If you force this issue, one day it will just burn up and stop working for you, right in the middle of making a batch of maple sugar. Well, I mean, it may. I’m not saying I know this from personal experience or anything. Cough. Cough.

I upgraded to this great model, which is basically professionally-graded power, made for an average kitchen. I’m glad I took the plunge every time I use it, which is always many times a week.

3. Sift.

As it starts turning to granulated sugar (trust me, it will happen, magically), it may rise up in volume. If you need to, turn off the mixer, and the volume will decrease again. But be sure to keep mixing the sugar until all moisture has been beat out of it and the sugar is finely granulated.

What to do if your maple sugar is chunky

If your batch of maple syrup that you started with was heavier on the crystalized side, and/or a dark syrup that was made later in the sugaring season, like ours was last winter, you’ll have large granules of sugar mixed in with your finer sugar.

Once you sift out the larger granules you have a choice:

• You can run them through a food processor to create a finer sugar.
• Or you can separate the different sized granules and keep the larger ones to use in place of sprinkles.

The second option always makes me super happy. I love using our maple sprinkles in lots of delicious ways.

A Dozen Ways to Use Maple Sprinkles

I love using our maple sprinkles for little bursts of maple crunch on:

• Maple ice cream
• A slice of sourdough bread slathered with maple cream
• Cupcakes
• A bowl of yogurt
• A dollop of whipped cream on a slice of strawberry pie
• Fresh strawberries dipped in whipped cream 
• In a meat rub
• Icing cookies
• Pancakes, for extra maple crunch on top of your syrup
• French toast
• Blueberry Cake
• Maple chocolate iced coffee

Find out why SoulyRested was considered to be one of the One of the Top Homesteading Blogs.

Glance at my Resource Page if you’d like to get a glimpse of all the supplies I use and recommend for everything from gardening, to homeschooling, to chicken care, to nature journaling, to maple syrup making.