Add water and sugar to pot: pour the water into a small pot set on your stove (without the heat on), then add in the sugar (it's important the water goes first to prevent the sugar from sticking to the bottom, and we add everything on the stove so we don't shake the pot moving it).
Gently stir to combine: very gently stir the mixture several times to combine, being sure not to splash any sugar onto the sides of the pot (it could cause your syrup to recrystallize which we definitely don't want!).
Turn on the heat: turn your burner on to medium heat. Allow the syrup to heat up and cook without stirring it at all. It will eventually reach a boil, and you can allow it to keep boiling just until the mixture is completely clear and the sugar is fully dissolved (about 7-10 minutes, but time will fluctuate based on your stove and pot size). If you see a stubborn white spot in the bottom of the pot where the sugar is sticking, feel free to gently stir it in.
Add mint: once sugar is fully dissolved, remove syrup from heat and add mint leaves. Using a heat safe spatula, press the leaves down to fully submerge them in the syrup. Repeat until you feel you have sufficiently crushed and bruised the leaves as this will help encourage them to release their oils for a more flavorful syrup.
Cover and cool: cover pot with a lid and allow syrup to cool completely to room temperature. Once room temp, place the pot in the fridge overnight (12-24 hours) to allow the flavor to fully infuse.
Strain and enjoy! After the infusion, strain your syrup through a fine mesh sieve to remove leaves, then transfer to a container for storage and keep refrigerated up to 4 weeks. Use to soak your favorite cakes, add a fresh minty note to your favorite cocktail, or even spruce up your ice tea!
Notes
Plain/Vanilla Simple Syrup: if you'd prefer to have just a vanilla simple syrup instead of mint, you can just leave the mint leaf infusion step out and follow the rest of the instructions as written. You can also stir in a teaspoon of vanilla extract or the contents from one vanilla bean after the syrup is fully cooked for a true vanilla syrup as well.
It’d mean so much to me if you could please give the recipe card a ⭐ rating on the site and leave a comment to help others find this sweet recipe! Xo, Jocelyn @ Mint+Mallow