Homemade Strawberry Milk

A few weeks ago my oldest kid came home from a sleepover and was all, “GUESS WHAT I HAD FOR DINNER LAST NIGHT! CHICKEN POT PIE!”

And as someone who, in recent history, spent several hours making Ina’s chicken pot pie only to be told, “Eww, this is gross!”, put my hands on my hips and said, “You don’t like chicken pot pie.”

To which he said, “Yeah, but this one was from a box. I made it in the microwave!”

And then I kicked him out of the house and haven’t heard from him since.

Why are kids jerks? I mean, really? A boxed pot pie? Over Ina’s?

Really?!

In an effort to ruin my own day, I made some homemade vanilla bean strawberry syrup to use for homemade strawberry milk so all my kids could then tell me how much better the Hershey’s stuff is.

But they loved it and they even brought their friends over to have some.

You guys, milk grosses me out but I drank milk yesterday just to have some of this. It’s so good and made the entire house smell delicious all day.

It’s really simple, too. Just a couple pounds of fresh strawberries (my HEB had 2 pound containers for $1.88 the other day! Send strawberry recipes – I bought 10) with a tiny bit of sugar and you let that cook until the strawberries are softened. Then you throw in a vanilla bean (or use my favorite vanilla bean paste) and let it hang out for a little. Once you strain it, you’re left with the most delicious syrup.

If you aren’t into milk, pour it over pancakes instead of maple syrup or use it in strawberry margaritas!

Homemade Strawberry Milk

For the vanilla bean strawberry syrup:

2 pounds strawberries (stems removed and quartered)
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 vanilla bean (split)

For serving:

milk

In a pan over medium heat, combine strawberries, sugar, and water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, until the strawberries have softened and released a lot of their juices. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla bean. Cool completely.
Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve, using a rubber spatula to press down strawberries to make sure you get all the syrup. Discard solids. Chill syrup for at least an hour before making strawberry milk.
To make strawberry milk, add ¼ cup syrup to 8 ounces of cold milk. Stir to combine.
Store syrup in refrigerator for up to one week.

Want more strawberry recipes?

Lemon Angel Food Cake with Strawberries and Mint