Williams-Sonoma Vermont Maple Syrup with Vanilla Bean

During a recent Christmas shopping trip to Williams-Sonoma, my wife and I purchased a bottle of Vermont maple syrup with vanilla bean. We figured that this maple syrup with vanilla bean would be a good supplement to our Christmas morning breakfast this year. It is a tradition for us to have pancakes or waffles on Christmas morning, whether traditional Swedish pancakes, buttermilk pancakes, or Belgian waffles. While we have not yet decided which pancakes or waffles we will make this year for Christmas morning, we have sampled the Williams-Sonoma Vermont maple syrup with vanilla bean already because we could not resists trying it beforehand.

The Vermont maple syrup with vanilla bean consists of only two ingredients: pure Vermont maple syrup, and a vanilla bean. The vanilla bean pod inside the bottle of maple syrup is split open, which means that the individual vanilla beans (which are very tiny) are free to infuse their oils into the maple syrup. The result is a maple syrup that is rich in natural vanilla flavor, without any artificial flavors or sweeteners. Although maple syrup is not exactly healthy, because it is mostly sugar, insofar as you are going to use maple syrup for your pancakes or waffles, an all-natural maple syrup is preferable to a maple syrup flavored with artificial sweeteners or flavors.

The vanilla flavor of the Williams-Sonoma Vermont maple syrup is rich and intense. Although vanilla and maple are not flavors that pair naturally with one another, this vanilla-infused maple syrup has a balanced vanilla flavor that is rich but which does not overpower the distinctive flavor of the maple syrup itself.

By no means is the Vermont maple syrup with vanilla bean restricted to use only on pancakes or waffles. Many people fry bacon or sausage in a small quantity of maple syrup to give the meat a subtle maple flavor from the griddle. As in the case of pancakes, it may not be obvious that vanilla is a complementary flavor for bacon or sausage, but the vanilla flavor in this Vermont maple syrup yields breakfast meats that are subtly sweet with a flavor that offers hints of vanilla that are not instantly recognizable but are an intriguing puzzle for your nose and taste buds to solve as you bite into a piece of bacon or sausage.

The Williams-Sonoma Vermont maple syrup is made by Butternut Mountain Farm, which is, in fact, located in Vermont. According to the bottle, the Vermont maple syrup with vanilla bean is made exlusively for Williams-Sonoma. I am not certain whether the maple syrup with vanilla bean is a limited edition for the holiday season, or whether this vanilla maple syrup is avalable all year. But if you are looking for a way to spice up your Christmas morning breakfast, the Williams-Sonoma Vermont maple syrup with vanilla bean is the perfect topping for your Christmas pancakes, waffles, or breakfast meats.