Some people eat honey. Some people avoid it. This vegan honey made from apples is for everyone! The recipe for making vegan honey is pretty simple and even simpler when you use apple juice instead of fresh apples. Aside from apples (or apple juice), you’ll need some lemon, sugar, and not much else!

Click here for the printable recipe for apple honey.

Video Tutorial for Vegan Honey (Apple Honey)

Frankly, I used to LOVE honey. Not just the taste, but the therapeutic benefits too. Honey in my coffee, honey in my tea. Honey on peanut butter toast, honey on…well..everything. When I went vegan, I didn’t know what to do about it. I imagined that bees weren’t harmed by honey production; how could it? But, I had a nagging feeling. I had to learn more about it before making my decision: vegan or bee-gan? Now, to really understand my internal struggle, you’ll have to know that I NEVER wanted to stop using honey. Not only that, I made natural cosmetics with beeswax too. I loved the smell and how it worked in lotions, soaps, and lip balm.

But then I learned more. Hesitantly. Reluctantly. Begrudgingly. I learned that commercial honey production is not a purely idyllic situation. That bees can get inadvertently caught and crushed in the honey extraction process. That they fly for freaking miles to gather the nectar, fan it like mad to dry the nectar/bee-puke into honey, only to get it taken away and replaced by sugar water (um, all that hard work for sugar water??!!). I learned that the Queens’ wings get clipped to prevent them from swarming (starting new colonies), their movement restricted, trapped. They are artificially inseminated which sometimes kills them. Here’s a link that expands further on the reasons not to consume bee products and here is a link to some more info about bees.

Anyway, I went cold-tofurkey on the stuff and slowly found replacements for honey. Lemon water and garlic instead of lemon and honey for sore throats. Carnauba, candellia, and soy wax for my natural cosmetics instead of beeswax. Benzoin resin for the scent. But nothing really good for the actual taste of honey. I resigned myself to a honey-taste-free life. Sad times.

But then, I heard about a product called Honee. I heard wonderful reviews, that it really did taste like honey. Well, it made sense. Some apples did have a taste that was reminiscent of honey to me. Of course, I didn’t get my hopes up. Plus, they don’t sell it in Canada. Oh, poor Canada.

Well, time went by and one day I had a surplus of apples. Too lazy to make apple pie and too junk-food-spoiled to just eat the darned fruits, I decided to try making my own vegan honey. In my head, it was going to be rather simple. Make juice from the apples, leave some skin for the pectin, boil it down to syrup and add lemon and maybe some sugar. In reality? It WAS that simple!!! Holey cotton socks!!

Did it really taste like honey? It tasted like honey with a touch of apple juice, to be honest. But it was great in tea and on peanut butter toast. I drowned my pancakes in it. Covered every square of my waffles. Drizzled on roasted vegetables. On apple slices. Apple on apple? Oh. Yes. YES.

So, to this day, I still haven’t tried the actual Honee product that has been raved about. I still want to. But in the meantime, I am obsessed with this vegan honey: just apple syrup with lemon juice.

Printable recipe for Apple Honey

Yield: 1 cup Vegan Honey made with apples and lemon Print Very honey-tasting Vegan Honey is surprisingly easy to make with apples and lemon. Make it from scratch with fresh apples or take a shortcut with pressed apple juice. Makes about 1 cup of vegan apple 'honey'. Click to watch the video demo. Click to Pin this. Cook Time 30 minutes Total Time 30 minutes Ingredients 2 cups of pressed apple juice or 8 medium-sized apples

1 cup water (not used if using pressed juice shortcut method)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon juice Instructions To make apple juice, using blender/strainer method (skip to Turning Juice into Syrup if using the shortcut) Cut apples into 2" chunks and remove seeds. I found there was no need to peel the apples; the natural pectin in the peel helps to thicken the syrup Blend apple pieces with 1 cup water until pureed. It does not need to be smooth; too smooth will make it harder to separate the juice form the pulp.. Using a strainer, nut milk bag, or cheesecloth, separate the pulp from the juice. I used a cheesecloth draped over a pitcher and secured with an elastic band. Then, I poured the apple puree into the cloth, a little at a time, using a spoon to press all the juice out. You may have to do it in batches if you do it this way, taking away the dry pulp and adding more wet pulp. You'll have an easier time with a nut milk bag. You should have about 2 cups worth of juice at the end. Turning Juice into Syrup In a pot, combine the apple juice, lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a rolling boil on high heat, then immediately turn down to medium heat. Don't let it boil over! Let simmer until liquid is reduced to about half or to desired thickness. To test the thickness, chill a spoon in the freezer, then dip it quickly in the syrup. When the syrup on your spoon has cooled, you can touch/taste it for consistency. This may take 20 minutes or more. Keep your eye on this so it doesn't boil over! Safety first! Pour into a heat-safe container and let cool before covering. Enjoy! Notes SAVE TIME by using a large saucepan. A larger surface area will allow for quicker evaporation. I have made apple honey in only 15 minutes from start to finish with this method. STRAINING JUICE Due to a reader comment (thanks Natalie!), I want to point out that depending on the speed of your blender (and therefore, how fine your blender will process the apples), a metal strainer may not work for separating the juice from the pulp. In that case, go for a even finer sieve material such as a few layers of cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. Nutrition Information: Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 Tablespoon

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 80 Total Fat: 0g Saturated Fat: 0g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 0g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 2mg Carbohydrates: 21g Fiber: 1g Sugar: 19g Protein: 0g Nutritional Information automatically calculated by a plugin and may not be correct. Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Vegan Honey | Apple Syrup Visual Step-by-step Recipe