Maple glazed walnuts are a classic holiday treat, perfect as gifts, party favors, and delicious on cold nights. They’re crispy, sweet, crunchy, toasty, and nutty, which makes them so addicting. Walnuts pair perfectly with maple syrup and make a great milk or drink flavor!

You can easily add maple walnut to drinks or desserts by making an easy maple walnut syrup. Add it to cocktails and lattes for a seasonal flair. It’s creamy and rich, which makes coffee taste so good.

Here’s how to make a maple walnut latte at home!

What is in a Maple Walnut Latte?

This maple walnut latte recipe has maple walnut syrup, milk, ice, and espresso. That’s it! It’s a simple yet delicious coffee drink that is sweet, nutty, and creamy.

Maple walnut syrup is simply walnut-infused maple syrup with a toasted and nutty flavor. You can easily make it at home either by cooking them together on the stove or letting them infuse for a couple of hours.

You can use any milk you’d like, including walnut milk if you have it, but I love dairy, so this recipe uses 2% milk.

What is Walnut Milk?

This recipe doesn’t use walnut milk, but you can use it to make a version of this maple walnut latte!

Walnut milk is a non-dairy, plant-based milk made from walnuts and water. It’s a sweet, creamy, earthy, and nutty milk with a slightly bitter aftertaste that is less strong in flavor than other nut milk like cashew or almond milk.

Walnuts have a lot of oil in them, so walnut milk is thick, much thicker than other milks. It has a similar texture to chocolate milk! It’s commonly used in cooking rather than in drinks because of its flavor and thicker texture.

What Does a Maple Walnut Latte Taste Like?

A maple walnut latte is sweet, creamy, toasty, and slightly nutty. Depending on how much maple syrup you put in, the drink can taste more maple or coffee-forward.

Walnuts have a subtle flavor that is stronger when blended or added as an oil, so it’s quite mild when infused and added into a latte. However, it adds a nice nutty flavor and a fattier texture due to its oil. Even walnuts, eaten whole, have a mild, nutty flavor.

Because walnuts have a subtle flavor, they don’t overpower other flavors and pair well with various spices, sweeteners, and flavors.

What Are the Health Benefits of Walnuts?

Like many other nuts, walnuts are a “good” nut to eat because they contribute to many health benefits, including lower cholesterol, improved blood lipids, and the potential for better cardiovascular health.

Obviously, eating just walnuts in your diet isn’t healthy, but adding them to your food is beneficial!

They are also considered healthy fats, like avocados because they have many polyunsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids, both essential for brain health. Do your own research, though!

Do Maple and Walnut Go Together?

Walnuts are a delicious nut that goes well with molasses-y or caramel-like sweeteners like brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, or molasses. Because walnuts are mild, stronger-flavored sweeteners pair well with them because there are fewer competing flavors.

In taste, walnuts are earthy, nutty, mild, and slightly bitter, which pairs well with sweet maple syrup. The syrup adds a nice toasty sweetness that regular sugar or agave lack.

Maple syrup and walnuts go so well together that there are dozens of recipes with this flavor combination, including granola, candied walnuts, cupcakes, and bread, and it’s even sold as a type of hot-roasted nut during the winter.

What is Maple Walnut Syrup?

As mentioned, maple walnut syrup is walnut-infused maple syrup. It’s really easy to make and store in the fridge for desserts, drinks, or as a sweetener. Add it to lattes, milk, cocktails, cereal, yogurt, smoothies, etc.

The walnuts add a mild, nutty, and toasty flavor to the maple syrup, and also make it thicker and more viscous from its oil.

How to Make Maple Walnut Syrup

You can easily make maple walnut syrup at home if you have maple syrup and walnuts.

First, toast your walnuts on the stove, oven, or toaster oven. Toasting walnuts helps bring out the flavor and makes the infusion stronger.

Cut your walnuts into small chunks, then add them to a small pot with maple syrup and a little bit of water.

Boil the mixture for 3-5 minutes on medium heat until the walnut syrup is hot and the mixture is more viscous. When you get it to the consistency you want, turn off the heat and let the walnuts infuse with the maple syrup for 20-30 minutes.

The longer the walnuts infuse, the stronger the flavor.

Strain the syrup from the walnuts and let cool before use. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and use within a week.

How to Make a Maple Walnut Latte

Here’s what you’ll need to make a maple walnut latte at home:

• Walnuts
• Maple syrup
• Ice
• Milk
• Espresso

Maple Walnut Latte Recipe

1. Make maple walnut syrup.
   • Toast walnuts before adding them into a small-sized pot with maple syrup and water. Heat the syrup on medium heat until it bubbles or boils, then simmer until it becomes more viscous but still runny.
   • Let the walnuts infuse in the maple syrup (ideally overnight) for at least 20 minutes before letting it cool to use.
2. Brew espresso or strong coffee. Brew 1-2 shots of your favorite espresso or strong coffee equivalent.
3. Assemble drink. Add ice, maple walnut syrup, and milk into a separate cup, then top with the espresso.
4. Mix and enjoy!

Other Sweeteners to Use

Don’t have or like maple syrup? You can use any other sweetener to make a sweetened walnut syrup! Some alternatives include:

• Agave
• Regular granulated sugar
• Honey
• Monkfruit
• Brown sugar
• Molasses

I think brown sugar would be the best replacement for maple syrup since they have similar-ish flavor profiles. Agave is a close second, too!

Tips

Here are some tips for making a delicious, nutty maple walnut latte at home!

• Try soaking the walnuts in water for a more robust walnut flavor. Maybe the extra liquid will help flavor the syrup more, although it is just my speculation.
• Let the walnuts infuse into the syrup overnight. That way, you’ll have a stronger walnut flavor. If you use the syrup immediately, you’ll have a syrup with a mild walnut flavor.
• Add vanilla extract to your syrup or drink for an extra flavor boost!
• Another idea for a stronger walnut syrup is to blend the walnut and maple syrup after it steeps. My hesitation is that blending the mixture might give you walnut butter instead of syrup.