Springtime Lavender Lemonade Recipe

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If you've ever had lemonade at a farmer's market or county fair, you know the distinct flavor of scratch-made lemonade: It's brighter, sweeter, and punchier than the store-bought stuff, and you can be assured that the ingredient list is straightforward and all-natural (probably). It's not hard to make, either, a single cup only requiring a single lemon. As if lemonade wasn't good enough, it's even better when freshly squeezed and made from scratch — it just tastes like sunshine.

The best part about homemade lemonade is how customizable it is. Like it a little sweeter? Just add more sugar. Like it a little more tart? More lemon juice should do the trick. You can also get even more creative, adding simple additions like lime juice or creative, bold spices like cayenne or cardamom. Perhaps the best addition to lemonade is springy, herbal lavender, and recipe developer Michelle McGlinn shares just how easy it is to incorporate lavender into your lemonade. Floral and softly purple-toned, lavender-infused simple syrup is stirred into freshly squeezed lemonade for a delicate drink you can sip as spring days slowly turn into a warm, sun-soaked summer.

With a simple recipe comes a simple ingredient list: All you'll need is water, sugar, lemons, and dried culinary lavender. If you can't find dried lavender, you can swap for lavender extract (not lavender essential oil) or use a premade lavender syrup instead.

Combine 1 cup water, sugar, and lavender in a saucepan.

Bring to a simmer over medium heat and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Let steep for 20 minutes, then strain with a fine mesh strainer.

In the meantime, add lemon juice and water to a pitcher.

Combine the cooled syrup with the lemon water and stir well to combine.

Serve the lavender lemonade.

It might be tempting, if you're an avid gardener, to prune your garden buds and use them to make your lemonade. Before you do that, there are a few things you should know about cooking with lavender. First, not all lavender is good for cooking — think about your lavender-scented soaps and lotions, for example. The lavender used in that is stronger, with a floral aroma that wouldn't be pleasant to eat (to no surprise, it would taste like soap). Instead, the lavender typically used for culinary purposes is English lavender, which has less oils and a sweeter flavor.

When making foods and drinks with lavender, you're most likely to start with dried lavender, which acts as a steeping agent similar to tea. Dried lavender lasts longer, stores more easily, and has a more potent flavor than fresh, so it's generally easier to use and find. To find dried lavender, head to the spice section of the grocery store (one that has specialty spices), or go to a spice-specific specialty shop that carries dried florals. You may also have luck at tea shops, which may sell lavender for use in teas. If all else fails, you can find lavender online at retailers like Amazon – just be sure it's labelled as culinary or food-grade.

There are a few reasons why lavender lemonade might not be purple, and a lot of it has to do with color theory. If your lavender buds are relatively fresh and colorful, your syrup should naturally take on a dark purple tone. The purple won't be as bright or pastel as the plant itself, but a darker, grayish purple, no matter how long you steep the buds for. If you mix this color into plain water, it will become lighter purple, but adding lemon juice will cause it to turn pink. That's because yellow mixed with purple makes pink (at least when it's lemon juice and lavender syrup).

If your lavender syrup didn't end up being a dusty purple hue, don't worry: That's also normal, and the flavor should be just as prominent. This means the lemonade will simply be yellow, like a classic lemonade. If you'd like the lemonade to take on the color of the lavender, you can artificially recreate it by adding a small drop of purple food coloring, or a drop each of blue and red food dye, which will combine to create purple.