How to Easily Make Sweet Homemade Lemonade

Lemonade is the perfect warm-weather beverage. It's sweet, tart, cool and refreshing. Lemonade is simple to make and well-worth the effort. The secret to making flawless lemonade every time is starting the process by making simple syrup. This ensures that all ingredients are evenly-combined and that the lemonade is well-flavored. If you prefer a less sweet lemonade, you can decrease the amount of sugar or increase the amount of water in this recipe. Add this to my Recipe Box.

Instructions

1

Boil 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. When the water boils, remove it from heat and add 1 cup of sugar. Stir the mixture until the sugar completely dissolves, creating simple syrup.

2

Roll the lemons on a hard surface with the palm of your hand. This will slightly bruise the fruit, releasing more juice. Cut the lemons in half. Squeeze them by hand over a bowl, cut side facing upwards so that the seeds don't fall into the bowl. Since this method won't release as much juice, it may require up to 12 lemons to produce the necessary 1 cup of lemon juice. If you prefer, you can simply use 1 cup of store-bought lemon juice instead.

3

Combine the simple syrup, lemon juice, and 4 cups of water in a large pitcher or punch bowl. Stir until all ingredients are well combined. If you like, add fresh herbs like basil, mint, or lavender for an unexpected kick. Serve over ice in a tall glass.