Vanilla-flavored things are almost always made with vanilla extract — alcohol-based, sharp, delivering a thin version of the real thing. Then there's "natural vanilla flavor," which is neither.

Under the Bark's Vanilla Maple Syrup is pure maple infused with organic vanilla beans — the whole bean, which releases its oils and aromatics slowly into the syrup and produces something fundamentally different from extract. Richer, rounder, the kind of vanilla that actually reads as vanilla paste rather than vanilla suggestion.

Paired with Minnesota maple, the result is a combination that makes obvious sense: two things that are naturally sweet, warm, and complex, working together without either competing.

Austin and Madeline Miller have been running Under the Bark out of their 61-acre homestead in Lonsdale, Minnesota since 2011 — a family operation built on the idea that maple syrup deserves to be treated as a real food sweetener, not a commodity. Every flavored syrup is made with whole ingredients and slow infusion.

The Vanilla is the one for morning coffee, French toast, overnight oats, anything you'd reach for vanilla extract but want to be noticeably better. Also very good in a vanilla bourbon cocktail, stirred into a warm latte, or poured over good vanilla ice cream with flake salt.

Available in 12 oz