Homemade Vanilla Cinnamon Coffee Creamer

Remember last week when I introduced the Real Food Fridays  series? It’s a new week, so that means a new recipe! Up this week: homemade coffee creamer.

I didn’t start drinking coffee until about five years ago. I was at a scrapbooking retreat with some friends and they were all getting coffee so they could scrap long into the night. I tried it and boy, that caffeine sure did keep me going! (I don’t normally drink many things that have much caffeine in them). They love to remind me how much I was talking and go-go-going on that retreat—until 2 a.m.! But I digress. Being that that drink came from Starbucks and had sweet creaminess added to it, that’s how I was used to drinking my coffee.

I still don’t drink coffee that often but do occasionally enjoy it here and there. I used to buy the flavored coffee creamers from the refrigerated section of the store so I could recreate those drinks at home for a whole lot less. I guess I was clueless to the fact that those didn’t really have any dairy in there and upon further examination, discovered there were some pretty strange sounding ingredients. So sometime last year I decided I needed to start making creamers from scratch.

It’s taken some experimenting but a couple of weeks ago I made one that was super delicious so I just had to share! I found it on a Squidoo article. And this creamer costs about $.25 per serving (I use two tablespoons per cup of coffee). Considering the coffee drink I usually order out is about $4 each, this is WAY, way cheaper! I even topped it with whipped topping and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Are you ready to try making your own? Here’s the recipe:

Homemade Coffee Creamer Base Recipe
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk (I used the fat-free variety)*
1 1/2 cups milk (you can also use soy or rice milk if you need to avoid excessive lactose)

Mix the two ingredients together very well, either by whisking or by shaking in a tightly-lidded container. This mixture will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

But I wanted something a little more exciting than just a sweetened coffee and the cinnamon vanilla combo sounded delicious. So here’s the recipe for that (so easy!):

Cinnamon Vanilla Coffee Creamer
to the base recipe, add
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

*If you want to make your own sweetened condensed milk you can try this recipe from Kitchen Stewardship.

That’s next on my list of things to try.

Two simple ingredients. That's all.

This canning jar was perfect to shake up the ingredients and blend them well. I labeled it so the rest of my family would know what it was. And dated it too so I'd use it up in time.

This recipe is SO simple to mix up. But since I don’t drink coffee all that often, I needed a way to keep the creamer longer. So I poured some of it into a silicone ice cube tray (aren’t the hearts cute?). Once you have the cubes, flip them out onto a baking sheet and transfer them to a labeld ziptop bag. TIP: You have to work REALLY quickly as these cubes begin to melt super fast. I’m talking CRAZY FAST! In my cube tray, it holds about two tablespoons each and I use two cubes in my coffee.

Fill a cube tray with leftover filling then freeze. I like the silicone trays because they are easier to push out after they are frozen.

Pop the creamer cubes out on to a cutting board (I used a silicone mat). Move quickly--they start to melt fast!

Put the cubes in a labeled bag and store in the freezer. You can see here that they really started melting--even after just a few minutes. Still useable though!

I just love the way this tastes and am so happy to have found an alternative to the non-dairy flavored creamers. Now I can enjoy my coffee just a little bit more!