Some Cream With Your Coffee?

Yes, I am one of those people who drinks "wimpy" coffee with lots of creamer in it (unless I need a BIG wake-up call :), and any of you who know me know that I am very much into eating healthy, organic food. As much as I love the sweet store-bought creamers, I know they are filled with artificial flavorings and preservatives that definitely aren't the best things to be putting into my body.

That being the case, I finally started making my own creamer about a month ago, and making the switch to homemade creamers was much simpler than you would think since they take hardly any time to make. The worst part is just remembering when you have to make a new batch, but since it takes me about five minutes to whip up a batch, that's hardly a down-side. To me, it's definitely worth giving up the store-bought creamers and I think the homemade creamers taste just as good if not better!

I found a recipe for creamer here, and in that blog post there are recipes for over 2 dozen flavors! Now that I know how to make the base I have so much fun experimenting with different flavors!

For the base all you need is:
- 1 can (14 oz.) of sweetened condensed milk
- 1 3/4 cups cream or milk (whole, lowfat, skim, almond, soy, heavy cream, half & half etc.) I use half & half for a thicker cream.

When you decide what flavor you want, combine all ingredients into a blender and mix for about a minute. Then ta da! You have your very own homemade coffee creamer. It's that simple!

The picture below is my Peppermint Mocha creamer. To make it all you do is add 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup and 1 teaspoon peppermint extract to the base recipe.

Next we have the original French Vanilla flavor, which is made by adding 1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract to the base recipe.

I've also made a Hazelnut flavor (so good!), by adding 2 tablespoons hazelnut extract, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.

It has been so great enjoying my coffee in the mornings, knowing that I am putting something much healthier into my body now! I hope you can see how easy making your own coffee creamer can be, and how simple it is to make the switch. If you try it I bet you won't be able to go back to store-bought flavors any time soon!