I've Died And Gone To Coffee Creamer Heaven

It's true...I think that I have died and gone to Coffee Creamer Heaven!  Last night I headed to the kitchen (aka: My Office) and excitedly whipped together two of these delish made-from-scratch coffee creamers.  I felt like a little kid on Christmas eve last night...I couldn't wait until the morning to try these creamy delights in my coffee!

 

I have always felt a little conflicted with my passion for eating a healthier/clean diet, while still consuming those calorie/chemically laden coffee creamer concoctions that we buy at the store. 

 

I have never been a..."I'll take mine black" kind of coffee girl.  I have always went with the "I'll have cream and sugar please" kind of girl.  Maybe that's  because when I was a young girl, my grandmother would fix for me a treat: a little girl-sized cup of coffee.  It was probably one tablespoon of coffee, 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1/4 cup of milk.   At the time, I thought I was pretty big stuff!  

 

My grandmother most days had the 'teakettle' on the back of the stove and was always ready  to sit down and have a cup of coffee with whomever landed in her kitchen... a jar of Maxwell Instant Coffee always sat proudly in the center of their kitchen table; alongside the sugar bowl and butter dish.  Dark, shiny magical crystals that she would put into the bottom of her tea cup, before the simmering hot water was added. 

 

Also, she always had a little white pitcher of milk in the fridge that she would add to the steamy black brew.  She would slowly pour in the milk until the black mixture became a creamy tan-ish color.  I found the entire ritual fascinating...and very grown up!  I think my sister still keeps Maxwell Instant coffee in her cupboard...just for those days that she is needing to reminiscence those simpler days with our beloved Grandma Blanche.

 

Fast forward to today and I will admit to anyone (without shame) that I am a coffee snob.  Having had the opportunity to own and operate an adorable coffee shop a couple of years ago...it was unavoidable.  During that time, I had the cool learning experience of coffee tastings and samplings.  I was instructed how to 'swish and swirl' the dark beverage in my mouth; deciphering every little detail, even the region of the coffee's origin. 

 

After all of that, who could blame me for my coffee snobbery?  Here is a prime example of coffee snobbery:  While in chilly Chicago earlier this year, I was presented with an opportunity to warm up with some sort of beverage (pretending to be coffee) coming from a machine...you know that awful variety that you see at gas stations.  I graciously declined.  Instead forcing my  host to traverse the windy streets of Chicago seeking out a real cup of coffee for me.  In hindsight, I probably should apologize for this behavior.  Or perhaps (hopefully!) my obliging friend recognized...hey this gal really knows her coffee!  

 

Anyway, I got a little distracted there....here's what I originally intended to share with you.   I have finally found some wonderful coffee creamer recipes that I can make myself.  The ingredients are organic and real...no chemicals that I can not pronounce!  Look at this label from a well-known coffee creamer imposter.  Where's the freaking milk??  And can you pronounce most of these words?  No!  Why would we want to consume something that we can not even pronounce, let alone understand what they are.  Besides the silly fact that the main ingredient is water;  the second most prominent ingredient is cane sugar...that's just a new fancy word for high fructose corn syrup.  Did you know that high fructose corn syrup is bad for you?  Well, if you didn't know...I'm here to tell you that it is. 

 

OK...let's move on.  Now look at this portion of the label:

 

 

 

Let's first discuss the serving size...1 Tablespoon.  How many of us use just 1 Tablespoon of this creamy concoction in our coffee?  I would guess...not many.  I know that my son uses at least 1/4 cup of this sort of creamer in his coffee.  If he has two cups of coffee in the morning, he is consuming 1/2 cup of this creamy 'product pretending to be coffee creamer'!  Do the math...that's 280 calories.  Granted, my son certainly does not need to worry about calorie intake at this point in his life, but for those of you that are counting calories...it is certainly something to consider. 

 

And don't forget to multiple the sugars that you are consuming per serving.  I don't know about you, but when I have too much of this creamer in the morn, I find myself experiencing those icky feelings I have when I have had tooooo much sugar.  So what are we gonna do about all of this??  We are going to head to the kitchen and make our own!  These recipes are over the top simple and most of the ingredients you will probably already have in your cupboard.  (I did need to go out and get the whipping cream...that is not something I routinely have in the fridge.  One pint is enough to make two different batches of 'I've Died And Gone To Coffee Creamer Heaven'. 

(Please know that I used all organic ingredients when making these creamers, so I won't bore you and list that in the ingredient list each and every time.  I will however, stress the importance of using REAL organic maple syrup.  The maple syrup that you possibly have sitting in your pantry right now, is yet another imposter that we will have to discuss at a later time!)

Cinnamon Strudel Creamer

1 cup whole milk
1 cup  heavy cream
4 tablespoons organic/real maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
Whisk together milk, cream, maple syrup and cinnamon in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the mixture begins to steam, remove from the heat. Stir in extracts. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, pour into a glass bottle and store in the refrigerator.

 

Chocolate Almond

1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons organic/real maple syrup
1 teaspoon almond extract
Whisk together milk, cream, cocoa powder, and maple syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When mixture begins to steam, remove from the heat and stir in almond extract. Pour in a glass container and store in the refrigerator.

Pumpkin Spice
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
4 tablespoons organic/real maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whisk together milk, cream, pumpkin, pumpkin spice, and maple syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When mixture begins to steam, remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, pour into a glass bottle and store in the refrigerator.

 

French Vanilla

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons organic/real maple syrup

1 vanilla bean

Whisk together milk, cream and maple syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cut vanilla bean in half, and scrape out seeds. Add seeds and vanilla bean to milk mixture. Turn off heat, cover the pot and steep for 30 minutes. After mixture has steeped, strain through a fine mesh sieve, pour into a glass bottle and store in the refrigerator. (If you don’t have a vanilla bean on hand, simply replace it with 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract)

 

Peppermint Mocha

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

4 tablespoons maple syrup

3 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Whisk together milk, cream, maple syrup, and cocoa in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When mixture begins to steam, remove from the heat and stir in the peppermint extract. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, pour into a glass bottle and store in the refrigerator.

You can strain each of the creamers through a fine mesh sieve to prevent any spices floating in your coffee. If this doesn’t matter to you, then simply skip this step.  Also, if you prefer a sweeter creamer, than simply add extra maple syrup. Prefer it a bit more creamy? Substitute some of the milk with heavy cream.  The creamers keep for about 10 days in the refrigerator.

 

(I found these wonderful recipes on a website entitled, Deliciously Organic.  Thank you for the Heavenly recipes!)  XXOX