One day, a few years ago, I decided that I was ready to start drinking coffee. The coffee aisle always smelled so good and it was getting harder to pass by without buying any. But I decided that if I was going to start this new habit, I was going to wait for the coffee to come to me.
A few days later, as I was shopping for cheese in a local grocery store, a Starbucks barista walked up to me with a tray full of tiny cups and said those magical words that changed my life, “Would you like to try a salted caramel mocha?”
Why yes, yes I did.
And I was hooked. I bought coffee and syrups and a French press. I tried creamers and discovered that I loved those as well. Until I read the ingredients list. I knew that if coffee was here to stay (and it was, I assure you), I’d need to learn to make my own favorite sweeteners and coffee creamers.
Thankfully, it was really easy (the hard part is not using it all at once), with the added bonuses of saving money and keeping harmful additives out of your body.
Here are my favorite creamer recipes:
Vanilla Coffee Creamer
This is a simple coffee creamer that you can whip up in just a few minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk (we use our whole raw milk – find it in your area here)
- 1 cup cream (preferably from pastured cows)
- 4 Tbsp raw honey* (find it here)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract (find organic pure vanilla extract here or learn to make your own)
Directions
Warm the milk and cream in a medium saucepan. Add the honey and stir until it dissolves. Stir in the vanilla, remove from heat and store in a glass jar. Label.
Caramel Coffee Creamer
I have a caramel problem … I was determined to learn how to make myself a couple years ago because I didn’t like the ingredients in the stuff from the store. And once I learned how to make it, well, it was really hard to stop. Thankfully, I’ve learned to limit my caramel intake. Ok, I’m working on it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cream
- 1 cup milk
- 4 Tbsp caramel sauce (here’s a simple recipe)
Directions
In a medium saucepan, warm the cream and milk and stir in the caramel sauce until it’s dissolved. Remove from heat, let cool and store in a glass jar. Don’t forget to add a label.
French Toast Coffee Creamer
The simple combination of honey and cinnamon makes for one delicious cup of coffee. And while I love to make myself a French Toast Latte, I know it’s a lot easier and faster to use a ready-made French Toast creamer.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cream
- 1 cup milk
- 4 Tbsp raw honey* (find it here)
- 1 whole cinnamon stick, chopped into 1-inch pieces (find organic cinnamon sticks here)
Directions
In a medium saucepan, warm the cream and milk and stir in the honey until it’s dissolved. Add the cinnamon stick and remove pan from heat after two minutes. Cover your saucepan and let it steep for 30 minutes. Place a strainer over your glass jar before pouring the creamer into it. Label and refrigerate.
Lavender Coffee Creamer
I can’t get enough lavender these days. I even infused some caramel sauce with lavender. Yes, it was good. Especially in coffee. But lavender doesn’t need caramel to make coffee delicious. It does a fine job on its own.
Ingredients
- 1 cup cream
- 1 cup milk
- 4 Tbsp raw honey* (find it here)
- 2 tsp dried lavender flowers (find organic lavender flowers here)
Directions
In a medium saucepan, warm the cream and milk and stir in the honey until it’s dissolved. Stir in the lavender buds and remove pan from heat after two minutes. Cover your saucepan and let it steep for 30 minutes. Place a strainer over your glass jar before pouring the creamer into it. Label and refrigerate.
Notes From the Kitchen
*Even though the honey is being heated, I still like to use pure, raw honey in my recipes to make sure there are no unwanted additives.
Each of these creamers will last about 10 days in the refrigerator. (If you can keep from using them all up before then, that is.)
With each creamer, I find that the finished product is quite sweet and delicious. However, if you like it to be as sweet when you add it to your coffee, you can increase the amount of sweetener you use in the recipe.
What’s your favorite creamer flavor?
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Tracy says
Could we use evaporated milk?
Tina says
I think I will make some of the other “goodies” for my son for his birthday. Thanks for posting.
Tina says
While I dearly love to get away from the artificial – I can’t make caramel with honey and nearly $17 for powdered cane juice is just WAY out of my price range. There are still some things that still are made with things like regular sugar, just rarely indulged in. Great for you that you can enjoy it more often than you should. Enjoy some for those of us who abstain and maybe you will have a reason to enjoy it more often with less guilt.
Mary says
These sound just wonderful! I can’t wait to try them. Thanks for posting these.
Margie says
Mmmm…. Simple and basic recipes! Looking forward to trying these out, especially the lactose-free version using coconut.
Do you happen to have any suggestions on making a hazelnut creamer? My husband would love it.
Emily says
I was looking for your thoughts on hazelnut creamer also. A must have for my husband!
Thank you for your homemade, natural ideas. I’m sure more households use them than you could possibly know.
Cindy says
I’m very new to eating more natural/whole foods. Baby Steps for me 🙂
I’ve been drinking the artificial creamers for years and was thrilled to find your recipes. THANK YOU so much.
I will confess I am hooked on sweet things…I doubled the honey and vanilla, also used 2% milk and half/half cream (I know, don’t yell at me, please!)
Lesley says
I would like to know the nutritional values of these. calories, fat etc in one serving…they all sound so yummy but I want to be able to track my calorie intake, etc
Tami Rosendahl says
Those look great! What about Peppermint or a mix or Peppermint/Mocha creamer? How would you replace the raw milk and cream if you can’t do that? Thank you for all of your tips. They are sooo very helpful.
Nina Nelson says
I haven’t tried that yet, but if I did, I would experiment with peppermint extract – probably 1/2 or 1 tsp and use our homemade chocolate syrup instead of honey.
kristie gilchrist says
i was wondering if there were any lower fat and lower sugar ways to convert these
Angela says
Thank you! I’ve been wanting to find a “cleaner” version to coffee creamer for quite some time now. It’s just one of those things I can’t give up. LOL. When the recipe says cream, does that mean heavy cream? If not the heavy cream from the grocery store, where would one buy something like this? I’ve checked my local farm, they sell raw milk and fresh cheese and butter, but not cream. Thanks!
Lydia says
Put your (raw) milk in a wide mouth jar and skim the cream off of the top with a small ladle. (You can freeze the cream in small containers till you get the amount that you want. Use small containers, they will thaw out better)Hope that helps.
Nina Nelson says
If you don’t have raw milk to skim it off the top, you can also just use heavy cream from the store. I avoid ultra-pasteurized cream if I buy it from the store and find that the local dairies usually have the best options.
Cynthia Foster says
Do you happen to have a recipe for a chocolate creamer?
Betsy Jabs says
Cynthia,
You could add a little of our homemade chocolate syrup to the vanilla creamer recipe. I bet that would be delicious! Here’s the chocolate syrup link: https://www.diynatural.com/homemade-chocolate-syrup-recipe/
Daphne Mercer says
Thank you for all your fabulous ideas!
I look forward to trying the additions to our cups of coffee.
In Ayurveda we are advised not to heat honey! Not sure why, but
I don’t anymore. Again thank you from England!
Nina Nelson says
You could try pure maple syrup in its place or agave nectar. 🙂
Sherry Peterson says
Yummy! Can’t wait to try them! I L O V E D those flavors also until I read the ingredients on the back ! I put them back on the shelf.
Laurie says
Can almond or rice milks be substituted for those with lactose intolerance?
Nina Nelson says
You could. It would just be pretty thin. If I were making it non-dairy, I would do 1/2 coconut milk and 1/2 coconut cream for the creaminess.
Summer says
I would love to make a dry powder coffee creamer. Any suggestions on what to mix?