I love coffee, and I really love flavoring my coffee and having something different about it all the time. I’ll usually buy flavored creamers from the grocery store because Tom uses soy creamer, and he doesn’t like flavored coffee (so we skip the flavored beans) but some times I get really bored of the creamer flavors that are out there. I know there are a ton, but I don’t like the ones that are designed to taste like a “latte” (they have a bad aftertaste to me) and some times when the days are cool and rainy it makes me really want to slip on a sweatshirt, sip some pumpkin coffee and pretend it’s fall. So I decided to finally try and make my own coffee creamer.
I picked up these bottles from The Christmas Tree Shop for $1.99. I had been looking for them online but the cheapest I could find on Amazon was $5.50
For my pumpkin creamer I followed the recipe posted here. I did up the amount of pumpkin slightly, used almond milk in place of milk, used fat free half and half in place of the heavy cream, and added 2 more tablespoons of maple syrup. **Oh and forgot to add that I threw in one cinnamon stick. I did not strain mine because I really like the spices and small bits of pumpkin, but you could use cheesecloth if you wanted a pure creamer. They store in the fridge for 10 days and I would say make about 2 and a half cups. My bottles are looking a little empty because I used them a few times and brought it along to a dinner party for others to try. But, they were fast to make and I’d make them again for sure! You could make it vegan too by using vegan cashew cream in place of the heavy cream, which is great because vegan flavored coffee creamers do not come in a wide variety where we live. I think you can pick vanilla or hazelnut.
My friend Tasha suggested that I make flavored syrups and then just add milk to the coffee. This is a great idea too! A Beautiful Mess has recipes for vanilla, raspberry, and caramel. But a little searching and I found a big variety of syrup flavors like..
-Rosemary iced coffee and rosemary simple syrup which sounds great for summer
-Pumpkin syrup which is what I made for my syrup
-cherry simple syrup could be great in a mocha like a black forest cake coffee
just to name a few, the possibilities are really endless…
I have also been toying with the idea of getting a Keurig
**p.s. our cute mug is from kinshippress
I love coffee and I will certainly be making the pumpkin creamer this autumn. I’m pregnant and drinking decaf most of the time and I feel like decaf has a “twang” to it. This creamer will be just the thing to mask that offness of decaf. I feel like we drink too much coffee to justify a Keurig. LOL!
I love my keurig! Husband does not like the smell of brewing coffee so I can make as much as I want and it doesn’t smell up the house as much as a regular coffee maker. Plus – i hate wasting stuff and usually it takes me a day to go through a whole pot.
I love coffee…I also love flavored coffee creamer as well. I go through phases. Right now I am in plain old cream and sugar phase…but when fall rolls around, I know I’ll be wanting pumpkin and cinnamon and all that good stuff!! I will have to try your recipe for the pumpkin!
Unrelated, but have you seen Claire’s “Candy Shop” nail polish? I think you’d really like it. Here are some pics ~ http://www.polish-amor.com/2012/02/deborah-lippmanns-candy-shop-dupe.html ~ I’m wearing it now ;)
Ikea has bottles like that as well. It’s where I got mine for all my cooking oils.
I love coffee and try your cold coffee idea a few post ago. It’s great to have a supply of cold coffee on hand. Can’t wait to try the creamers and the syrups. Thanks for all the links, now I can make cashew cream too. Thanks!
I love flavored coffee too, so I think I’m going to have to try making my own flavored creamer! I usually just buy half & half and use flavored coffee beans, but I’ve tried a lot of flavored creamers out there and none of them really impressed me. I do like the So Delicious vanilla coconut milk creamers though.
I really wanted a Keurig (my ex-work place had one!) and the one complaint I always heard was that if you use a flavored k-cup the person after you will always taste it in their coffee. Not a problem for me, but if you don’t like flavored coffee, I think that would stink! Also, my husband brought up the fact that Keurigs make a ton of trash with all of those little plastic k-cups, so we decided not to get one. There are reusable k-cups, but if you’re going to use those, I think a regular coffee maker works just as well!
Diana, good to know about the after taste on the K-cups. I think if I do end up getting one I would keep our regular coffee maker too. Especially so when we have friends over we can make a big pot, plus my husband wouldn’t like his coffee to have the flavor aftertaste haha.
Cassandra, you are so welcome! I have yet to make the cashew cream, but I keep meaning too! There are so many uses for it!
Ivonne, Oh thanks for the head’s up! Our Ikea is about an hour and a half drive, so we don’t go very often :( I’ll have to look for those next time I am there!
Tiffany, Oh goodness gracious I think I need some of this nail polish! What a great color and with the glitter!! :)
Bonnie, yeah whenever I eat out and have coffee I always do the cream and sugar (usually the only choice you have) but it makes me always wonder why I don’t do the same at home because its just a simple good taste.
Malinda, Oh good to know! And so true about the waste…i wonder what kind of crafty projects people could make with the empty k-cups haha
Amanda, my sister in law is pregnant and said the same thing! That decaf has just a certain taste to it!
I’m freaking out over homemade pumpkin creamer!!!! I can’t wait to make it!
I really like Kuerig coffee. They have it at my dentist’s office, BUT my Grind n’ Brew pot is pretty damn fantastic, too. I’ve heard that those K-cups are really expensive.
How sweet are you! Thanks for the shout out little lady! The next time I make syrups I’ll bottle some for you! xoxo
PS – As far as the Keurig goes, I love mine! I like flavored coffee, so I like that I have a ton of options and Bed Bath and Beyond always has little 3 piece sample packs that I pick up to try something before I buy a ton. This is how I Found out I hate chocolate raspberry coffee! haha I do drink a lot of coffee, but like I said, I like the options. I do recommend the reusable kcup though, I get great coffee from some shops around here and am still able to enjoy it. The only downfall is that it is kind of loud when brewing, but ours was free.. Sooo that shouldn’t even matter ;)
Tasha, What!? I want a free one haha, yeah I think it would be nice for me because I like to have a cup of coffee randomly through out the day, and then tom and I can make a pot of coffee together still. I like the idea of the reusable ones too!
Im glad you liked the coffee at my house!! I notice a lot of people commented about the waste. Yes, I do use the throw away cups, but only for guests. The kind you had was pumpkin spice i believe. For everyday use i have a reusable k-cup and I use a bunch of different ground coffees. My favorite is dunkin donuts. You can also use loose tea in them. It makes it a lot nicer and cheaper when you drink more than one cup a day!!