Homemade Healthy Coffee Creamers - Easy and SOOOO Good!

I love coffee in the morning. Every morning. Especially after the alarm has gone off waaaay too early. See, I'm not a morning person. I try to be. I have been working at it for many years but no luck. Every time I get some time off I end up staying up late and sleeping in. It's just part of my body's natural rhythm. 

But duty calls. Work meetings often start at 7 AM so I have to be up and starting my day by 5:30 or 6:00 AM. Coffee is my saving grace at that point. 

I started drinking coffee with those flavored creamers. They made the coffee sweet and took away the bitterness. I have quite the sweet tooth so this was a yummy way to start my morning. 

As I have moved to healthier eating, I kept drinking creamers for a while since I figured I wasn't ingesting too much of them each day. However, I then realized what I was doing. I had cleaned up my diet but was ingesting chemicals, and things that cause cell inflammation, first thing in the morning and essentially starting my day in the worst possible way. 

It was time to make my own. 

I also found cacao. Ooooh. I am spoiled. I mean really spoiled. I have a friend that lives in Guatemala and has found someone who harvests WILD cacao beans, processes them as little as possible, and creates bricks of the best cacao in the world. I love this stuff. I add it to my coffee every chance I get. 

I also found raw honey and other things that make my coffee taste fabulous and make my body feel good. By the way, if you use the raw honey recommended below, take a spoonful and eat it every morning along with putting one in your coffee. 

Coffee "Creamer"

1/2 cup almond, coconut, or hemp milk, unsweetened and unflavored
2 Tablespoons Raw Honey
(adjust to taste)
3-4 Tablespoons raw cacao (adjust to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg or any spice you like (adjust to taste)

Add the milk, honey, and cacao to a double boiler. Heat gently until the honey and cacao are melted. Remove from heat and sprinkle in cinnamon and other spices of your choosing. Pour into a pitcher and viola! Homemade Creamer. This will last for a few days, depending on how much coffee you drink and how much creamer you use. 
 
I found these cool little Mini Glass Creamer bottles at Crate and Barrel that are now on sale for 50 cents! They are not only cute--adorable even!--but I can easily carry them to work with me so I don't have to use the creamers provided at work.






Variations:

• Amaretto Creamer:  Add a teaspoon of almond extract to the milk instead of the cinnamon and omit the cacao for almond or amaretto flavoring. 
• Vanilla Creamer:  Omit the cacao and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract or vanilla bean (split, insides removed, and all added to the pot with the milk). Steep the vanilla bean for at least a half hour. Strain the mixture before you put it into the pitcher. 
• Almond "Joy": Use coconut milk, 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract. You can keep the cacao or leave it out depending on your mood. 

Can you see where these recipes are going? Just add in whatever flavors you love. Keep the ingredients all organic and as unprocessed as possible. If you can't figure out the ingredients for a certain flavor favorite, post a comment and I will help. 

Now, it's time for my morning joe! Ahhhhh

Happy Sipping!
Laureen