Some folks have a nice balanced breakfast every morning, which I admire greatly! Bravo to you glorious morning folks that roll out of bed with such zest and vigor to face each new day and make miraculous breakfasts every single morning!! I make coffee. Generally, consuming about 4 cups before I even think about lunch and dinner lol. I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but I prefer my waffles after noon :) Coffee is my breakfast. Like I said I take my Cup o' Joe seriously and with lots of cream and sugar. In recent years, I have scaled back on the sugar, not because I don't love it, but because I'm not getting any younger and its no secret that sugar isn't the healthiest thing out there. But I'm not messing around with Splenda or any of that other healthy alternative sweetener shtuff. I give all of you who do make breakfast and use sugar substitutes my utmost admiration, but it's not for moi. Can't even do it. I have limits and I don't like to push them (usually).
The first recipe I tried was from a marvelous Pinterest search which flooded me with everything from basic French Vanilla to flavors like Samoa Girl Scout Cookies or the seasonal flavs like Pumpkin Spice. I will say if you decide to add cinnamon to your homemade creamer... heat it up a bit otherwise you'll get lumpy cinnamon clumps instead of a creamy cinnamon CREAMurrr! Not so awesome, it was still good, but not what I had envisioned it would be lol! I intend to play around and make a wide array of kooky flavor concoctions because really the flavor possibilities are limitless! Today, I decided to make a Chocolate Almond Flavored Creamer. It just seemed like the right thing to do, I ran out of my last batch, and I had all 4 INGREDIENTS handy, so it seemed like fate wanted it that way :)
~Chocolate Covered Almond Creamer~
The base creamer recipe I've been using includes:
Approximately 1&2/3 cup ~ 2 cups Whole or 2% Milk (you could probably use skim or whatever milk you generally drink, but I'm not a skim milk gal and I can't say how that would turn out)
And 1 14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
From there the flavor possibilities are truly limitless (well mostly anyways) For basic french vanilla, add 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract. WHALA you have French Vanilla Creamer. I will say it is always better to add more later if you want a more intense vanilla or whatever kind of flavor rather than to add too much at the start and regret it come taste time. A little goes along way sometimes with spices and too much of a good thing can turn REALLY BAD quickly and taste super unpleasant!
To pump up the base creamer recipe: I added 3 TBSP of Chocolate Syrup and 2 tsp of Almond Extract. I put all 4 ingredients in a clean, quart sized mason jar with a lid and gave it a good shake. You'll want to shake it before each use as well because the ingredients tend to separate, especially the sweetened condensed milk. It's heavy, sticky, and likes to chill or settle on the bottom of the jar, so a good shaking is highly recommended. Keep refrigerated just as you would a store bought creamer. I've never had to worry about the longevity or lifespan of creamer with the amount of coffee I consume, but it should last a week or two refrigerated just as the store bought does if the ingredients used are fresh. Don't use milk that is on the verge of badness/expiration and expect the creamer to remain pleasant for too long :)
(If you look closely, you can see the sweetened condensed milk chillin' on the very bottom like it likes to do :) So give it a super shake to fully blend all the ingredients)!
Hope you enjoy your next cup of coffee, especially.... knowing how to pronounce ALL the ingredients in your very own homemade creamers. Cheers!
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