Coffee snobs may loath to admit it, but lots of people love coffee creamer. While there is nothing wrong with touting the rich flavor and complexity that good coffee can have on its own, coffee creamers are just fun. Not everybody is going to shell out for the highest quality small batch single origin coffee beans, grind them fresh, and spend a pretty penny on expensive coffee making equipment. Plenty of people are still making perfectly decent coffee the old fashioned way, and creamers are a great, convenient way to add a little flavor to average coffee, or to just bring a little treat into your day. But you don’t have to rely on Coffee Mate creamers or other brands, you can actually make your own coffee creamers at home for cheap, and they will be even better than store bought.
To learn the details, we reached out to an expert, Jee Choe, a coffee and tea sommelier and the creator of the “Oh, How Civilized” blog, to ask her about how she makes DIY coffee creamer. It turns out, you can make coffee creamer quickly with just a few basic ingredients. Choe says, “I make my own vanilla creamer recipe using milk, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract. It takes less than 5 minutes and it’s delicious in coffee.” It’s not a complicated recipe or process at all. She explains that you just “simmer equal parts milk and sweetened condensed milk, take off heat, then add vanilla extract.”
Homemade coffee creamer is as simple as mixing milk and sweetened condensed milk with your favorite flavors
While your homemade coffee creamer won’t last as long as store-bought options that are filled with preservatives, you can still make your coffee creamer ahead of time. For storage, Choe says, “The creamer can be put into an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.” And one of the best parts about having such a simple, versatile base is that it’s easy to add more flavor to your homemade coffee creamer.
When heating your creamer, the vanilla extract can easily be swapped out for a whole range of ingredients to suit your personal taste. Many classic creamer flavors like hazelnut or peppermint also have extracts available at most grocery stores. Just make sure that you take it easy with any extract, including vanilla, and add a little at a time and taste, because they are often very potent. But you don’t need to limit yourself to extracts either. Some cocoa powder will make a great mocha creamer, and the same thing will work with a little drizzle of caramel.
What’s really fun about creamers, of course, is not just classic flavors but the unique combos that you can make. Cinnamon roll creamer is just a drop of vanilla and spoonful of cinnamon away. Or try swapping out the milk for coconut milk and adding a little almond extract. There is no reason Coffee Mate should have all the fun.
