Rachael Recipe: Vanilla Paleo/Primal Coffee Creamer

I have loved coffee, strong and sweet, for decades.  The sweeter, the better. I have been addicted to CoffeeMate French Vanilla Creamer for years.  Before that, I would take my coffee with half and half and a ton of sugar.  Bad me.

This past summer, when I started clean-eating, I was able to cut out everything in my diet that has corn syrup.  It was surprisingly easy to do so.  With one exception: my creamer. I tried going back to real cream or half and half in an attempt to be primal. Then I tried almond milk, and then coconut milk on separate occasions, with great disappointment. Neither did the trick by themselves. And don't get me started on using honey alone in coffee. UGH!

I really wanted to get past this last bit of evilness in my diet, and I scoped out recipes on the interwebz for coffee creamers that didn't use sugar or any sugar substitute, but was still sweet. I saw recipes using date paste (dates that have been run through a food processor to a paste-like consistency, natch), but the idea of that much work making a pitcher of creamer for a week made my lazy bones want to take a nap.  Besides, I am not that much of a date fan.

I've been using honey for a sweetener lately (not in my coffee, plain honey to sweeten my coffee just tasted gross) in general cooking, and over the months I realized that honey did not spike my blood sugar the way corn syrup, sugar, or sugar substitutes did.  Now, I cannot vouch that this is true for everyone, so if you are a diabetic, please check your glucose and monitor what honey does for you, personally.

Here's a recipe that I've come up with, that works for me. It's sweet, rich, and totally tames my urges for the unhealthy creamer I've been ingesting for years:

Paleo or Primal Vanilla Coffee Creamer

• One can of full fat coconut milk (shake can well before opening to re-distribute the cream into the water)
• Equal parta non-sweetened Almond Milk (I used the coconut can to measure)
• Honey, to taste (I have used 2 tablespoons up to 1/4 cup - I generally eyeball it and taste as I go)
• 2 teaspoons of Vanilla extract
• For extra richness, a heaping tablespoon of Coconut Cream Concentrate (optional)
•  1 heaping teaspoon of Cinnamon (optional) 

1. Throw it all into a saucepan and heat on the lowest setting of your stove, whisking constantly, until everything is melted and incorporated. Don't let it scorch on the bottom. Whisk!
2. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate until cool. 
3. Shake or stir well before use.
4. Drink and enjoy!

Notes: 

1. The coconut cream concentrate is not necessary for this recipe to taste good, it  just adds a little bit of extra richness. It can also give a little bit of a grainy mouth feel, due to the finely shredded coconut bits in it, so some people might not care for it in a coffee creamer. If you don't have it, don't worry about it.

2. This recipe lasts in the fridge for about 4-5 days. After that it gets a slightly different taste, and while not bad, fresher is better, so don't make more than you can consume in that time frame.

3. If you are feeling adventurous, swapping the Cinnamon for Unsweetened Cocoa would be an excellent idea, just make sure to heat and whisk, as cocoa doesn't like to incorporate very well. An immersion blender would work well, too.

4. When I first started this particular venture, I worried that the ingredients in this would separate after being left in the fridge. However, this did not happen, I was, frankly, shocked at this. Just a shake or a stir was enough to get it all back together.  However, a friend of mine had suggested to freeze the finished product in ice cube trays, and use the cubes in your coffee.  It's a brilliant idea, but one I haven't tried yet.

Addendum:  I would normally attempt to take pictures, even though they would be lousy. However, at the time of writing this, I was using an unusual ingredient that turned out to be a bonus.  See, DaMan and I make our almond milk at home, because we prefer to use it unsweetened for cooking. The last time it was made, someone (I won't name names) accidentally made almond milk using toasted almonds. The result is an unappetizing looking product that was perfectly fine for use in coffee creamer. In fact it gave is a great toasted almond flavor that I played up with by using almond extract and cinnamon. YUM!