Looking for a healthier replacement for your coffee creamer? This delicious homemade caramel vanilla coffee creamer is dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan, and free of refined sugar.
Confession: up until 1 week ago, I hated coffee. I’ve always wanted to like it because the smell always gets me. I love coffee ice cream and other coffee flavored treats, but a regular ‘ole cup of joe was never my cup of tea. Ha.. I do love tea.
Anyway, last week while I was home visiting my parents I kept smelling their coffee and I wanted some so bad. I had a cup and ended up really enjoying it. Not sure what changed, but I’m now a coffee drinker!
If you love those flavored coffee creamers available, but are looking for a homemade alternative, this recipe is for you!
You only need 4 ingredients to make this creamer – almond milk, coconut milk, coconut sugar, and vanilla. Now, you can easily substitute the almond-coconut mixture for half and half if you prefer. I try to avoid refined white sugar as much as possible, so I used coconut sugar for sweetening. It’s very similar to brown sugar in flavor, so feel free to sub that or even white sugar if you’d like.
I start by cooking the sugar with a little water to get that caramel flavor. After boiling for 2 minutes, pour in the milk mixture and whisk until smooth. Take it off the heat and stir in the vanilla. That’s all there is to it!
I use 2 tablespoons in my coffee – it adds enough flavor and sweetness without covering up the coffee flavor. However you can start out with 1 tablespoon and go from there to find out your perfect amount.
Oh, and I should mention that a 2 tablespoon serving is only 33 calories! Low calorie and real ingredients? Yes!
- ½ Cup Coconut Palm Sugar*
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- ½ Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
- ½ Cup Coconut Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Vanilla Extract
- Combine the coconut sugar and water in a small pot over medium-high heat. Whisk the mixture until the sugar dissolves and allow it to come to a boil. Boil the sugar mixture for 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat to low and pour in the almond and coconut milk – working quickly whisk the mixture until smooth. (It will be the color of a light caramel sauce).
- Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool completely and then store in a glass bottle in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
- *This may seem like a lot of sugar, but I started with half this amount and I felt it needed to be sweeter. A 1-2 tablespoon serving of the creamer doesn't add a lot of sweetness to your coffee, just a little bit. So, if you find it too sweet for your tastes just add less creamer to your coffee or play around with the sugar amount in the recipe!
- A 2 tablespoon serving contains around 33 calories!
- This recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free, and vegan!
I love the smell of coffee but have never been able to drink it either. This creamer looks heavenly though!
Thanks Mariah! Not sure what changed for me, but now I love it! Haha
Hello,
It does look nice. However, I have been experimenting with a variety of nondairy dreamers and find that some of them separate and curdle in my coffee cup. It would be so helpful to read in the recipe itself whether your creation is resistant to curdling. Thank you 🙂
Hi Tara! I have not had an issue with curdling, but I have found that if you add the creamer into your cup first and then pour the coffee while stirring with a spoon it helps to prevent curdling!
What a nice little treat for my morning coffee! I gave up the chemical creamers years ago, but I do miss a good flavored creamer every now and again. I’m a total coffee junkie so I know I’ll be trying this out!
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How long does this keep?
Hi Laura! This will keep up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator 🙂
Did you use original coconut milk or unsweetened coconut milk?
I use canned coconut milk that is unsweetened. You could use sweetened and just leave out or cut down on the sweetener 🙂
Hi Sarah! I wouldn’t say one specifically worries me, I just don’t like the idea of drinking a mixture of hydrogenated oils, sugars, and synthetic stabilizers/thickeners. I try my best to avoid things I can’t pronounce! I’d rather just use fresh cream or homemade flavored creamers, like this recipe 🙂
You stated to store in a glass bottle. I’m getting ready to start my first batch 🙂 can it be stored in a plastic bottle?
Yes, a plastic bottle is just fine! Enjoy 🙂
This seems like a silly question, but does this end up having a coconut flavor? I keep seeing all these recipes using coconut milk and other coconut products, and I am always curious if you can taste the coconut (as I am not a huge coconut fan). Thanks!
Not a silly question at all, Robin! I personally never taste coconut when using coconut milk in recipes, it’s very mild in flavor and can easily be “covered up” by other flavors. If you do find that you can taste it, you can usually get away with substituting almond milk although the end product won’t have the same thickness as when using coconut milk. Hope that helps! 🙂
Hi, do you whole full fat coconut milk or light coconut milk in can?
Full fat, but light will work, too. It will just be thinner in consistency.
I drink dandelion coffee and tried it with your creamer. It was delicious. Thank you for the healthy option.
I made this this morning and it’s amazing! I’m even breaking my no coffee after 2PM rule to have a second cup just for the creamer. For those wondering, it’s really not too sweet and doesn’t overpower the coffee flavor as much as the store bought flavored creamers.
In the morning a cup of coffee. Aha
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Nice Post. I love this blog very much.
drink dandelion coffee and tried it with your creamer. It was delicious. Thank you for the healthy option.
Thanks for making this recipe easy to follow!
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Great post
i love the way you describe the recipe. i made the recipe and enjoying the cricket match
You have the smooth caramel and vanilla creamer to pour into your favorite brew.
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Can you use regular sugar in this recipe?