Homemade Coffee Creamer Is Frugal and a Healthier Alternative to Store Bought
I enjoy a good herbal tea on these cold fall mornings. Sometimes I even like to have honey and creamer in it, but while they taste great, I really hate all the preservatives that are found in commercial creamers. Plus I’m always looking for a budget friendly way to enjoy my favorite things. Enter homemade coffee creamer.
So I did some internet searching and I’ve come up with my own version of this versatile creamer. There are several things I like about making this myself
- -I know what’s in it. I can make it organic with little effort.
- -I can adjust the spices to fit the season. Pumpkin pie, vanilla, caramel, nutmeg or peppermint. The possibilities are endless.
- -I can sweeten it with flavored syrups or keep it unsweetened.
- -It is versatile – we use it on our morning quinoa or oatmeal too!
- -It’s easy to mix up a small batch so we can experiment with flavor combinations.
- -Homemade creamer is budget friendly. The cost for 24 ounces is approx. $1.80
- -With a bit of modification using powdered milk, it is food storage friendly.
The ingredients:
12-oz can of evaporated milk
12-oz of half and half
Your favorite spice to taste. (Start with 2 tsp. of dry spice or extract, but I always use more!)
To Mix
In a large canning jar add 12 ounces of evaporated milk and 12 ounces of ½ and ½
Add 2 teaspoons of your chosen spice, cap and shake the jar thoroughly to incorporate. Add more spice if you wish.
Store your homemade coffee creamer in a container that is easy to pour and has a tight fitting lid. It should last for two weeks – if you can keep it around for that long!
This recipe can also be made with sweetened condensed milk in place of the evaporated milk. Your finished product will be sweeter, of course. We use evaporated milk because we like to add honey or agave to our herbal tea and the condensed milk makes it too sweet.
Food Storage Modification
Make evaporated milk with your powdered milk in storage. Bet you didn’t know it was so easy! You only need two simple ingredients:
2/3 cup non-fat dry milk
3/4 cup water
Mix the water and dry milk powder together. Then, use in place of the evaporated milk in any recipe. This will make 1 cup
You can convert evaporated milk into sweetened condensed milk by adding sugar to it. For each cup of evaporated milk add about 1 and 1/4 cups of sugar. Pour the mixture in a pan, stir while heating on the stove top until the sugar completely dissolves. Let cool.
What flavors are you going to try making?
Shared with: Natural Family Friday – HomeAcre Hop – From the Farm Hop – Real Food Friday – Good Neighbor Blog Hop –
I like your version! I have resorted to drinking my coffee black lately but kinda miss my creamer. I might have to try this one.
Thanks for stopping by Vanessa! I’ve tried most of the online versions and this is my favorite.
I am a lot like Vanessa and have taken to drinking my coffee black with sugar of course but it wasn’t very long ago I couldn’t drink my coffee without milk or creamer. I also got spoiled on the flavored creamers in the grocery store but they are expensive. A house full of teenagers that would drink it like they were making a milkshake and I decided to go black. If I wasn’t having creamer nobody was having creamer. This is a good recipe. I had ran across one similar and I made it a time or two. I do agree that there’s other uses other than just coffee. It is great in oatmeal and other things too. Thanks so much for coming over for a visit and sharing at the Good Neighbor Hop!
Sounds yummy!
Thanks for sharing on The HomeAcre Hop! I hope you’ll stop by and share your posts with us on The Thankful HomeAcre Hop today!
http://www.theselfsufficienthomeacre.com/2013/11/the-thankful-homeacre-hop.html
Congratulations! A featured post at the Good Neighbor Hop.
Thanks Lynn, love your blog!
Can I use regular milk instead of half and half
Sure Stephanie, it may not be as creamy but it should still taste great.
Is it possible to can the creamer?
I haven’t done research on it Terry, but you could pressure can it with the same specifications as you would milk. Check any reliable canning book for instructions.