Homemade Low Carb Coffee Creamer

**NEW RECIPES ARE POSTED AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST**

If you try any recipe from this blog, TRY THIS ONE!!!! I was drinking 20+ grams of carbs a day in 4 tablespoons of store bought coffee creamer until I started making my own. This recipe is adaptable for many different flavors and as I try different flavor options, I will post the recipes here.

I’m not even going to go into the ingredients in store bought creamer, but if you’ve ever read them, I bet you can’t pronounce some of them. Plus they are loaded with sugar and made with milk. That equals CARBS! Here’s the back of the creamer that was in my fridge.

My recipe uses unsweetened almond milk which has less than 1 gram of carbs per cup and vanilla almond milk which has 16 grams of carbs per cup! Plus it’s free of dairy, soy, gluten, lactose, cholesterol, eggs, casein & MSG. No artificial flavors, colors or high fructose corn syrup.

I do add 1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk to thicken the creamer and add sweetness, but this could be optional if you are trying to avoid dairy. Instead of the sweetened condensed milk, you could add more honey for sweetness, but your creamer will be a thinner consistency.

My first batch is Cinnamon Vanilla.

Cinnamon Vanilla

What you need;

The Base:
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
2 cups vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup honey (use a good local or organic honey)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Flavoring:
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tbls cinnamon

How to make;

Pour almond milk into a saucepan and heat to a low simmer. Whisk in the honey and condensed milk. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cinnamon and vanilla. Remove the pan from the stove to cool. Once cooled pour into a reusable airtight container. This should last 7-10 days refrigerated.

Tips: I like my creamer sweet, if you don’t like it very sweet then start with 2-3 tbls of honey and taste it along the way. Possibly omit the honey and use the vanilla and cinnamon as the only flavoring. Omit the condensed milk if you are wanting dairy free, but remember that is a contributing factor to the sweetness and thickness. I urge you to experiment with different flavors and experiment with the ingredients you use and how much you use.

Here’s the carb breakdown;

2 tsp pure vanilla extract = 1 gram of carbs
1/2 tbls cinnamon = 3 grams of carbs
2 cups of unsweetened almond milk has less than 1 gram of carbs per cup. I valued each cup at 0.5 grams of carbs for a total of = 1 grams of carbs
2 cups of vanilla almond milk = 16 grams of carbs per cup x 2 cups = 32 grams of carbs
1/4 cup of honey = 68 grams of carbs
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk = 88 grams of carbs

The whole batch of 4.5 cups = 193 grams of carbs. There are 72 tablespoons in 4.5 cups, that means that 193/72 = 2.68 grams of carbs per tablespoon of creamer!

If those numbers don’t convince you to try this recipe, I don’t know what will! It’s even more satisfying knowing that I know what ingredients are in my coffee creamer and it’s SUPER EASY TO MAKE!

Oh, and did I mention this is low fat and low calorie too?!

This creamer is sweet enough where I don’t need to add any sugar or sweetener! I use about 4 tbls of this creamer which is 10.72 grams of carbs!

Compared to my previous method with store bought creamer which was 5 grams of carbs per tablespoon for a total of 20 grams of carbs.

I’ve cut my carb intake from creamer IN HALF! I also know exactly what ingredients are in my creamer, too!

Check back often for new flavor combinations!

*NEW FLAVORS*

Vanilla Almond

The base:
2 cups vanilla almond milk
2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Flavoring:
1 tbls pure almond extract
2 tsp pure vanilla extract.

Pour the almond milk into a saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Whisk in the condensed milk and honey. Remove from heat and whisk in the extracts. Let cool and store in a reusable container.

Here’s the carb breakdown.

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk = 88 grams of carbs
1/4 cup of honey = 68 grams of carbs
2 cups vanilla almond milk = 32 grams of carbs
2 cups unsweetened almond milk = 1 gram of carbs
1 tbls almond extract = 1.6 grams of carbs
2 tsp vanilla extract = 1 gram of carbs

The whole batch makes 4 1/2 cups = 191.6 grams of carbs. There are 72 tablespoons in 4.5 cups, so 191.6/72 = 2.66 grams of carbs per tablespoon of creamer.

Simply Vanilla

The base:
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
3 cups vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Flavoring:
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Pour the almond milk into a saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Whisk in the condensed milk and honey. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract. Let cool and store in a reusable container.

Here’s the carb breakdown.

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk = 88 grams of carbs
1/4 cup of honey = 68 grams of carbs
3 cups vanilla almond milk = 48 grams of carbs
1 cup unsweetened almond milk = 0.5 gram of carbs
2 tsp vanilla extract = 1 gram of carbs

The whole batch makes 4 1/2 cups = 205.5 grams of carbs. There are 72 tablespoons in 4.5 cups, so 205.5/72 = 2.85 grams of carbs per tablespoon of creamer.

Hazelnut

The base:
3 cups original almond milk
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

Flavoring:
8 tbls Torani Hazelnut syrup

Pour the almond milk into a saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Whisk in the condensed milk and honey. Remove from the heat and whisk in the hazelnut syrup. Let cool and store in a reusable container.

Here’s the carb breakdown.

3 cups original almond milk = 24 grams of carbs
1/4 cup honey = 68 grams of carbs
1/2 cup + 2 tbls sweetened condensed milk = 110 grams of carbs
8 tbls Torani Hazelnut Syrup = 76 grams of carbs

The whole batch makes 4 1/2 cups = 278 grams of carbs. There are 72 tablespoons in 4.5 cups, so 278/72 = 3.86 grams of carbs per tablespoon of creamer.

Coconut

I must say that this flavor is my favorite so far! I absolutely love the Coffee Mate Coconut Creamer and the International Delight Almond Joy Creamer. Those are the two store bought creamers that I couldn’t pull myself away from, but this recipe has me officially hooked on homemade creamer only! I’m going to warn you in advance that this recipe is a process, it takes more time and effort than the other recipes, but it is SO WORTH IT!

The base:

4 cups original flavor coconut milk

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Flavoring:

2 1/2 cups of shredded coconut (I had sweetened so that’s what I used)

Pour the coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk into a saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in the shredded coconut. Let it steep for 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally. Pour the mixture into a blender and blend for about a minute. Then pour the mixture into a strainer over a bowl. Push the liquid through the strainer until it’s all in the bottom bowl. Throw away the coconut. Store in a reusable container.

*If you don’t have a fine mesh strainer or one with small holes, you may need to strain the mixture more than once if you don’t want any coconut pieces in your creamer*

The carb breakdown is going to be complicated on this recipe because we don’t actually keep all of the coconut in the creamer, but it has released it’s flavor – it’s sugar, so I’m going to give you a range of what the carbs per tablespoon could be.

Carb Breakdown

4 cups coconut milk = 32 grams of carbs

2 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut = 140 grams of carbs

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk = 88 grams of carbs

Total carbs = 260. Before straining the mixture, it’s 6 cups total. There are 96 tablespoons in 6 cups, so 260/96 = 2.70 grams of carbs per tablespoon or creamer (low end range). BUT, once it’s strained it’s 4 cups and we’ve thrown away all the coconut, however it has given us that great flavor, so if you figure it at 4 cups, the breakdown is this…..There are 64 tablespoons in 4 cups, so 260/64 = 4.06 grams of carbs per tablespoon (high end range). I decided to average the two totals and I’m telling myself that it has 3.38 grams of carbs per tablespoon. If anyone knows the correct way to figure this, please let me know!