I love my coffee creamer. It’s a staple in my house. So when I discovered what was in it, I was thrown for a loop.
An “unfortunate” consequence of reading food blogs is that now I read ingredient lists on my food. Sometimes I think, “it’s not that bad” and move on (tortilla chips), sometimes I just feel guilty but do nothing about it (like barbecue sauce), and sometimes I decide to change (like margarine).
Coffee creamer was one of those things. This was a punch in the gut to read the ingredient list on my coffee creamer. It’s main ingredient is partially hydrogenated oil.
And again, now that I read homemaking blogs, I know what this oil is. It’s a manufactured product that our body really doesn’t know what to do with, and some say that it does to our body what trans fats do. (If you’re interested in more info, look here, but I’ll warn you: you’ll never look at your food the same way again.)
Thankfully, about the same time I learned about my beloved coffee creamer, my friend Rebecca mentioned that she had made her own creamer and sent me the blog with the recipe. So I had to try it.
I did the French Vanilla creamer recipe. I didn’t have a vanilla bean (who does?) so I used vanilla extract.
The recipe made 16 ounces, the same size as my basic coffee creamer.
The taste? It was good, but not as good as my regular one. It was definitely better than simply using whole milk.
How much did it cost? Here’s my breakdown:
Heavy Cream: $1.35
Whole Milk: $0.23
Pure Maple Syrup: $1.50
Vanilla: $0.19
Total: $3.27
The verdict? Since it was just okay, and since it ended up costing more than I expected, I may try Coffee Mate’s Natural Bliss creamer next time it’s on sale. Unlike the regular creamer, Natural Bliss is actually made of milk and has no hydrogenated oils. It does have sugar and other flavors, so that’s the one downside.
Should I go the cheap route and just use whole milk? Should I go the natural route and make my own? Or should I go somewhere in the middle and buy Natural Bliss (or something similar)? I’m still up in the air on this one, but one thing is for sure. No more regular coffee creamer for me.
I have to agree that it wasn’t nearly as good as my highly sweetened, normal coffee creamer. And the price was certainly more than I would have typically spent on coffee creamer. To me, it was more of a way of breaking out of the conventional coffee creamer rut and on to something more wholesome, and a way to change my taste buds to something not as sweet. Since I still have half a carton of heavy cream, I’ll probably try a different flavor next, but let me know how the Natural Bliss tastes. I will keep a lookout for cheaper creamer alternatives. I wonder if stevia would sweeten it up better than the maple syrup did…
I have to agree that it wasn’t nearly as good as my highly sweetened, normal coffee creamer. And the price was certainly more than I would have typically spent on coffee creamer. To me, it was more of a way of breaking out of the conventional coffee creamer rut and on to something more wholesome, and a way to change my taste buds to something not as sweet. Since I still have half a carton of heavy cream, I’ll probably try a different flavor next, but let me know how the Natural Bliss tastes. I will keep a lookout for cheaper creamer alternatives. I wonder if stevia would sweeten it up better than the maple syrup did…
Jill: I use Fat Free 1/2 and 1/2 and just add vanilla. Use a good vanilla. Make up as much as you would like. I also have a recipe using fat free sweetened condensed milk but it has a ton of sugar. The healthy way is the ff 1/2 and 1/2.
Jill: I use Fat Free 1/2 and 1/2 and just add vanilla. Use a good vanilla. Make up as much as you would like. I also have a recipe using fat free sweetened condensed milk but it has a ton of sugar. The healthy way is the ff 1/2 and 1/2.