Healthy Homemade Coffee Creamer
Posted Mar 17, 2019, Updated May 12, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
This Healthy Homemade Coffee Creamer Recipe is easy to make with 4 ingredients, and it’s even more delicious than store-bought creamers!
A good friend once said to me, “drinking tea is like getting a friendly handshake, but drinking coffee is like getting a warm hug.” It’s so so true.
I look forward to the warm embrace of a good cup ‘o joe every morning with my breakfast. I do like a touch of sweetness and creaminess in my coffee, which is why I created this homemade coffee creamer recipe.
It tastes amazing but has no artificial ingredients, preservatives, etc.
If you’re a creamer user like me, you will love that this Paleo Vanilla Coffee Creamer is just slightly sweet but adds a wonderful, deep, complex, vanilla flavor to your coffee!
Healthy Coffee Creamer: Ingredients & Substitutions
As always, I recommend making this recipe exactly as written! But here are a few substitutions that are possible.
- Coconut milk: lite works well, but full-fat is best.
- Almond milk. The almond milk is added to this recipe to ensure that it doesn’t solidify when stored. In this case, any other nondairy milk can be used in place of almond milk.
- Coconut sugar: Maple syrup or honey may be used in place of some (or all) of the coconut sugar.
- Vanilla beans: If you want to make this quicker and easier, substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla extract for the vanilla bean. Add the extract once the sugar is dissolved and you remove the mixture from the heat.
How to Make Coffee Creamer
Let’s walk through the steps in making this healthy vanilla coffee creamer and don’t forget to watch the video.
Begin by putting the ingredients (except for vanilla beans) into a small saucepan and whisking to combine.
Next, warm the mixture until it just begins to boil then remove the pan from the heat. Be very careful not to actually let it boil, because it will result in a big mess!
Next, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and stir them into the warm paleo coffee creamer mixture. Then add the whole vanilla bean pods.
After the vanilla beans and pods are added, cover the pot, and let it sit for 30 minutes for the vanilla bean flavor to really infuse into the healthy coffee creamer.
Choose a large glass jar and place a fine mesh metal sieve over it. Strain the vanilla coffee creamer into the jar and discard the vanilla bean pods.
How to Deseed a Vanilla Bean
To remove the seeds from a vanilla bean, follow these instructions:
- Cut the bean in half (as pictured below).
2. Carefully slice each piece of the vanilla bean lengthwise with a very sharp knife. Make shallow cuts that do not go all the way through the pod.
3. Use a small spoon and scrape out the seeds on the inside of the bean.
4. Stir the spoon with the vanilla seeds into the coffee creamer mixture and repeat with the remaining pod pieces!
Using Vanilla Extract
If you use vanilla extract instead of vanilla beans, I still recommend gently warming the ingredients on the stovetop and whisking them until the mixture is smooth.
However, if you use vanilla extract you do not need to use a strainer or let the mixture sit on the stovetop for 30 minutes to infuse! Simply whisk it in!
Store
Store the homemade creamer in a glass jar with a lid in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Freeze
Pour the healthy coffee creamer into an ice cube tray and freeze until hardened.
Transfer the frozen cubes of creamer to an airtight container or bag. Remove one or two cubes at a time to use in your morning coffee. I do recommend warming the frozen homemade coffee creamer in the microwave in your coffee mug before adding the coffee so that it doesn’t cool it off.
Homemade Coffee Creamer Recipe FAQs
If you’re curious about the benefits of making your own coffee creamer, check out this article from Prevention Magazine, where this very recipe was featured, “5 Worst Things in your Coffee Creamer – And What You Should Use Instead.”
While some store bought varieties are not good (at all), this homemade paleo coffee creamer IS totally healthy! It’s dairy-free, refined-sugar free, vegan and paleo! It adds the perfect flavor and creaminess to your coffee without sacrificing health or taste! PLUS it is only 4 ingredients and is crazy easy!
Absolutely! We use coconut milk or coconut cream in this recipe and it turns out amazingly creamy and ultra delicious! Coconut milk is my favorite base for coffee creamer!
If you make and love our recipes, it would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along with us on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so we can see your creations!
Homemade Healthy Coffee Creamer Recipe
Ingredients
- 13.5 ounces coconut milk
- 2 Tablespoons Almond Milk (unsweetened, vanilla)
- 3 Tablespoons coconut sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ vanilla bean
Instructions
- Shake up a can of coconut milk then pour it into a small saucepan.
- Add almond milk and stir to combine.
- Add the coconut sugar & a pinch of salt, whisk to combine.
- Cook over medium-low heat until the mixture just starts bubbling and sugar is dissolved (don’t let it boil or you’ll have a coconutty mess all over your stove)!
- Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add seeds to the milk mixture and stir.
- Put the whole vanilla bean into the pot and cover with a lid.
- Let the mixture sit for at least 30 minutes, or until cooled to room temperature.
- Using a fine mesh strainer, strain your creamer as you pour it into a glass jar. Discard beans.
- Store in a glass jar with a lid in the refrigerator! Give it a shake before adding it to your favorite coffee!
Video
Notes
- Coconut milk: lite works well, but full-fat is best.
- Almond milk. The almond milk is added to this recipe to ensure that it doesn’t solidify when stored. In this case, any other nondairy milk can be used in place of almond milk.
- Coconut sugar: Maple syrup or honey may be used in place of some (or all) of the coconut sugar.
- Vanilla beans: If you want to make this quicker and easier, substitute 1 teaspoon vanilla extract for the vanilla bean. Add the extract once the sugar is dissolved and you remove the mixture from the heat.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve been using canned coconut milk for creamer for a couple of years. When you look at the can it has coconut milk as the ingredient. A lightbulb went off and I thought: I know all of the ingredients! When I buy non-dairy creamer there’s a string of ingredients and I have no idea what they are! Love the idea of adding some vanilla!
Amen Karen! Store-bought creamers all have so many ingredients and I like knowing exactly what is going into my body! A little vanilla bean and a touch of coconut sugar really kicks your morning cup o’ joe up a few notches! 🙂
Dumb question … does coconut milk actually TASTE like coconut? Not a fan, at all, of coconut but this looks delicious. (Ironically … HUGE fan of coconut oil. Go figure!)
Hey Bonnie! No such thing as a dumb question (here comes the chemistry teacher in me LOL)! There are some coconut oils that do not impart any coconut flavor…so your question is completely and totally valid! 😉 Yes, it does have a coconut taste (only slightly though). You probably could use almond or cashew milk but it would definitely not be as creamy and rich as the coconut milk!
I made my own coffee creamer last year (gingerbread flavoured) and it was so good! Need to try this one next 🙂
OooOOoo Giselle gingerbread flavor sounds amazing! I love homemade creamers so much because so many store-bought varieties are filled with ingredients I do not want to put in my body! 😉
Have you tried this. With dates as a sweetner as well? I am on the Whole 30 and might try to make my own using your recipe (even though that is frowned upon????)
If you wanted to use dates I would recommend blending the coconut milk and dates together in a high-powered blender (like the Vitamix) until it’s completely smooth. I might even pass the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer before putting it on the stove and infusing it with vanilla beans! If you try it report back and let me know how it goes! 🙂
What kind of coconut milk do you use?
Hey Samantha! For this creamer I use regular (full fat) coconut milk (not lite)! I use Sprouts brand or this Thai Kitchen Organic (<- click on this for the link)!
Why is mine so oily when I put it in my coffee?
I just have to ask…where did you get the very cute decal for your coffee cup? The you are my sunshine one? And the creamer looks delicious!
Hey Amber! I actually found that mug on clearance at Hobby Lobby!!!
I can’t wait to try this! I love to put my coffee into the blender with whatever additions and blend it up! It turns it into a delicious, frothy latte! I’m for sure doing that with this!
Oooooh Shannon that sounds SO good!
Yum! What a great idea. I’ve got so many lactose intolerant friends who would love this recipe! We’ve shared some pretty amazing recipes of our own too that I think you might like, check them out! http://bubbies.com/kitchen
I am lactose intolerant and this recipe changed my life! No more store-bought dairy-free creamers for me! 🙂
Can’t wait to try this looks so yummy ☕️
Hi Laura! This creamer looks amazing. I was just wondering, does it need to cook down at all, or do you take it off the heat as soon as the sugar is dissolved?
Hey Kelin! It does not need to cook down at all! As soon as the sugar is dissolved I add the vanilla bean seeds and mix them in. Then I toss in the pods, cover and let it sit for at least 30 minutes! 🙂
I bought the vanilla bean paste. I hope I can figure this in. The store I was in didn’t have the whole beans.
I to have moved away from the creamers because of all the artificial ingredients that you can’t pronounce. I use to just pour that stuff freely into my coffee, then I started to measure it and now I have completely switched over to just using 4 tbsp of organic half and half. So my morning sunshine in a cup comes to 85 calories. This recipe looks delicious , do you know the calories in it?
Hey Michele! I do not know the calorie count but you can easily use a website like this to figure out the nutritional information! 🙂