I recently bought this shirt:
Because, you know… coffee.
I have successfully reduced the amount of sugar I put in my coffee over the last few years. This has been aided by drinking better quality coffee, as well… the crappy stuff tends to taste more bitter, and therefore, needs sweetening up.
I used to love buying those International Delight coffee creamers–vanilla in particular was my fave. But then I read the list of ingredients…. and. Yeah. I never bought those again.
So I started to do some research on making your own vegan coffee creamer. Ideally, it would be thick and creamy, but not loaded with bad fats. It would be a little sweet, but not too sweet, and taste vanilla-y.
Bam! Enter this cashew-based thick and creamy deliciousness.
I sweetened it with dates (and cashews are also quite naturally sweet), so it’s also refined-sugar free.
What I love about this creamer, is that you could basically add whatever flavour you like to it. Cinnamon would be great, or cardamom. I really love coffee and cardamom together.
And it’s really simple to make.
Vegan Coffee Creamer
Ingredients:
- ½ cup raw cashews (unsalted)
- 1 ½ cups water
- 4 dates (pitted)
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (optional)
- cinnamon, cardamom (optional)
Method:
Place your cashews and dates in a 500 ml mason jar and cover with the water. Screw on the top and allow to sit on the counter for 4-6 hours (or if you let it sit overnight, put it in the fridge).- Pour the whole mess into your blender (most recipes call to drain the cashews and then use a clean 1 ½ cups of water to blend. You can do this. I didn’t, because I wanted to retain as much of the dates’ sweetness as possible. I didn’t die), and add the vanilla, pinch of salt, and whatever other optional seasonings you like. Now blend it like crazy on the highest setting for a couple of minutes.
- Pour back into a clean mason jar and store in the fridge.