As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more and more aware of the foods I put into my body. Mainly, I try to stay away from items with lots of preservatives and ingredients that I can’t pronounce. Some would say that giving up coffee would be a good place to start when trying to rid your routine of things that are less than great for you, but I am a coffee fanatic and so to that I say NAY! However, I did cut out coffee creamer about a year ago and started drinking my coffee black. I think what really got me thinking about it was that fact that you could leave most creamers in those little restaurant cups, or the giant pump bottles, out on the counter, unrefrigerated for days, weeks and maybe even months. That seemed odd to me. Isn’t creamer a sort of dairy product? How is it possible that it can sit out without spoiling? So I looked to the ingredients, and was surprised by all of the ingredients on the bottle that I was unable to pronounce.

This was enough for me to take the plunge and cut it out of my routine completely; however, my husband still loves a little coffee with his creamer, so I felt that I had to find a healthier solution that would still satisfy his sweet cravings. We tried the “natural” version of what we would normally buy, but man, is that stuff expensive (even though the ingredients list did look much better). Naturally, I took to the internet to see what it would take to make our own creamer, and here is what I found:

You can make your own hazelnut creamer using only three ingredients.

Isn’t that amazing? And so cost effective too. The hazelnut extract is probably the most expensive ingredient, but will last through several jars of creamer as it only takes 1-2 tsp per batch. Simply throw all the ingredients in a mason jar, shake it up and you are good to go! It’s that easy! And yes, this does need to be refrigerated. Enjoy!

Hazelnut Coffee Creamer

1 pint of half & half

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1-2 tsp of hazelnut extract (to suit your taste)

Take all ingredients, add to a mason jar and shake until blended.

Refrigerate for up to about two weeks or until the expiration date on the half & half.

We haven’t tried any other flavors yet (hazelnut is the hubs fav), but I imagine you could do this with any number of different extracts or flavorings. Some ideas might be vanilla, peppermint, chocolate, cinnamon or maybe even a combination. Let me know if you try any of these flavors and what you think of the recipe. Have you cut out any foods that you think may be less than ideal for your health? If so, what are they and are you substituting for healthier versions, or cutting them out completely?