So about that coffee shop?

Remember a while ago when I talked about buying a coffee shop?  No we didn't buy one, and no one moved into the old shop so we still have no coffee shop in town.  That's defiantly a good thing for my budget though!  But I have found I am addicted to my morning cup of joe.  And it has to have creamer in it.  Not just regular creamer, I prefer the flavored liquid kind.  But once again it's one thing I hate to pay for because it's not cheap.  We do buy the big bottles of liquid creamer but they only last about 2 weeks. It's not a huge budget blower, but I wondered once again if I could make it cheaper.  And so my recipe search continued.  I've tried a few but I think I've found one that is pretty yummy!  And thankfully it doesn't require much work.  Another good thing about it is there are lots of variation you can make from it!

So what do you need to get started?  Really all you need is one can of sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk) and milk.  That's it!  Anything else you add is just for flavor.   I wanted to try out the cinnamon bun so I added in vanilla, almond and cinnamon.  

 First take your your sweetened milk (14oz can)  and pour it in a bowl, Next fill up your empty can with milk.  Yes all the way to the top, and no I didn't even spill!

 Take out your handy whisk and mix away!

 For cinnamon bun, I added 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon almond extract and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. This was almost too much cinnamon for me, next time I'm cutting it back to 1.5 tbsp.   Mix well again.  I poured everything in a quart jar, secured the lid and gave it a good shake.  If you prefer not to have so much cinnamon floating around in it, you can line a strainer with a few coffee filters or cheesecloth and strain it out before storing it too.  

It tastes wonderful!  Just like the cinnamon creamer we buy at the store!  I love when I can make things for cheaper than I can buy them.  Really it's not much more cost than a can of sweetened milk.  You can store this in the fridge for 2 weeks if it lasts that long.

Interested in some other varieties?  I haven't tried these out yet, but I thought I'd post the recipes I found.  If you try one out, I'd love to hear how it turned out!  Add any of these to the base recipe:


Vanilla 
     2 Tbsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Almond

     2 Tbsp cocoa powder
     1 teaspoon almond extract

Cappuccino

      1 teaspoon almond extract     
      1/2 teaspoon orange extract

Cinnamon bun

      1 tablespoon cinnamon  
      1 teaspoon vanilla extract
      1 teaspoon almond extract

 Chocolate Raspberry

      2 teaspoons cocoa powder       
      2 tablespoons raspberry syrup

Pumpkin pie
     4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
     2 teaspoons ground ginger
     2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
     1 teaspoon ground cloves
     1 teaspoon allspice (optional)

Peppermint Mocha
     3 tablespoons cocoa powder
     1 teaspoon peppermint extract

Honey Vanilla
     1/4 cup honey
     2 teaspoons vanilla 

Pumpkin spice
     3 Tbsp pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
     1 tsp pumpkin spice
     1 tsp vanilla
  
Hazelnut
     2 tablespoons hazelnut syrup