CoffeeHouse Drinks & Desserts {#UltimateCup Recipe}

Again, I am writing about coffee. I love, love, love it. Today, I have for you a coffeehouse inspired drink recipe that will make you want to make coffee at home all the time. It’s so tasty, delicious, creamy and so not low calorie. But it’s the perfect treat after a long day, and boy is it sweet and refreshing. My favorite thing about coffeehouse drinks is that it tastes gourmet and it’s not one-dimensional flavor. That was my goal when whipping up a tasty coffee recipe for you all today.

My least favorite thing? Spending $5 on something that lasts me a few minutes. I tend to chug, not sip, creamy iced coffee.

I am a big french vanilla fan, but for this recipe I got adventurous with some Coffee Mate Hazelnut creamer. Hazelnut is not a flavor I gravitate towards, but now I definitely will. It has a sweet, nutty, toffee like flavor that is AMAZING.

Let’s make some some creamy hazelnut iced coffee!

Ingredients for 2 servings (8 oz each):

-2/3 cup of Coffee Mate Hazelnut creamer

-2/3 cup of Splenda

-1 tbsp of caramel syrup/sauce

-2 tbsp of toffee crumbles (optional)

-Whipped cream topping (optional)

-Ice

-16 oz of brewed coffee

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For this coffeehouse recipe, brew up about 16 oz. of your most favorite coffee. Once it’s done brewing, let it sit for about 15 minutes. Unload the dishwasher, start on breakfast or put in a load of laundry.

After 15 minutes, take a glass and overfill with ice. Your coffee will still be a tad warm, so it’ll melt the ice down to fit in the glass.

Pour about half of your coffee in the glass (8 oz.) and then add in 1/3 cup of Coffee Mate Hazelnut creamer, 1/3 cup of Splenda, 1/2 tbsp of caramel sauce. Mix, mix, mix! Top with a dollop of whipped cream and toffee bits.

This drink will easily satisfy any fancy schmancy coffeehouse drink craving you may have, and it’ll save you money. Also, the Splenda helps cut down on some of the calories from sugar, so indulging in some extra creamer and caramel is no big deal. My favorite thing about this drink is that it has a different flavor profile than my usual french vanilla. This drink is more robust, milky, and nutty than I usually drink. Delicious!

But, it’s also fun to use these creamers to cook with. I have been in the mood for some custard. I love creamy vanilla custard filled pastries, so I thought, why not make my own using creamer? So I did! ADDICTING! I can imagine this custard inside turnovers, eclairs, pies, etc. It is so tasty, and this recipe makes plenty. This custard is good hot or cold, but I prefer it chilled with cinnamon apples on top. I’ll show you how easy it is to make this.

Custard Ingredients (Makes about 3 cups):

-1 cup of 2% milk

-1 cup of Coffee Mate French Vanilla creamer

-1/4 cup of Splenda

-2 tbsp cornstarch

-2 eggs, lightly beaten

-1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Cinnamon Apples (I’d make 1 apple for every 2 people):

-1 Apple, peeled

-1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon

-1/4 cup of Splenda

Get your cinnamon apples ready, and bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until fork tender. If you’re in a hurry, you can also microwave them in a glass dish for 4-5 minutes at 50% power.

Meanwhile, get your custard ready! This part goes so fast that I didn’t get any photos for fear of ruining it all because I’ve never made custard before.

Have your eggs beaten and set aside in a bowl. In a sauce pan over medium heat, add creamer, milk, sugar, and cornstarch. You’re going to want to scald the milk, meaning there will be bubbles at the edges of the pan. Once that happens, take the saucepan off the heat (but keep the burner on), and mix in about 2 tbsp of the mixture into the eggs.

Slowly add in the egg mixture to sauce pan, put it back on the burner and STIR! Stir like crazy. I found a whisk and fork proved most handy to ensure the custard didn’t have egg pieces in it. Stir, stir, stir! Your custard will begin thickening, but don’t let it boil. I put a lot of muscle into it, and my custard is smooth and creamy.

I let it cool down a bit before I transferred it all to a glass bowl and added in some vanilla extract. Then, because I am impatient, I chilled it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Finally, I served up my custard in some ramekins and topped with warm cinnamon apples.

Oh. My. Gosh. So good. So tasty. It’s comfort in a ramekin.

So, Coffee Mate creamer is GREAT for coffeehouse inspired drinks and it’s great for making custard, too. You could totally do this with another flavor (perhaps Hazelnut?) of Coffee Mate creamer, and I think you’d have the same results. Try this at your next dinner party for something that is sure to impress and easy to throw together.

If you’d like to head out to Walmart (like I did) and try some Coffee Mate creamer, make sure to print out a coupon for $1.00 a bottle. I love me some coupons.

Do you use creamer in creative ways besides coffee? Let me know if you have any more recipes because I have a lot of creamer in my fridge! :)

I am a member of the Collective Bias®  Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias®  and Nestle Coffee Mate #CBias #SocialFabric #ad