Coconut Milk Coffee Creamer

Making your own homemade coconut milk coffee creamer is super easy—and you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry! Typical coffee creamers, especially flavored ones, contain thickeners like carrageenan, artificial flavors, and additives to keep the ingredients from separating and settling.

However, making your own dairy-free coffee creamer at home using only a few staple ingredients leaves all these unwanted additives behind. This dairy-free recipe allows you to swap, add, or omit any ingredients to fit your taste.

I’ve been adding coconut milk creamer to my coffee for years and was always disappointed in the lack of offerings at the grocers. Even consistently using one brand, I still despised the thickeners and artificially sweetened taste.

Vegan coffee creamer

How you take your coffee is a personal preference, and I prefer to keep my coffee ritual the same. Perhaps you like it with a splash of unsweetened cream, or a dash of cinnamon or spice.

Or, if you like it sweet, you might take it with honey, agave, or maple syrup. No matter how your prefer your dairy-free creamer, there’s a variation of this recipe to make it right for you.

How do you make homemade coffee creamer?

To make homemade coconut milk coffee creamer, you will start by making condensed milk. Luckily, making condensed coconut milk is very simple! It only requires coconut milk, coconut cream, and some sweetener. Coconut milk won’t scald the way dairy milk will, so you won't get the “film” that occurs when regular milk reaches 180 degrees.

Coconut cream is composed of coconut water, coconut milk, and coconut “meat.” At room temperature, the fat will become stable and separate from the water. However, if you heat the coconut cream, the components will become homogenized, even after refrigerating.

Heating coconut cream and sugar will create a consistency similar to canned sweetened condensed milk, but you can control the sugar content. (Yes, you can make this condensed coconut milk sugar-free!).

Brown sugar will give the condensed milk a more profound, complex sweetness and a richer color. Meanwhile, using honey, sugar, or agave will keep the color light and give it a brighter sweetness profile.

Once the cream and sweetener bubble, simmer on low and whisk for about 15 minutes. You can remove the pot from the heat (or turn off the heat if you’re using a gas range) and add the coconut milk. The heat from the condensed cream will allow the milk to blend nicely.

How to sweeten coconut milk coffee creamer

This recipe uses light agave nectar, but you can reduce or increase its measurement depending on your preference. If you typically use plain milk or cream in your coffee, reduce the sweetener to 1-2 tablespoons. Or, you can omit the sweetener altogether and reduce spices to ½ teaspoon of cinnamon. (We’re going for “spiced,” not “spicy!”) Without the sweetener, too much spice will leave this creamer tasting harsh.

Agave nectar substitutes:

• ⅓ cup honey
• ⅔ cup sugar in the raw
• ⅔ cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup maple syrup

Is coconut cream the same as coconut milk?

There are many variations of coconut milk: canned coconut cream, canned coconut milk, canned light coconut milk, carton coconut milk, carton light coconut milk, and so forth.

However, coconut cream and coconut milk are not the same due to the fat content of coconut cream. Because coconut cream on its own is too rich and heavy, I like to make my own condensed coconut milk using a blend of coconut cream and milk.

options for making condensed coconut milk

•  ½ cup canned coconut milk (for condensing) and stir in another 1 ½ cups canned coconut milk
• ¼ cup coconut cream (for condensing) and 1 ¾ cup canned light coconut milk
• ½ cup canned coconut milk (for condensing) and 1 cup light coconut milk or carton of full fat coconut milk

Homemade pumpkin spice coffee creamer

The fun part about making this creamer is adding your own custom spices and flavors. This recipe originated as a homemade pumpkin spice coffee creamer, but you can adjust this seasonally or by preference.

Try these different coffee creamer flavors

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, and a pinch of ground clove
• ½ teaspoon cardamom
• Simmer cinnamon sticks and star anise in the creamer over low heat before straining out
• Swap vanilla extract for vanilla beans (simmer vanilla bean in creamer or remove using a knife and add directly to your pot)

How do you store homemade creamer?

As long as you’re a regular coffee drinker, keeping your creamer fresh shouldn’t be a problem. Once cooled, transfer the creamer to a 16-ounce mason jar with a lid. Because this creamer is homemade and natural, it’s normal to see some settling of the spices. Prior to use, simply give the mason jar a nice swirl or gentle shake.

How long will homemade coffee creamer last?

If you’re following the recipe measurements, one batch of creamer should last for two weeks. If you’re omitting the sweetener, it will keep for up to 10 days.

How to make coffee creamer with dairy

Want to use dairy to make this coffee creamer recipe? No problem! Simply swap out two ingredients and skip the sweetener.

dairy coffee creamer ingredients

• ¼ cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 ¾ cup evaporated milk or half-and-half
• Bring condensed milk to a light simmer (on low) and stir in the spices
• Remove from heat and add the milk
• Lightly whisk until combined and let cool, storing in an air-tight container

How to make Bulletproof coffee with coconut milk creamer

There’s one coffee ritual that I’ve followed for years, and that’s making my coffee “Bulletproof.” If you haven’t heard of Bulletproof coffee, also known as butter coffee, it’s the act of blending your coffee using a milk frother or blender with ghee, MCT oil, coconut oil, or butter.

Butter coffee has been consumed internationally for centuries, but has gained some attention from keto diet followers over the past decade. Not only does Bulletproof coffee leave me without the caffeine spike and crash, but it also lacks the high-acidity stomach ache that can come with drinking coffee on its own.

(Hey, I’m not a medical professional or doctor—you can read more about Bulletproof coffee from someone who knows more than I do!)

And, while Bulletproof or butter coffee typically calls for anywhere from one to two tablespoons of ghee and MCT oil, I swap this for ½ teaspoon of unrefined organic coconut oil and ½ teaspoon of Kerrygold butter.

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