Holiday Flavors...still a favorite

This post may be a month late but nonetheless it is still true!

Peppermint mocha...this could be the best combination to come out of the Christmas (and winter) season. My sister and I love Starbucks but don't always love the price or calories associated. We also love to buy flavored creamers to add to our coffee on cold mornings. The big problem there is that they have a lot of mystery ingredients and can be high in sugar depending on the variety. I decided this year to make my own coffee creamer to avoid all of that. I searched and found many recipes but wanted to make it my own. I started with unsweetened vanilla almond milk as my base. I love the light vanilla flavor and the fact that there is no added sugar to it. I warmed that up and added cocoa powder, peppermint extract and a little honey for sweetness. In a cup of coffee it brings just the right amount of sweetness and chocolate flavor with a hint of mint. If you like it sweeter you can add more honey when mixing it up or add it to your cup when mixing with coffee. You can even use Stevia instead of honey to take out more calories and sugar. (I'm adding in two other creamer recipe variations to help bring it to other times of the year.)

I also decided to mess with my chia seed pudding recipe to make it these flavors. I loved the pumpkin spice version I made and just had to tweak it slightly. I used the same base of 1 cup of almond milk and 4 tablespoons of chia seeds. For this version I added in cocoa powder, vanilla, peppermint extract, and honey for a little sweetness.

Homemade Coffee Creamer Base

2 cups almond milk

2 Tbsp Honey (could increase this for a sweeter flavor)

Variations:

Peppermint mocha- 3 tbsp cocoa powder

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Pumpkin Spice- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Gingerbread- 1/4 cup molasses

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp vanilla

Enjoy! I love keeping the holiday flavors throughout the year!