Ever since my first Whole30, three years ago I have been on the hunt for the best Dairy Free Coffee Creamer. I have done cashew creamer (HERE), I have done bulletproof coffee, ghee, coconut milk and coconut cream. While all delicious, viable, dairy free coffee options, they all included my blender.
I’m sure you’ve tried to plainly mix in coconut milk into your coffee… how about some collagen too? With a spoon? Plain, chunky, fail. Gross. Then there are some store-bought options, like Nutpods. I hear they are great, but alas, I can’t afford to buy them on the regular, and also, they have some emulsifiers in them which don’t agree with me.
Homemade Is Always Better
When you’re on the road to health and wellness making things at home becomes second nature. While there are many convenience foods on the market, none of them will ever be better for you or as cost effective as making it your damn self.
Especially in the dairy free coffee creamer category. Weird fillers, starches and food like products always make their way in to make the product thick, or cheaper or shelf stable. No thanks.
With homemade dairy free coffee creamer, you get all the MCT goodness and cashew creaminess with ZERO shenanigans.
This creamer stirs in perfectly for a silky, creamy coffee that even looks a little frothed. I like to use my fork to stir it up and bingo! No blender to wash. Creamy, filling, delicious coffee with zero crap, zero sugar.
Bonus, unlike other keto coffee creamers you won’t get pools of fat floating above your coffee!
Now let’s take a look inside this amazing Whole30 coffee creamer!
The Ingredients
Raw cashews, soaked (activated) to minimize the phytic acid (an anti-nutrient that can impair nutrient absorption and irritate the gut). To activate nuts soak them in filtered water with 1/2 a teaspoon salt for four hours. Drain and rinse well before use. You can purchase these at the bulk section of your Whole Foods or HERE.
Medium Chain Triglycerides! MCT’s are fatty acids derived from coconut oil, the short chain fatty acid goes straight to the liver to be converted into ketones. MCT’s aren’t stored in your body or liver, they are pure fuel! Adding MCT oil to your coffee is a great way to boost the energy and get your body into ketosis! I like THIS ONE. Note on the MCT! Someone commented below that the MCT didn’t sit well with their tummy’s. I have heard of that before- so if you have never tried it before you kind of need to wean yourself onto it. Use almond or coconut milk instead. Try adding in 1/4 cup MCT at a time, until you work your way up to the full dose.
Collagen Peptides! Collagen peptides or collagen hydrosoalte is gelatin’s water soluble brother. Made from pastured animal bone, skin and/or joints this flavorless, odorless, white powder dissolved completely in liquid and does not gel at all. It’s perfect for this make-ahead creamer. Adds amazing gut healing, hair, skin and nail health benefits to your morning cup of joe, plus a little quality protein! I like THIS ONE.
A little pure vanilla extract, ceylon cinnamon and pink Himalayan salt for flavor and you’ve got yourself one top-notch dairy free coffee creamer. For about $20 in ingredients, you get 40 ounces of coffee creamer, that’s about .50 an ounce. Whereas the leading dairy free coffee creamer goes for $2.50 an ounce!
Dairy Free Coffee Creamer
delicious, healthy coffee creamer that stirs in perfectly!
- Yield: 5
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups soaked, raw cashews (use hemp hearts or pumpkin seeds for nut free)
- 1 1/2 cup MCT oil (or full-fat coconut milk)
- 1 1/2 cups filtered water
- 1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (vanilla bean powder for Whole30)
- 1 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup collagen peptides (optional)
Instructions
- Make sure you soak the cashews (or seeds) per the instructions above. Rinse and drain them.
- Place them in the blender.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients (water, mct, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and collagen) to the blender and blend until smooth, about 30-40 seconds in my Vitamix.
- May take a little extra juice in a regular blender, you want the mix smooth and frothy… almost fluffy! IF you still have a grainy texture, like if you have a Ninja strain your creamer with a fine mesh sieve.
- Makes about 5 cups, I like to store it in 5, 8-ounce mason jars in the fridge for up to 8 days.
- You can also freeze the jars and then thaw in the fridge when you want to use.
- Add 2-4 tablespoons to your coffee and stir well to combine. Works great for hot and iced coffee.
Notes
- per 1/4 cup serving: Calories 209, Fat 20.7g, Carbs 3.6, Fiber 1.1, Sugar 0.7, Protein 2.4
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 20
I often have a problem with my homemade milks Separating So I’m excited to try out your Version!
I just saw Nut POds today and THOUGHT to myself…I could make this!! And here it is, but better!! Just love your INGREDIENTS too!!
Thanks!! Yes, so much more affordable to make at home!
This sounds absolutely heavenly. I can taste it now. YUM!
My husband and I both had an upset tummy after trying this recipe, but I’m guessing it’s because we’re not used to the MCT OIL. Maybe it would be a good to put a caution out there for those new to the OIL! 🙂
Oh no! That sucks. I have never had that problem, but I have heard of it before. I’ll add a note for those new to MCT’s. I guess you could also make it with coconut milk, but it might harden in the fridge.
Raw cashew is the new cream for sure. Such a great idea to blend them up into a creamer. I like my coffee black just fine, but no doubt sometimes I crave a little something fancy!! You make it easy and fun to be your own barista 😉
what a great idea! Yes, homemade is best and this sounds amazing. Pinned for the weekend!
Thanks love!
Homemade is definitely always better, I picked up a store bought version the other day to read the label, and then put it right back on the shelf – I like knowing exactly what goes into my food!
Same same girl!
That looks creamy delicious. Love it !!
Thanks girl!
Looks so easy! I don’t why I have not been making my own creamer. Has to be more exciting than drinking plain black coffee 🙂
Can you use brain octain oIl rather than mct oIl? Thanks!
Yes you can!
Awesome! So many coffee creamers are full of junk, I love this option!
I finally made this tonight & love the texture. My Fiance is vegetarian though – should I bother making a batch for him without the collagen peptides? Or is that a crucial ingredient to this creamy texture? Delicious!
I Shaden! Love that you love it! You can make it without the collagen. The blended MCT and the cashew cream is what makes it so thick and dreamy!
I don’t habe MCT oil on hand. Should i…
A) just omit it?
B) sub sometHing? coconut oil, maybe?
C) wait to make it until i have the MCT oil?
P.S. Loving your whole 30 takeover on Instagram!!!
Hi Pan… you can use coconut milk or coconut oil. Regular coconut oil will make it hard in the fridge tho. But it will melt into the hot coffee.
Can’t wait to try! How long does the creamer stay fresh?
about 8 days!
I made this after your Whole30 Facebook takeover – it’s amazingly decadent!
Q: Does it turn bad if you don’t refrigerate it? I’d like to take a small container with me for on-the-go.
Hey! I think it can keep at room temp for about 4 hours 🙂 But not at HOT temperatures.
I made this and it tastes great! Question though… The texture is just a little gritty. I blended it a while too. I do not have a vitamix, so I used a regular blender. Could that be the problem?
You might have to strain it through a nut milk bag or fine mesh sieve!
Is it supposed to solidify in the fridge? I thought it did on your insta story but i refridgerated mine overnight & it is still liquid? I’m Excited to try it out! 🙂
It’s supposed to be liquid! Just shake it up and stir it in your coffee 2-4 tbsp and it will be perfect!
Mine gets solids when I use gelatin instead of collagen, but it still works and will melt into the coffee… the original version is with collagen though and is meant to be a thick liquid creamer!
Would vanilla bean as a sub for vanilLa bean powder throw off texture at all? Im on whole 30 and can’t find the powder In store. Thanks!
Like vanilla bean scraping? Yeah, use the insides from 1-2 beans 🙂
Do you think this could be used to make ‘ice cream’?
I dont have an ice cream machine, but if you try it out let me know
Do you think Macadamia nuts would work instead of cashews?
Yes, but you will need a nut milk bag or cheese cloth to strain it. The macadamia nut won’t blend smooth like the cashews 🙂
Thanks for the reply.
So creamy and mixes in well!
★★★★★
yes! I use it daily!
I love this and it mixes well in my cold brew coffee. Hard to find a good keto creamer that mixes well into cold coffee. LOVE IT!!!!
★★★★★
Seriously so good!
★★★★★
yeahh thank you!
Do the hemp hearts need to be soaked? The instructions make it sound like only the nuts and pumpkin seeds would have to be soaked
They will cream without being soaked, but I do it anyway to active them!
Just made this but used hemp seed instead of cashews . I’m intolerant to coconuts, so finding a good dairy free creamer is painful but this is delicious!!! I’m cutting out nuts this week so this will be a life savor for my tea/coffees in the morning! Thank you for this awesome recipe! ❤️❤️
★★★★★
So glad you like it!
This is amazing! I’ve tried just cashews on their own but it is so much more amazing with all of the other ingredients, definitely better tasting and better for the environment and wallet than nutpods! I never would have thought to add all of these ingredients together. Thank you so much for sharing this and your other recipes. They compliment your book Made Whole which I am slowly cooking (and loving) my way through, I am so inspired!
★★★★★
yeayyy
Cud I use salted caramel MCT powder?
Yes, but I think 1.5 cups Salted Caramel MCT oil will make it too sweet. Do 1 cup coconut milk and 1/2 cup of the Salted Caramel MCT oil 🙂
How much MCT powder would I need to use to replace the oil (would it be 1 to 1)? The oil gives me indigestion, so I need to use the powder.
Thanks!
No I think it would be more like 3/4 cup mct oil with 3/4 water to replace the mct oil in the recipe.
Who knew cashews & The Castaway Kitchen were the answer to my non dairy coffee creamer dreams! Thank you!
i did! i did!!
What vanilla powder do you use that’s not in dextrose? I’m on a whole 30 and sick of paying for nutpods! Thanks!
Wild Foods has a vanilla powder that is just vanilla bean scrappings. I have seen some vanilla flavoring that is my simply organic that is made with vegetable glycerine instead of alcohol! So I think that would be compliant too!
I just made this coffee creamer for the Whole30. I love the consistency. I started small with the MCT oil and did 1/2 cup and replaced the rest with almond milk. My only problem is I can’t taste any vanilla and I even doubled it. Did I do something wrong??
Not sure why your vanilla isn’t showing up… could be your palate, could be the brand you’re using… I find the vanilla flavor to be pretty pronounced any more and it tastes medicinal to me. It could be a preference thing.
Hi, Cristina! Could I add some grass-fed collagen peptides to this? Or maybe some raw cacao powder to make a chocolate fudge? Can’t wait to try this! Thanks!
The recipe already calls for collagen peptides 🙂 And yes it’s great for baking!
I had several windows open in my browser, and posted this question/comment to the wrong recipe–I got a little excited, and was trying to read too many of your recipes at one time! I meant to post this on the Vanilla Tahini Keto Fudge recipe. Sorry!
Super tasty!!! But mine came out thick and heavy. Did I not blend it long enough? I have a Ninja.
By the way….This is the best creamer I’ve ever had. I’ve always loved heavy cream but I think I I’m sensitive to dairy so I have been looking for a replacement, which has been hard to find. But this stuff is so rich and delicious. I think I’ve found the one!
★★★★★
Ninja’s dont work well with the cashew, you have to strain it… unfortunately they don’t pulverize nuts like a blendtec or vitamix. Do you have a nut milk bag?
No, I don’t. Do I just strain it and blend a little more? Thank you for replying!
Run it through a fine-mesh sieve, that should do the trick. Some collagen will make it get thick or paste-like in the fridge, that’s fine, if you mix a spoonful into hot coffee it will melt.