Try this Better-For-You Mocha Coffee Creamer recipe!
But first, the back story.
Well, it only took adding seven high-need kids to our household to meet my goal – but I’ve accomplished it. I finally won Matt over to drinking coffee with me. :)
You see, after I became at coffee drinker, I dreamed about how lovely it would be if Matt and I could sit and enjoy coffee together. I suggested he try it, I made tasty coffee combinations, I smiled really cute. But bummer though – after multiple attempts, he still didn’t like coffee. :(
I’d continue to hear about couples who got up in the morning and sat at the table drinking coffee together. How sweet, thought I! I want to do that. Come on, Matt! Just try it some more. I promise you’ll like it.
But nope. Like it he did not.
So I pulled out all the stops.
I went to great lengths. I came up with a strategy that would be fool proof.
What if, I thought? What if we adopted so many kids that Matt would be so tired that he had no choice but to become a coffee drinker? Ah-ha! Now there’s an idea.
Well. Six years and six (soon to be seven) adopted kids later – I have done it! Matt drinks coffee now. Getting up with hungry babies and falling-out-of-bed children for 1,460 nights in a row did the trick! Never quite getting enough sleep and still having to push through the day to care for children – well that would make anyone pour a steaming cup of joe, wouldn’t it?
Indeed.
So here we are. Matt has become a coffee drinker. Aren’t you so impressed with me for coming up with such a brilliant strategy as to turn him over the the dark side? Now we can fulfill my dream!! Now Matt and I can sit at the table and drink coffee together! How precious. What bliss. A dream come true…
Oh the irony.
Alas. My dearest one and I do not have time to sit at the table and drink coffee together. Need I remind you about the seven incredible children living in our house with us? Adorable, sweet, and precious as they are – they make a person need coffee for survival. But they do not yet understand how to leave their parents alone long enough to actually sit and drink it. Ever. At a table. Together.
We’ll get there. In 2027ish, perhaps. Meanwhile, that’s the back story to how this Mocha Coffee Creamer recipe came about. Bless.
Mocha Coffee Creamer is hard to find for some reason?
I’m a coffee with half-and-half or heavy whipping cream girl myself. No sugar needed. But Matt prefers a little something sweet in his coffee to make it more palatable.
While there are oodles of French Vanilla, Hazelnut, and Salted Caramel Mocha creamers to be found – (and yeah, we know they are full of not-so-great ingredients but we’ve sunk that low in this area and we are unapologetic about it) – finding a simple Mocha Creamer is next to impossible.
We did find one at Wal-mart – in a tiny container that lasts three days and costs twice as much. I figured that surely, even with time so limited, I could come up with a Mocha Coffee Creamer for my guy who works so tirelessly to keep our world spinning.
And here it is. The recipe. But first, some tips:
- Make this thicker by subbing some or all of the half and half with heavy whipping cream.
- Add more or less sugar to this recipe per your preference. Matt thought it was plenty sweet with the 1/4 cup of sugar added. Malachi preferred it with much more sugar because, of course.
- Sub peppermint extract for vanilla if you want a Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer.
Better-For-You Mocha Coffee Creamer
- 3 cups half and half
- ¼-1/2 cup sugar or honey (to taste)
- 3 heaping teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a saucepan, whisk together half-and-half, sugar, and cocoa powder.
- Cook and stir on medium heat until mixture is well-combined and steamy.
- Remove from heat and add vanilla.
- Allow creamer to cool before transferring it to a quart-sized jar or another container with a lid.
- Refrigerate to chill and use in coffee, shaking jar at first if needed.
To all who are in the thick of doing hard things and relying on the strength of God and coffee to help you do it, I raise my cup to you.
