When I had to quit dairy for Olive I started using commercial non-dairy creamers for my coffee (the kind that you find in the health food section). I just can’t drink coffee without some sort of cream (anyone else?) so I thought I had found a good replacement.
Except it wasn’t.
Even the “healthy” non-dairy creamers I found had an ingredient called carrageenan in them. Carrageenan has been linked to gastrointestinal inflammation and colon cancer so; I’m not all that excited about consuming it.
FYI: a number of almond milk and coconut milk brands, not to mention a whole bunch of other organic foods, also have carrageenan in them. Here’s a list of ones to avoid.
So I’ve been looking for a homemade creamer to replace the yucky commercial stuff. I finally stumbled upon this recipe, made a few changes and finally have a decent healthy non-dairy creamer!
Healthy Dairy Free Coffee Creamer
What you need:
1 cup of almonds (or other nut, cashews perhaps?), soaked overnight
3 cups of water (use distilled if you are worried about it “staying” in the fridge, otherwise tap is fine if you plan on using it within a few days)
3 T coconut oil
1 t vanilla extract
1 T sucanat or ¾ t stevia
Cheesecloth or fine sieve
What you do:
After soaking, drain and rinse the almonds.
Combine almonds, coconut oil
If using cheese cloth: strain the mixture through the cloth and squeeze the almond pulp to get the almond cream out.
If using a sieve: strain through the sieve and use a spoon to squish the almond cream out of the pulp. You might end up with some pulp in your cream but it will just sink to the bottom of your cup. No biggie 
Add extract and sweetener.
Drink your yummy homemade creamer (with some coffee added maybe?).
Have you ever tried to make your own almond cream?
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Great info for those looking to rid their diet of dairy! I agree, I need something in my coffee…black coffee is just plain gross.
Yes, it is gross!
Your recipe looks interesting. I recently gave up creamers and started using just plain cream, stevia, and a few drops of vanilla. Please consider sharing this with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday! http://likemamalikedaughter.blogspot.com/2013/01/eco-kids-tuesday-link-up-and-green-pops.html
If you can have it, plain cream is definitely the least processed way to lighten coffee
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almond cream is a fabulous idea! I’m with you sister – i need a little cream in my coffee. I would imagine it’d give a nice nutty flavor to the coffee too, no?
thank you for sharing your post with us at the Wednesday Fresh Foods Link Up – I hope to see you again this week with more seasonal & real/whole food posts! xo, kristy
Yes, It is a tiny bit nutty, which I like
hi!
great post. thnx for the info and i went on to check your list of
foods/creamers/products to avoid…here’s another for your
list with carrageenan that i just tossed: c.f. burger FF half & half.
Thanks for sharing
Carrageenan is just seaweed extract, why would it be harmful? Seaweed is good for you. I realise it may have been processed and obviously not as healthy as whole seaweed.
I just came across this comment on another article:
http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question315.htm
Actually, Carrageenan does not cause cancer; Poligeenan is linked to cancer. Poligeenan still is not a confirmed cause of cancer, but is rather, as I said, linked to it. The cancer in question is colon cancer, and lab tests involving rats fed poligeenan in large doses for over a year were positive for colon metaplasis. By “large doses” I mean a 5% solution. A 5% solution is significantly more than the amount of carrageenan is any type of food you’ll find it in. But poligeenan is not carrageenan, it is a degraded form of it. Carrageenan molecules have an average molecular weight of 100,000 Daltons, while poligeenan is typically at 50,000 Daltons. Poligeenan has never been recommended as a food-safe additive; comparing it to the completely safe carrageenan is a simple distortion of fact to scare consumers into believing in a problem that doesn’t exist. Anyone who believes that carrageenan is a harmful carcinogen is either misled or simply biased in their belief. I encourage you all to look further into this.
Just because something is natural doesn’t make it safe to consume. Cocaine and Rattlesnake venom are both natural. I don’t plan on eating either of those.
I don’t consider “linked to” cancer any better than “definitely causes” cancer and may even be worse. It allows the argument that carrageenan hasn’t been proven to cause cancer but the way I look at it, Carrageenan hasn’t been proven safe. So why is it in our food?
That being said, I appreciate your comment! I happen not to agree but I really appreciate diverse opinions and thoughts that challenge me to grow and learn!