Homemade Vanilla Coffee Creamer (All-Natural)
Vanilla Coffee Creamer is easy to make homemade using just four simple, natural ingredients. This 5-minute recipe is flavored with vanilla extract and sweetened with maple syrup. Learn how to make coffee creamer without condensed milk!
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If you enjoy delicious morning drinks, you'll also love Cinnamon Dolce Syrup, Chai Tea Mix, or Healthy Oatmeal Smoothies!
Who out there enjoys a cup (or five) of coffee in the morning? {*Raises hand.*} Growing up, my parents always drank their coffee black. I didn't understand it then and I can't tolerate it now. When we got married, my hubby drank his with a splash of milk but no sugar, which I honestly didn't find much better...and now he's moved to the plain black coffee camp as well.
As for me? I need plenty of cream/milk, a bit of sweetener, and ideally some sort of flavoring. Enter this homemade Vanilla Coffee Creamer!
You see, many years back -- when I started paying attention to food labels and incorporating more "real foods" into my family's diet -- I was appalled at the ingredients found in my favorite store-bought flavored coffee creamers. How could something so tasty incorporate so many unpronounceable additives?
So I started forgoing all of the fun, flavored coffee creamers, instead making due with milk, sugar, and sometimes a splash of flavored coffee syrup (and I learned you still have to work hard to find a mostly-natural store-bought coffee syrup!).
But then I got on my make-your-own kitchen staples kick, and it occurred to me that surely it wouldn't be too hard to whip up my very own batch of flavored coffee creamer to store in the refrigerator and enjoy all week long. So this good ol' Vanilla Coffee Creamer was the first flavor in my little experiment!
Ingredients
Would you believe you can whip up your own Vanilla Coffee Creamer in a matter of minutes with just four all-natural ingredients?!
- Heavy cream + whole milk. These ingredients put the cream in creamer. However, depending on exactly how *creamy* you like your coffee, you can adjust the ratio to your liking (more on that below). You can also opt to sub half-and-half for the cream and milk combo.
- Pure maple syrup. This all-natural sweetener is the secret to how to make coffee creamer without sweetened condensed milk (an ingredient that's found in many recipes for homemade vanilla coffee creamer). I know that I'd be better off learning to drink my coffee unsweetened altogether, but if I'm going to ingest breakfast-time sugar on a daily basis, at least maple syrup is natural and unrefined. 😉 The lighter your maple syrup, the lighter the flavor it's going to have, so be sure to use Grade A golden or amber in this recipe. You might be wondering if the resulting coffee tastes maple-y...and the answer is no. You could also sub agave syrup instead if that's your preference.
- Pure vanilla extract. Use the real stuff! My all-time favorite brand of vanilla is particularly delicious in recipes like this where the vanilla flavor shines through.
How to Make Vanilla Coffee Creamer
(The below photos are intended to be helpful, but please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for FULL DIRECTIONS.)
It's beyond easy to whip up homemade Vanilla Coffee Creamer in a matter of mere minutes!
- Add heavy cream and milk to a small pot set over medium heat.
- Add maple syrup and stir to combine.
- Allow to heat, stirring occasionally, until the creamer is nice and steamy with small bubbles starting to form around the edges of the pot.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Since vanilla is alcohol based, too much heat can cause some of that alcohol to burn off, which also carries away some of the flavor.
- Allow to cool for about 30 minutes.
- Transfer your vanilla creamer to a jar or bottle. Cover and store in the refrigerator.
Tweaking to Your Liking
I think this Vanilla Coffee Creamer recipe is a great starting point, but please know that you can easily adjust the richness of your creamer by tweaking the ratio of heavy cream to milk.
Feel free to add more or less heavy cream -- and adjust the milk proportionately in the opposite direction -- as long as you keep the total amount (2 ¼ cups) the same.
Or if you prefer an equal ratio of milk and cream, you can substitute 2 ¼ cups half-and-half instead of using separate milk and cream.
Finally, you can make your creamer more or less sweet by fine-tuning the maple syrup to taste!
So whether you're a chronically sleep-deprived parent, a Starbucks addict trying to kick the habit, or someone who simply wants to enjoy a frou-frou tasting coffee made with better ingredients, I think you're going to love this Vanilla Coffee Creamer!
Please let me know what you think if you give it a try. 🙂
More All-Natural Homemade Coffee Creamers + More
- Caramel Coffee Creamer
- Chocolate Almond Coffee Creamer
- Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer
- Dairy-Free Almond Cashew Coffee
Homemade Vanilla Coffee Creamer (All-Natural)
Video
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine cream, milk, and maple syrup in a small pot set over medium heat. Stir together until bubbles start forming around the edges of the pot and mixture is hot and steamy. Remove pot from heat and blend in vanilla. Allow to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes before transferring to a jar or bottle. Cover and store in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days.
Notes
- Feel free to adjust the milk-to-cream ratio if you prefer your Vanilla Coffee Creamer lighter or richer, as long as the total amount (2 ¼ cups) remains the same.
- You may substitute all half-and-half in place of the heavy cream + milk if you prefer equal ratios of each.
- For neutral flavor, use a light maple syrup (such as grade A golden or amber). You may tweak the amount of maple syrup (more or less) depending on how sweet you like your coffee.
- Agave syrup may be substituted for maple syrup.
- If you are bothered by the skin that forms on top of the creamer while it sits at room temperature, you may strain the creamer through a fine mesh sieve before storing.
Nutrition
Adapted from Deliciously Organic. Post originally published on February 19, 2014, and updated on May 7, 2021, and March 22, 2024.
Can you just combine the ingredients without cooking them? What's the advantage of cooking them? Just curious what that does for it. Also, could you use honey instead?
Hi Tanya! Heating the ingredients just helps everything to combine more thoroughly and smoothly. And yes, honey could be substituted, but since it's thicker than maple syrup, it's going to be harder to get combined without the help of some heat.
You could try this recipe without heating if you like...you just may need to shake or stir before using the creamer if it has more of a tendency to separate. 🙂
made a double batch today
so why 7 to 10 days before trying it out
Thanks Bob
Hi Bob! So sorry for any confusion! I didn't mean that you have to wait 7 to 10 days to enjoy your coffee creamer...I just meant that it will keep in the fridge for 7 to 10 days without having to worry about it going bad. 🙂
Great recipe and easy to make. My new go to for coffee creamer. THANK YOU!
For an amaretto coffee creamer, what do you suggest? I think it’s some almond extract, but anything else? Cinnamon? And how much to match the amount of milk in this recipe?
Hi Emilia! I haven't tried it myself so I can't guarantee results, but if I were experimenting to turn this recipe into an amaretto coffee creamer, I think I'd start by adding 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon. Then I would taste and adjust from there. Hope that helps and please let us know how it turns out if you decide to try it! 🙂
Would love for you to come up with a peppermint mocha coffee creamer. Just love all your amazing recipes by the way 🥰😊
That's a great idea, Patricia! Maybe this holiday season... And I'm so happy to hear you enjoy my recipes! 🙂
this sounds delicious! can sugar free syrups be used in place of the maple syrup?
Sure! But if your sugar-free syrup is sweeter when compared to maple syrup, you'll want to adjust the amount accordingly. 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe. I am really trying to save money and make more at home and this homemade coffee creamer turned out perfect.
Who knew that I could make coffee creamer myself at home and that it would be this easy! Turned out great. thank you so much for sharing.
OMG!!! I just made this creamer, but I made a few tweaks . I added powdered sugar instead of maple syrup ... It’s the best creamer ever!! Thanks for the recipe 💜
Ongosh... best coffee creamer ever. I don’t do dairy so i used oatmilk and silk heavy cream, 1/4 tap ground vanilla bean and the tbsp of vanilla extract with half of the maple syrup....oh my!! Soooo good! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for this one!
I love that this homemade coffee creamer is made without sweetened condensed milk. We can always taste the "can" flavor when making it with that! 🙁
Hi Samantha,
Just found your recipe for vanilla coffee creamer. I'm a morning coffee drinker and prefer it "creamed with a little sweetener." Found what I thought was a great creamer but all the extra 'garbage' just puts me off.
A question ... what happens if you eliminate the heavy cream -- trying to cut down on fat calories! I also want to use vanilla to help with the flavor of "plain, no-fat Greek yogurt. Waddya think? Joni
Hi Joni! You should be able to replace the heavy cream in this recipe with a lighter option -- such as half-and-half -- or simply make the recipe with all milk (using 2 1/4 cups total). Your coffee creamer just won't turn out quite as rich. You mentioned Greek yogurt in your comment but I'm not positive if you were asking if this could be used instead of the heavy cream? I've never tried stirring yogurt into coffee so I'm not sure how that would turn out, if it would curdle, etc. And you mentioned vanilla, but that's already in the creamer recipe. You could definitely boost the amount of vanilla a bit but I'd be careful about using too much. Hope that helps and hope you have a great weekend! 🙂
I am so glad I found your recipe! I have tried homemade creamers that use sweetened condensed milk and I just do not like them. I had to tweek a little based on what I had but it was delicious! I used 1% milk instead of whole milk and splenda instead of pure cane maple syrup. I also made an amaretto flavor using 1 tsp of vanilla 1 tsp of almond extract and 1 tsp ground cinnamon in the recipe. Yummy. Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it, Crystal! Your amaretto variation sounds delicious! I don't know if you saw it, but I recently shared a new Chocolate Almond Coffee Creamer recipe as well, in case you like those flavors. 🙂 Hope you're having a great weekend!
Thank you for this awesome write-up Samantha! This morning when I was making my usual vanilla iced-coffee I looked at the creamer and noticed that is was 35 calories...... per tbsp!!!! Definitely going to be making a change. Thanks for sharing, and I love your photos 🙂 Great job!
Thanks so much, Bill...hope you enjoy this creamer if you have a chance to try it! 🙂
Hi! I got so excited to make this that I accidentally added in the vanilla extract with all the ingredients before I realized that it was supposed to be added later. Will this affect the quality or flavor at all?
LOVE your site-I never knew how much junk was in my coffee creamer-turns out I'm allergic to about all of it thanks for making it an easy adjustment!
Hi Trissina! I think your creamer will be just fine if you added the vanilla at the beginning of the recipe. 🙂 Vanilla is typically added after heating the ingredients in a recipe like this because it has an alcohol base which evaporates quickly, and some of the vanilla flavor can dissipate at the same time. So if you feel like your creamer didn't turn out vanilla-y enough, just stir in a tiny splash more now that it's done and all will be well. 🙂
I'm so glad that you're enjoying the site! Hopefully you find some other recipes that you'd like to try. 😉 Thanks for the question, and I hope you enjoy your creamer!
I just made this and and my whole family LOVED it!! 🙂 The maple syrup gave the creamer just the right amount of sweetness. It may sound crazy but we use coffee creamer in our fruit smoothies instead of milk or yogurt and it's awesome! Thanks for a great recipe 🙂
Yay...I'm so glad to hear that this recipe was a hit with your family! And what a great idea to use creamer in smoothies...thanks for the tip! I'm going to have to try that soon. 🙂
lol Jen!! I do the same thing for my smoothies. It’s the reason I came here. To find a healthier option. Haven’t tried it yet, but plan to soon.
As a fellow coffee lover, I am also interested in trying to make my own coffee creamer. Although I'm lactose intolerant, I'll have to sub the heavy cream. Thanks for the inspiration-your pictures are beautiful!
Thanks, Marisa! I'm sure this would still turn out great with your favorite non-dairy substitute. My son is lactose intolerant and, while he obviously doesn't drink coffee yet at the ripe old age of 6, I generally have luck substituting coconut milk or almond milk for regular milk in most recipes that he's going to be enjoying. Please let me know how this creamer turns out if you attempt a dairy-free version! 🙂 Happy Friday!