Recipe: REAL Vanilla Coffee Creamer!

What's in the vanilla coffee creamer you buy? Does it contain any real cream or vanilla? Check out our video at the bottom of this post!

Two FREE printable recipe cards below!

We have used vanilla creamer in our coffee for years now.  In fact, we have became so used to using it that we got to the point that we would no longer drink coffee without it!  One day I happened to just be sitting and drinking my coffee and I started reading the bottle of International Delight.  What I read on that bottle led to a total change in the creamer I now use every day.

The front of the bottle stated "a rich creamy dream of sweet and mellow French Vanilla flavor."  It also says  "gourmet coffee creamer."  I read the words "creamy" and "creamer" and I think of milk, or cows.  So do you, right?  That is where we get cream from after all, so one would also assume there's milk in there somewhere, but then you read the International Delight French Vanilla Ingredients and what a surprise!  

• Water
• Cane Sugar
• Palm Oil
• contains 2% or less of each of the following: Sodium Caseinate* (a Milk Derivative), Dipotassium Phosphate, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Mono and Diglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Polysorbate 60, Carrageenan, Salt. *Sodium Caseinate is not a source of Lactose.

I see a milk derivative, but I do not see any cream or milk in this so called "Gourmet Coffee Creamer!"  The asterisk next to the milk derivative tells us it is NOT a source of lactose, so again, NO MILK.  How can it be called a creamer if there is no milk or cream in it?  Thats when I realized that they boast the fact that they are lactose free!  Of course they can't have any milk in it if it is lactose free!  How in the world are they even allowed to call it a creamer?  Shouldn't it be called a Milk Free creamer, or a creamer substitute or something instead?

But wait, it actually gets better....do you see the word VANILLA anywhere in the ingredients?  NO! I saw that the bottle says vanilla 'flavor' on the front and that's when reality hit me, there is no actual vanilla in the 'creamer' either!  Then it really hit me...this was all my fault. I am so stupid! I had fallen lock,stock, and barrel for the oldest trick in the book: marketing ploys!  We had not become 'addicted' to using vanilla coffee creamer at all. I'm not sure what we became 'addicted' to using in our coffee, but it certainly had nothing to do with actual cream or real vanilla! Sure it tasted good, but what the hell is it made of? So of course I did some research. and here is what I discovered.

Ingredients in International Delight Vanilla Creamer:

The first two ingredients (water and cane sugar) are pretty much self explanatory.

The third ingredient, which apparently makes up a large part of this 'creamer' is palm oil.  There is a lot of controversy over palm oil which is apparently found in about 50% of all products produced today.  I am not going to go into the controversies, but suffice it to say that it is imported and there's arguments about the way it is grown and harvested (usually not sustainably) and it's huge negative environmental impact. I included a few source links at the bottom of the page if you want to read more.  Bottom line for me though: why the heck would I want to put oil instead of cream in my coffee??????

The other "less than 2%" ingredients:

• Sodium Caseinate - This is a form of protein derived from milk.  It is often found in protein drinks, shakes, and powders (check out the FDA's explanation of Sodium Caseinate).

• Dipotassium Phosphate - This is a type of salt containing phosphorous that is commonly used as a thickener.
• Natural and Artificial Flavors - This could mean so many things. Just try googling it. Should we assume some of the flavor 'might' be vanilla?  If the creamer actually had vanilla in it, wouldn't they want to include it in the ingredients?
• Mono and Diglycerides - These appear to be trans fats usually made from oils and used as emulsifiers. Basically it's an additive to help the water and palm oil, which usually don't want to mix, be able to mix and stablize.
• Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate - Another additive used to improve the ability to mix oil and water. It is supposedly found in a majority of packaged foods.

• Polysorbate 60 - This is another emulsifier, thickener, and stabilizer additive.  NOTE: this is also a common ingredient in cosmetics.
• Carrageenan - A stabilizer, gelling and thickening additive derived from red seaweed. Known to create a 'creamy' texture.  
• Salt - I found this interesting, but maybe it is just for use as a preservative.  Not sure, but I know it is not necessary in my homemade version!

Can you see why I now choose to make my own Homemade Vanilla Creamer?  The ingredients are way too complicated and contain no actual cream or vanilla!  If you're lactose intolerant I can sort of understand why you would still want to use the International Delight, but if you can drink milk, why not at least try to make your own creamer to see if you like it?  It will actually have REAL MILk and REAL VANILLA in it!  And of course, the ingredients are much simpler and much healthier, especially if you choose to use all organic ingredients!

Ingredients in Homemade (Organic) Vanilla Creamer: 

• In sweetened condensed milk: milk and sugar
• In  milk: grade A milk (and depending upon the milk you choose there could also be added vitamins A and D).
• In pure vanilla extract: vanilla bean extractives in water and alcohol (you can buy alcohol free pure vanilla extract if you choose)

Oh, and guess what?  IT'S STILL GLUTEN FREE!  That's right, it is still GLUTEN FREE even with real cream and vanilla!  

Recipe:
One 14 once can of (Organic) Sweetened Condensed Milk or *make your own!
2 1/4  cups (Organic) Milk (any percent you choose)
2 teaspoons (Organic) Pure Vanilla Extract
32 ounce container with a tight lid

*You can also easily make your own homemade sweetened condensed milk.  See the FREE recipe card and printable below!

Procedure:
Open the condensed milk with a can opener and use a rubber spatula to scrape out every drop into a container (or make your own ahead of time).  Add the milk and vanilla and shake thoroughly.  It takes a long time to really mix up the condensed milk and the regular milk.  I saved and reuse an old 32 ounce International Delight container to make mine in!

Is it cost effective?  
The organic version costs a about 5 cents more an ounce, but remember, it has REAL MILK AND VANILLA and NO PALM OIL!  

The non-organic version costs about 3 cents less an ounce and still has REAL MILK AND VANILLA!  So worth it in my book :-)

International Delight Cost to Buy

• Cost for 32 ounces International Delight Vanilla Creamer (at .13 per ounce)  = $4.19

NO MILK OR VANILLA!

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Organic Cost to Make

• 14 oz. Can Organic California Farms Sweetened Condensed Milk = $4.11
  
• 2 1/4 c Organic Whole Milk = $1.26  (at .07 per ounce)
  
• 2 tsp. Organic Pure Vanilla Extract = .57 (at $1.72 per ounce)
  

Total Cost to Make 32 ounces of Organic Vanilla Creamer  = $5.94  (.18 per ounce)

No savings but it has REAL MILK AND VANILLA!

---

Non-Organic Cost to Make

• 14 oz. Sweetened Condensed Milk = $1.99
  
• 2 1/4  cup Whole Milk = .54  (at .03 per ounce)
  
• 2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract = .57  (at $1.72 per ounce)
  

Total Cost to Make 32 ounces Non-Organic Vanilla Creamer = $3.10 (about .10 per ounce)

SAVES MONEY AND HAS REAL MILK AND VANILLA!

What about the calories?
The homemade creamer is actually a little LESS CALORIES!  

• International Delight French Vanilla Regular = 35 calories per tablespoon.

• Homemade with Whole Milk = 34 calories per tablespoon (condensed milk has 130 calories per two tablespoons so at 2 tbsp. p/oz thats 1,820 calories and whole milk has 150 per cup so at 2.25 cups thats 337.5 for a total of 2,157.5 for 32 ounces. That works out to 67.4 per ounce, or 33.7 calories  per tbsp!

Do yourself a favor and try making it at least once.  It's so easy and even though it doesn't taste exactly the same, it is so close (and I believe it's actually better tasting) that I KNOW you will be pleasantly surprised....my husband was and he can be really picky!

NOTE: All comparisons were using REGULAR French Vanilla Creamer and WHOLE MILK.  I did not look at nor did I do any comparisons with respect to International Delight Fat Free, Sugar Free, or Fat and Sugar Free but be aware that they all contain corn syrup!

FREE PRINTABLE RECIPE CARDS:
As with all the recipes I share, you can use the picture or the button below to download the pdf file below and print one sheet of  8 1/2 x 11 cardstock paper.  You can then cut out each of the 4 x 6 inch recipe cards.  They always come two per sheet.  

Visit my Recipes Page to print out previous recipes (pdf files) or to download a FREE 4 x 6 Recipe Card Template (.dox file) for your own recipes! 

Enjoy!

click here to download pdf file of two printable recipes above!

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Video about the coffee creamer:

Sources:
Say No To Palm Oil - What's the Issue?
Palm Oil Sustainability - What is it?
What is Palm Oil?