Vegan Vanilla Coffee Creamer

I’m a supertaster, which is honestly not as much fun as you might think. When I’m eating something delicious it’s pretty great being able to taste so much subtlety and nuance. The rest of the time though it’s a pain. When I was vegan, it was definitely a problem for me as so much of the coffee creamer space was soy (which tastes like paste to me) or had some kind of non-sugar sweetener in it, like agave or erythritol (which tastes bitter and artificial to me). I still don’t understand why so much of that food space relies so heavily on agave and other such sweeteners instead of just using plain old sugar which is still vegan and I would think would probably be cheaper.

I was gifted a Vitamix by my parents which is such a huge boon if you’re making homemade dairy alternatives and I wanted to share my coffee creamer recipe.

• 500 ml cold, filtered water, divided
• 200 grams raw, unsalted cashews
• 1 teaspoon vanills bean paste
• 25 grams white sugar
• 1 pinch of salt

1. If you’re using a Vitamix, skip to step 2. If not then put the cashews in a container, fill it with water (with enough room for some expansion), and allow cashews to soak overnight.
2. Drain the cashews if you’re using soaked cashews. Add 250 ml of water and the raw cashews to the blender along with the sugar and pinch of salt.
3. Slice the vanilla bean pod lengthwise and scrape the seeds with the edge of your knife and then transfer them to the blender.
4. Blend on high for 8-10 minutes in a normal blender or about 5 minutes in a Vitamix. The goal is to have a completely smooth and creamy mixture.
5. Turn the blender to low and slowly add in another 250 ml of water. Blend until combined.
6. Check the consistency of your creamer to see if it’s to your liking. If you’re looking for the consistency of storebought cashew coffee creamer, you’ll want to add an additional 250 ml of water for a grand total of 750 ml of water. My personal preference is 500 ml total of water which makes for a rich coffee creamer that’s closer to a half-and-half if you’re comparing this to dairy.

If you use a Vitamix to make this you may want to wait until your mixture has sat overnight in the refrigerator before deciding if you want more water, more sugar, etc. 5 minutes in a Vitamix is enough friction that it will start to heat a little and it’ll taste different warm than it will when it’s cooled down.

Store the creamer in airtight jars in the fridge and shake it well before using as the vanilla beans tend to settle to the bottom. You’ll want to use this up in around 10 days, give or take, as there’s no preservatives in this so it’ll eventually turn to the dark side (as in it will mold and you’ll have an awful-tasting cup of coffee on your hands and no one needs that kind of negativity in their life).