A Primal Non-Dairy Coffee Creamer

I have been considering going without dairy for a few weeks just to see how my body responds, and while giving up cheese would be hard, it was the thought of living without coffee creamer that was holding me back from a whole-hearted commitment.   I guess an easy solution would be to give up coffee, but I was already giving up cheese.  I might spontaneously combust if I tried to do both at the same time.  

And black coffee...I've tried to like it, I really have. But coffee without cream just makes me sad.  I have made a lot of positive changes in my diet and lifestyle over the past few years, but I don't have any plans of giving up this...

While trying to figure out how to resolve the issue, I remembered seeing a post on the lowcarber.org site in the Paleolithic & Neanderthin forum  where someone was using a blend of coconut and egg to replace heavy whipping cream.  Margot wrote:

"...I tried coconut milk and it is not the same either, but a trick I have used before is to put an egg in a blender and then while blending to slooooooooooowly add melted coconut oil. Then stir in some coconut milk.  The egg makes it thicker and almost frothy and the lecithin in the egg keeps the oil from separating and floating on top. it was not the perfect thing, but it was as close as I could get with the fat and the thickness."

I have tried plain coconut milk as well, and agree with Margot, it just didn't get the job done.  But with an egg and coconut oil? I started envisioning something more like eggnog, and that sounded promising!

I remembered Margot's post and the ingredients, but I didn't go back and check the details until after I whipped up my first batch. I just dumped a can of coconut milk into the food processor, added one egg and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil.  And since I was thinking "eggnog", I added a teaspoon of vanilla.

After blending all of the above in the food processor, I ended up with this:

Actually, this is after a few hours in the fridge.  The mixture is more like frothy milk immediately after making, but thickens up like cream after it is chilled.

I am thrilled with how this "seat of the pants" version turned out!  I think I probably used more milk and less oil  than Margot did  but she didn't specify quantities.  And I am sure that I will tinker with the recipe a few dozen times before I am satisfied that I have found the right ratio.  This is more "coffee creamer art" than "coffee creamer science".

The calorie count is virtually the same as heavy cream - 106 verses 103 for 2 tablespoons. And a quick nutritional comparison shows that heavy cream comes out on top in the vitamin category solely on the large content of Vitamin A.  But the Coconut Creamer is a clear winner in the mineral content (click to enlarge) :

Here's the mineral content for the heavy cream:

I am happy to report that with the help of this coconut creamer I have had 4 painless dairy-free days that included a delicious cup of creamy coffee!

The only issue is if you leave your cup of coffee sitting too long, the coconut oil will form a film on top as it cools, but other than that, I enjoy this every bit as much, and possible even more, than the heavy cream.

Thanks for the inspiration Margot!!

October 13th, 2010 Update
After posting this, I received some great feedback and questions which I am responding to below:

1. Do you store it in the fridge and how long does it keep?  Yes, I do store it in the fridge and we use it up before it has a chance to go bad.  But it will definitely keep for a week.  
2. Does it harden?  Nope, it gets thick...too thick to pour, so it has to be spooned into the cup.
3. Does the oil separate?  Not at all!
4. Will I have scrambled egg in the bottom of my cup?  Only if you scramble some eggs in a skillet and put them in your cup. :-)
5. Would this be good with berries for a dessert?  Going to find out this weekend but I am 99.9% sure the answer is yes.

November 5th, 2010 Update

Yesterday, I noticed this post was getting some higher than usual traffic, and found that it was coming from the forum over on Mark's Daily Apple where a member had linked to this post and said:

"It the creamiest most delicious whipped cream you can imagine. I never used to put cream in my coffee but after trying this, now I do."

Sweet!!

In the same thread,  another member wrote that according to Robb Wolf, author of  The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet, coconut helps to heal the digestive tract.  And sure enough, right on page 210, Wolf writes:

"Coconut Milk: You can find this in the Asian foods section of most stores or take a drive to an Asian food market.  Coconut milk is delicious in curries and stews.  Coconut has potent antimicrobial action and helps heal irritation in the digestive tract.  But mainly, it's delicious."

I have no problem finding coconut milk, but currently find that Target has the best price, almost $1.00 cheaper that local grocery chains.


This post is part of The Fat Tuesday Forager Festival!