April Pinterest Project: High-end Coffee on a Budget

It is no secret that I like me a good mug of coffee. If I had to pick my absolute favorite, a Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks would probably be my #1 pick. But you know the problem with that? It costs a lot of money. Well actually, the real problem is we don't have Starbucks here in Canada (at least not in our area) but even if we did, I wouldn't be able to afford it. So I'm always on the lookout for ways to create some yummy, not-your-average-Maxwell-House in my own kitchen.

I actually tried a couple of different Pinterest inspired coffees for this month's project. Here was the inspiration pin for Homemade Cinnamon Lattes, from Alicia's Homemaking:

Source: aliciashomemaking.com via Nicole on Pinterest

This came out pretty good! ( Go over to Alicia's blog to get all the details and instructions!) I am still working on getting the perfect milk/coffee ratio, since I like my coffee a little strong, but its pretty good. I have used maple syrup and brown sugar to sweeten it, and I think I liked the brown sugar better in this case. (More on maple syrup in a minute, though!)

Coupled with a cookie, it was fantastic.

The second thing I tried was homemade Peppermint Mocha Creamer, found on Deliciously Organic via this pin:

Source: deliciouslyorganic.net via Nicole on Pinterest

This link has a bunch of homemade, natural creamer recipes, but so far I only tried the Peppermint Mocha one. (Another thing we can't get in our area...very many coffee cream flavors! So to me, Peppermint Mocha Cream is high end, ok?)

It came out really yummy! Mine wasn't quite as sweet as regular creamer from the store would be, so I have to add a little brown sugar to my coffee. I can't wait to try the French Vanilla one next!

I planned to make this on Wednesday, but then just never had time during the day. I was so excited and didn't want to wait, so I ended up whipping this together at 10:00 at night. And then of course I had to make a cup of coffee to try it out. Yup, 10:00 at night. It was nice to curl up in bed with coffee and my Bible before going to sleep!

I am very glad that that recipe uses all natural ingredients. I actually used fresh Jersey cream instead of the heavy cream it called for, because Jersey cream is quite heavy itself!

I have enjoyed trying to use some natural ingredients to come up with flavors of my own. One I tried (not inspired by anything Pinterest, mind you...this is a rabbit trail) I flavored my regular cup of coffee with fresh Jersey cream, maple syrup from the woods behind our house (from our neighbor) and real Mexican vanilla. Can I just ask one thing...how come Maple hasn't been patented as one of the yummiest coffee flavors ever? It was sooo good, and knowing that it was all so fresh and natural made it even better!

So there is my Pinterest Project for this month! This is probably one of those ongoing projects...I will continue to try new flavors and come up with new things in the weeks ahead!

Now if someone would tell me how to make a perfect Caramel Macchiato, I'd be all set.