Blended Coffee

I grew up waking up to the smell of coffee and sound of the percolator (my parents still use a percolator). So it was no surprise that in college I began drinking coffee myself. My dad would spoil me and bring a cup of hot coffee to me in the morning, setting it on my nightstand to help me wake up.

In those days, I drank caffeinated coffee with milk or cream and no sugar. Now, I have to drink decaf because caffeine makes my heart do funny things for days. I no longer eat dairy products, and I started adding sweetener to my coffee when I switched to decaf.

I especially enjoyed my decaf coffee this winter when it was so cold. Sometimes I would add coconut cream to it and sometimes homemade cashew creamer. But recently I read on a couple of completely different sites about blending coffee with butter and coconut oil.

I had tried adding coconut oil to coffee some time ago, but without blending it, the oil simply floated on top and was unappealing. I liked the idea of blending it so that the oil emulsified. The problem was that I can’t eat butter.

So I tried clarified butter, but that was no good. The fat didn’t completely emulsify and the flavor was just weird. Next, I remembered how Shirley uses almond butter to make almond milk. So, I started blending coconut oil and cashew butter with my coffee. That worked great. It did have a roasted nutty flavor to it, but I liked it.

Finally, I decided to try using soaked raw cashews instead of cashew butter, and that was just perfect. I still use cashew butter as a backup, but using raw cashews is my preference. They do take a little more work though, so this recipe includes both options.

This dairy free blended coffee is light colored and creamy and frothy on top with enough substance that it can substitute as a late morning or afternoon snack.