Let’s Have a Coffee Date (+ How to Make Your Own Creamer!)

Most mornings after dropping the kiddos off to school, I get my cup of coffee and breakfast, and settle into my home office to get cranking. Sometimes I’ve found it’s fun to mix it up and meet a friend for breakfast or coffee date — a convenient alternative to lunch or happy hour — and it’s always such a nice, relaxing way to fuel up for the day, and catch up with a great friend. Plus, I LOVE holding a hot cup of coffee. It’s like being warmed in happiness. (I’m a little crazy, I get it!). 😉

To mix things up, I recently invited two of my best girlfriends — Beth and Erica — over for a Friday morning coffee date, prepping a quick, cute coffee bar and some breakfast treats. It was such a fun way to start the day (and kick start the weekend!). Each of us are mega coffee drinkers so I made my maybe ninth trip of the week to Publix (kind of our second home!) to grab some fruit, bites and Dunkin’ Donuts® coffee… they have this yummy Bakery Series with amazing flavors like Glazed Chocolate, Vanilla Cupcake and Cinnamon Coffee Roll so you can brew the goodness at home. Girlfriends + coffee = YES.

An at-home coffee bar is super simple… the Dunkin’ Donuts k-cups (also available whole beans or ground) ensures everyone picks their favorite, and since I utilized the Publix bakery (no shame in the game!), I thought it would be fun to try making my own creamer… ladies: it’s SO easy! Legit three minutes. Get ready to blow your mind…

HOW TO MAKE AT-HOME CREAMER
The key is knowing the following base recipe; once you have it, you can make any variation!
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 3/4 cup milk or cream (whole, lowfat, skim, almond, soy, heavy cream, half & half; the more fat, the creamier). I used 2%.

Mix the ingredients together by add it to a mason jar, a salad dressing container (that’s what I used), and basically, shake it like a Poloraid picture.

Here are a few combinations:
French vanilla (what I made): 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cinnamon vanilla: 2 teaspoons cinnamon and 2 tsp vanilla extract
Peppermint Patty: 2 tablespoons chocolate syrup and 1 teaspoon peppermint extract

TIP:  You don’t want grainy creamer, so if you have a dry or thick ingredient (like cinnamon or honey), heat it up with a small amount of milk/cream from the base recipe so it can dissolve. Then add the rest along with the sweetened condensed milk.

For your coffee bar, keep it simple… your friends aren’t looking for you to take hours to prepare. In addition to coffee, put out sugars/sweeteners, cinnamon sticks and spoons. Voila! Want to replicate at home? Super easy, plus here’s a coupon for 1.00 off ONE (1) Dunkin’ Donuts variety through 5.6.17 at your local Publix, while supplies last.

Thanks for checking our our girls morning coffee date… hope it fueled some caffeinated inspiration!

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This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group®  and The J.M. Smucker Company, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #DunkinDonutsPublix  http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV