Homemade Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer with Clove Essential Oil

 

There are probably thousands of jokes and meme’s poking fun at the ridiculousness of how many pumpkin spice products have made it to market. Which, some can be quite entertaining! I think there is possibly a deeper reason for why we’re all in love with this flavor combination. There are many health benefits to using cinnamon and clove, and even though there may be no trace of those spices in their original state for some products, our sensory abilities can still signal excitement for these aromas when detected.

 

Benefits of clove essential oil.

This recipe for Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer calls for two drops of therapeutic grade essential oil.  I like to include clove (eugenia caryophyllanta) into many of my recipes because of the health benefits. Of it’s many, clove essential oil has powerful antioxidant properties, supports cardiovascular health, and helps to keep teeth and gums clean and healthy. The main constituent of clove essential oil is eugenol, which contributes to its warm spice feel. Eugenol is commonly used as a dental analgesic for reducing tooth sensitivty, and is being studied for it’s  effects with nerve and vascular function. (7) Clove essential oil has also been found to have strong germ fighting abilities. (8) This lends it to not only be a great flavor enhancer, but also a cleansing essential oil.

 

Benefits of Cinnamon.

True cinnamon, with the botanical name cinnamomum zeylanicum, offers many health benefits to the human body. (1) A popular use for using cinnamon, as a medicinal spice, is balancing blood sugar levels. (2) How neat is it that we commonly use cinnamon in sweet treats, a natural selection for blood sugar balance!

The recipe for Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer is made with ground cinnamon, however, it could be made with substituting this with one to two drops of therapeutic grade cinnamon essential oil. The benefits found of cinnamon extend to is essential oil as well, in particular as a germ fighting essential oil. (3) The beneficial properties of cinnamon essential oil are multi-faceted from hormone health, to anti-inflammatory, emotional balance, and germ fighting. (4) Ground cinnamon was also found among twenty-six spices to have the highest amount of antioxidant activity. (5) Diets containing foods rich in antioxidants can be beneficial for supporting the reduction of free radicals, and oxidative stress. (6) This is good to know, since cinnamon is an easy spice and essential oil to add into many recipes.

 

 

Reasons for ingredients Chosen in this Recipe.

The recipes that I create have to follow a few rules:

  1. Taste.
  2. Ease to create.
  3. Nutritional function.

Taste is very important, because who cares how healthy or easy a recipe was to make if it doesn’t taste great! In the same regard, it doesn’t matter if the recipe tastes great; if it’s a pain to make, it’ll rarely be created. Equally as important, it doesn’t matter if just taste is great, the ingredients also need to work symbiotically with the function of the human body.

SPICES: The spices clove and cinnamon were chosen because these two are critical in creating that traditional pumpkin spice flavor. For a full spice flavor use at least one in it’s essential oil form. I chose clove because I wanted a strong clove flavor without the texture of clove in the creamer. For this same reason cinnamon essential oil can be used. It’s purely about your own preference.

COCONUT MILK: The milk base of the creamer is coconut milk. I make this from blending the meat of a whole coconut with filtered water three times, and straining the liquid from the pulp each time. If fresh coconuts are not available near you, the milk can be made from dried shredded coconut. Another option, you could choose a prepared coconut milk product. Coconut oil from the coconut contains many health benefits, and is recently being recognized as a support for brain, hormone, and digestive health.

COCONUT SUGAR: Coconut sugar, is a lower glycemic sweetener that also contains minerals and vitamins commonly lost in processing with other sweeteners. On a personal note, I prefer the taste of coconut sugar and notice that I do not experience a sugar rush or crash from eating it. This coconut sugar from Big Tree Farms is one of my favorites to use. They also carry a vanilla flavored coconut sugar which has a nice rich vanilla taste. It may be possible to substitute this ingredient for a green stevia powder, by putting up to 1 tsp in the coffee before brewing depending upon your taste preference. I like to use ground stevia leaf powder because it is the sweet leaf plant with minimal processing. There is a slight learning curve to working with green stevia powder, but if you have to avoid sugar it is worth the initial extra effort.

DATES: Dates, as a natural sweetener, also give this coffee flavoring a creamy texture. It can be made without dates, however the oils in the coconut solidify and separate from the water in the milk, making it sometimes tricky to shake after having been stored in the refrigerator. Making the creamer with dates included prevents the separation of oil and water. Dates are an excellent source of various vitamins, minerals, fiber, and are emerging as a food to be studied for it’s medicinal benefits. (9) Pitted Dates can be a rescue to sweet cravings, and an amazing caramel-like base for many sweet treat recipes. As a side note to the benefits of dates, researchers observed that the consumption of dates during the final four weeks of pregnancy helped women to have a more favorable outcome with labor and delivery. (10)

MOLASSES: Organic blackstrap molasses unsulphured added to the creamer gives it a rich and full, vanilla-like flavor.  This ingredient is very important to making the Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer. Molasses is not just a low sugar sweetener, but also contains many minerals and vitamins. Blackstrap molasses is the by product of refining cane sugar. Refining in this case isn’t necessarily bad, because it leaves you with a nutrient dense product that is great for enhancing the flavor of sweet, savoury, and spiced recipes.

SUGAR-FREE: To make a completely sugar-free creamer, take the coconut milk, cinnamon, and clove measurements as a base for this recipe. Then substitute the molasses, dates, and coconut sugar with stevia leaf powder. I have used this stevia leaf powder many times to boost sweetness of a recipe. A little goes a long way, making the jar a good value, it has no fillers and as long as you do not use too much it doesn’t have the funky aftertaste that a lot of sugar-less sweeteners have.

 

Why the coffee?

You may be thinking, “But wait, isn’t this website dedicated to alkaline diet foods? Why is a coffee creamer recipe on here? Coffee isn’t allowed on the alkaline diet.”

For some people giving up coffee and starting the alkaline diet is a deal breaker. So, don’t give up coffee if that is the only thing stopping you. And if you’re going to drink it, might as well make a delicious creamer to go with, that has numerous nutritional benefits.

Coffee is a food product that could be debated for decades on the benefits and non-benefits. (11) For now, I believe that coffee is not bad, and there are many benefits that could be gained from drinking a cup per day – if you want. There is much attention being given to the benefits of coffee and improving liver function. (12) Research teams are observing an increase in liver enzymes when administering coffee, though they’re still looking for the exact mechanism and why it does this. Some suspect it is the relation between caffeine and hormone release.

 

Roasted Chicory Root Coffee

If coffee is something that you would like to give up, but will miss drinking it and the flavor of coffee, organic roasted chicory root coffee is an excellent trade. It doesn’t taste exactly like coffee, but darn close enough! It can be prepared in a percolator just as you would coffee, and I imagine a french press would work well too. I typically prepare mine like tea, by boiling water then adding the roasted chicory root to simmer on low.

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer with Clove Essential Oil

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

created by: Jessie L. S. Van Neste

Recipe makes approximately 2 cups of creamer.

Tip: Both volume and weight measurements have been provided. Using a kitchen scale will insure that the creamer tastes the same each time it is made.

INGREDIENTS:

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend well. Using a fine mesh sieve, filter the creamer to remove any bits of dates. Store creamer in a glass jar and refrigerate, shake well before each use. The dates help to keep the coconut milk fats from solidifying together in the fridge. The pumpkin spice creamer should last up to four days, possibly a day longer, but it may not last that long because it tastes so good!

Pumpkin Spice Coffee

HOW TO PURCHASE ESSENTIAL OILS FROM doTERRA:

During the entire month of August you can qualify for free doTERRA products when you open a new wholesale membership account. Follow this link to learn more.

For purchasing essential oils from doTERRA  to make this recipe you can purchase by clicking on “Shop” or to save even more choose “Join & Save”. For more information, please contact me via email contact@curingvision.com or via Facebook if that’s easier for you. I am a Wellness Advocate with doTERRA and would love to help you begin your essential oil journey, as well as obtain the best value with purchasing your essential oils. I am happy to mentor you with how to choose, apply, and benefit from essential oils with doTERRA. If not understanding how to use essential oils is holding you back, or they appear to be too costly, there are many benefits about ordering from doTERRA that make both of those concerns go away. 

Much Love,

Jessie

 

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Sources:

  1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3854496/
  2. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2010.03079.x/full
  3. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22430697
  4. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4003790/
  5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16190627
  6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3249911/
  7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16773532
  8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0032645/
  9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22214443
  10. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21280989
  11. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2036.2007.03319.x/full
  12. http://www.jlr.org/content/35/4/721.short

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