8 Creative Uses For Coffee Creamer Beyond Your Morning Brew

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Just because it's called "coffee creamer" doesn't mean it only belongs in coffee; there are a myriad of ways to use coffee creamer (or "coffee whitener," if you're on the other side of the pond) in applications besides your morning brew. Back when this culinarily debatable coffee add-on first came out, its intended market was non-dairy drinkers; it was made of corn syrup and vegetable oils and didn't require refrigeration. Today's best coffee creamer brands offer powder or liquid, and they may even contain cream or milk, though many are still dairy-free. (Think oat milk, coconut milk, almond milk, and the like.) They also come in more flavors than you can shake a milk frother at. 

This diversity allows you to easily upgrade a variety of snacks and treats with your coffee creamer's unique charms. And if you don't add much creamer to your daily coffees and often find yourself with a lot of leftover product approaching its use-by date, using it creatively in sweet, savory, cold, and hot recipes is the perfect way to reduce food waste.

The wealth of available flavors is one of the main draws of using coffee creamer in your next cake recipe. Browsing the creamer aisle at your grocery store could inspire you to try all manner of new confections. That said, sweet cream and French vanilla are two popular creamer flavors creative bakers tend to try in their cakes. Don't let that stop you from getting ideas for a white chocolate mocha coffee creamer or good old hazelnut, both well-performing contenders in our ranking of Chobani coffee creamers.

Try using a cup of sweet cream-flavored creamer in a tres leches cake alongside one can each of evaporated and condensed milks. Less can be more in other recipes, with just ½ tablespoon of creamer adding indelible richness to a coffee cake. Creamers have potential in glazes, too; slowly combine confectioner's sugar with 2 tablespoons or so of a creamer, whisk it together, and crown your cake with it before serving.

For those of you always seeking out new ways to upgrade protein shakes or smoothies, you'll be glad to know that coffee creamers can offer their unique flavors to your juicy boost, along with a delectable dose of creaminess. In terms of quantities, it's smart to start with just a tablespoon or so to test the waters. In general, though, if you're making two 1-cup servings, about ¼ cup of creamer will be enough to achieve the texture and flavor you want. When working with a sweetened coffee creamer, keep sweetness levels in mind. If you typically add honey or maple syrup to your smoothie or shake, you may want to leave these out to avoid ending up with a grimace-inducing drink.

As always, experiment and have fun, but you can count on vanilla-flavored creamers to play nicely with everything from fruit smoothies to chocolate. A mocha peppermint coffee creamer can jazz up a chocolate protein shake, giving it Junior Mint vibes. If you're more the Nutella type, chocolate or hazelnut creamers can make a shake or smoothie into everything you dream of. Don't forget the power of themes, too. A pineapple smoothie enhanced with a coconut creme coffee creamer says "piña colada on the beach."

Cookies are another sweet treat that can benefit from the inclusion of coffee creamer. In this case, you've got multiple options for how to incorporate it. One choice is to replace the eggs in your recipe with the creamer, which adds both fat and whichever flavor you've chosen. Vanilla is a tasty option that enhances standard chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies without shifting their flavor profile. An amaretto coffee creamer, on the other hand, would (deliciously) make itself the flavor-star of the show.

For a recipe that yields 24 cookies, allow about ¼ cup of coffee creamer, added to the bowl after you've mixed your butter and sugars. Alternatively, you could add 1 tablespoon of coffee creamer and one egg to your beaten butter and sugars. If using the oven isn't on your "Willing To Do" list today, no-bake cookies may be more your style. In this case, coffee creamer is still on the table as a milk replacement in a no-bake recipe. Use about ⅔ cup for a recipe yield of 24 treats. Add the creamer, along with sugar, to a saucepan of melted butter, and cook it for a minute or so before adding your other no-bake ingredients. Whatever cookie style you choose, a coffee creamer-based glaze drizzled on top can be the icing on the cake ... or cookie.

Some folks are always looking for new twists on French toast, from bread swaps for textural tweaks to new ingredients that upgrade flavor. In the case of this sweet breakfast favorite, coffee creamer steps in to help with the latter. Cinnamon French toast-flavored creamer is one obvious contender, infusing the dish from the inside out with the warm spices and nostalgic sweetness that make you crave French toast in the first place. But vanilla-flavored creamer is another option, with its iconic, almost-floral notes. And for those of you who want your French toast to taste like an autumn evening, pumpkin spice coffee creamer (we ranked them!) is there for you.

You've got two choices, both simple, when it comes to making this sweet breakfast dish with coffee creamer. One is to replace the milk in your recipe with coffee creamer — voila. The other is to use a mix of both. For a recipe that serves four, you might try ¼ cup of each and play with the ratios to adjust your sweetness level.

It's not just sweets that are excellent (non-coffee) ways to use coffee creamer. Soups — no, not dessert soups — also benefit from coffee creamer's convenience and, to some degree, its flavor. Think creamy soups rather than brothy ones, of course, and focus your sights on a smaller range of flavors than you'd pick for sweet applications. Plain ol' "plain" creamer makes a lot of sense here in something like a creamy tomato or potato soup. If you're planning a pumpkin soup with warm autumn spices, don't forget about pumpkin spice coffee creamer.

One of the easiest ways to use up coffee creamer is to make a base potato soup with it. All this requires is spuds — peeled and cut into cubes — and non-dairy creamer. Boil the potatoes until they're soft; then, off heat, stir in your creamer. To this plain foundation, you can add bacon, cheese, chives, and other baked potato soup ingredients. Alternatively, eat it plain. 

A simple, creamy tomato soup is also possible with this method. Cook diced tomatoes and tomato paste in a double boiler before stirring in a plain coffee creamer. If you have the powdered version rather than liquid, just whisk it together with boiling water and spices before adding it to the cooked tomatoes.

Coffee creamer again swoops in to offer its moisture and flavor to carb-rich goodness, this time in the form of sweet breads. There are endless opportunities for experimentation here, but a good place to start is with a classic. A caramel macchiato-flavored creamer can turn a loaf of basic banana bread into a moist, delightful treat brimming with caramel coffee notes – especially if you add a tablespoon or two of instant coffee to the mix. Simply stir these together with your bananas, oil, eggs, and sugar before combining with the flour and other dry ingredients.

Super indulgent, bready desserts get an upgrade with coffee creamer, too. Add it to the sweet, milky mixture you'd pour over chunks of stale bread in a bread pudding recipe or even monkey bread. Vanilla-flavored creamer would be a tasty yet low-key choice, but don't forget the array of other possibilities. Suppose you have a coffee-loving household who doesn't take their brew black. In that case, you might grab a Nestle Coffee-Mate Flavored Creamer 4-Pack Variety and create a chocolate, hazelnut, or caramel latte-flavored bread pudding any time you want.

You don't need an ice cream maker to whip up ice cream, and you don't need the multiple cups of whole milk, heavy cream, and sometimes eggs (for the custard-based variety) typically called for in a recipe for this cold, sweet treat. That's right — you can make homemade ice cream with just coffee creamer. If you don't mind adding a few other ingredients, you even have a couple of choices for how to get the job done.

The easiest version involves only coffee creamer, ice, salt, and two zip-top bags — one sandwich-sized and the other quart- or gallon-sized. Pour coffee creamer into the small bag, and seal it. Stick it inside the larger bag, which you've half-filled with ice cubes and a ½ cup or so of salt. Give it a good shake for three to five minutes, and there you have it.

For those of you who don't mind pulling out the blender or food processor (and who'd prefer something other than just creamer in your ice cream), there's version two. This one involves frozen bananas and 2 to 3 tablespoons each of milk and coffee creamer, no zip-top bags needed. Simply pulse these ingredients in your processor until they're smooth, and there's your ice cream.

If you start your day with a bowl of hot oatmeal and feel like jazzing it up, coffee creamer is there for you. This one ingredient brings not only sweetness and creaminess, but also offers flavors you might never have thought to introduce to your morning oats. Pistachio latte-flavored oatmeal, a caramel macchiato take, or an almond cherry macaron version? Sure — the world is your oat-ster. You can always just stick with vanilla or sweet cream flavors, of course, if a more traditional palate appeals to you.

This one's simple. If you're making a bowl of instant oats, just use the coffee creamer as your liquid of choice before microwaving it. If you prefer cooking old-fashioned or other non-instant oat types, cook them as usual with water, spoon them out into your bowl, then add your coffee creamer as the sweet, cool finishing touch.