After watching The Pioneer Woman on the Food Network Channel last Saturday I decided to try her iced coffee recipe at home. I'm sure the traditional recipe is to die for, that being said, I am not a girl who eats lots of refined sugar - especially now since I have given up all refined sugar completely to see A) if it is possible B) what my body thinks - hopefully it likes it and C) to force myself to be creative with alternative and more natural sweeteners!
This iced coffee recipe is taken directly from The Pioneer Woman blog, but improvised:
Creative Iced Coffee
Ingredients:
1/2 pound of coffee (any flavor/type you like - I sport the ground Donut Store version from Aldi's)
half/half or cream
honey
ice
Being in an apartment, I don't have the resources to make a vat of coffee, so I use nearly a 1/4 - 1/2 pound of coffee and steep with about a pitcher of water. I place the coffee grounds in a large casserole dish and then gently poor the water into the grounds - stir until all grounds are in the water and not sitting on top. Let steep over night or for at least 8 hours. Poor into a large bowl with a lip (for easy pour later). I then use a large strainer and place a napkin in it to sift out the grounds and keep the liquid. An easier way would be to use a cheesecloth from your local store, but I seem to keep forgetting to purchase one.
Once you have strained the coffee, place in containers you can seal (I reuse old pasta sauce jars and mason jars we have around the house) and refrigerate.
Now for the creative part: poor a couple tablespoons of honey into a small dish and then pour your cream or half/half over the honey and let sit for a few minutes - go fold laundry and come back. Now take a fork and stir up the honey into the cream until it has dissolved completely. Taste to make sure it is your desired sweetness - add more honey if you desire it to be sweeter.
Time to enjoy: Grab your favorite glass, fill it full of ice cubes, pour the coffee over the ice, then add your cream/honey mixture until desired taste! Now sip and smile!
Hope you enjoyed this no-sugar added iced coffee recipe! Check back for more fun recipes to come!