Organic Vanilla Bean Latte

A few years ago, I made the switch to eat real food (the kind that grows out of the ground and doesn’t have ingredients you can’t pronounce)!  But since then, I have kind of become turned off by standard coffee shop drinks.  I’m hesitant to order coffee when I go out because I don’t like the mysterious syrups and artificial flavours in most drinks and I’m not a fan of black coffee (yet!).

Luckily, these days it has become WAY easier to make an amazing cup of coffee at home and I love how fast and convenient it is to just pop a pod into my Keurig and have my own cup of coffee brewed in minutes.  But like I said, black coffee isn’t my thing, so I thought I would share a recipe I created for my favourite homemade coffee drink that tastes delicious without any artificial flavours or high-fructose corn syrup.  I also chose to use OneCoffee pods for this recipe because… well they taste great… but also because I love that they are organic, fair trade and are much more environmentally friendly than your standard Keurig pod!  While most pods are made of plastic that will be stuck in landfills forever, OneCoffee pods are 99% biodegradable (I know, amazing right?!).  So cheers to a cup of coffee you can feel good about!

– Organic Vanilla Bean Latte –
(makes 1 serving)

Ingredients:
1 tsp vanilla bean syrup (recipe below)
1 organic OneCoffee pod
6 oz water
1/4 cup your choice of organic milk (regular, almond, soy… It’s up to you!)

Directions:
1. Measure out 1 tsp of vanilla bean syrup and pour into the bottom of your mug.
2. Fill your Keurig with water and insert your OneCoffee pod (I used the breakfast blend this time!).  Place your mug underneath the spout and set the machine to brew one 6oz cup.
3. While your coffee is brewing, heat up your milk using a milk frother or by whisking it over medium heat on your stovetop.
4. Pour the warm milk into your mug, spooning foam on top last.

– Vanilla Bean Syrup –
(Makes 1/2 cup)

Ingredients:
1/2 Organic unrefined cane sugar
1/2 cup water
1 vanilla bean

Directions:
1. Measure sugar and water into a small saucepan.
2. Cut vanilla bean in half and scape the seeds into the sugar water. Drop the remaining vanilla bean into the saucepan as well.
3. Warm the saucepan over medium heat.  Stirring consistently, bring the mixture up to 200° F (if you don’t own a candy thermometer, just bring to rolling boil and let it boil for about one minute)
4. Remove the syrup from the heat and remove the 2 halves of the vanilla bean from the syrup.
5. Let the syrup cool to room temperature and pour into a small jar to store.

Ps. This post was brought to you by OneCoffee but all thoughts & opinions are my own.  Thank you for supporting the great companies that help make this blog possible!