IfeellikeIshouldbetalkingthisfast! My homemade Skinny Vanilla Latte was a tad stronger than I intended. Half a cup of espresso later, I AM WIDE AWAKE to share this coffee creation! But like the title of this blog states, I do enjoy a strong dark coffee and that is exactly what I created this morning with my very own espresso maker. (It’s nothing excessively fancy, just a $40 Mr. Coffee Espresso Maker with a steamer/frother for the milk.)

As I’ve said earlier, I’m a fan of Starbuck’s Skinny Vanilla Latte. But for $4.65, it’s a little hard to justify buying them more than a couple times a month. At our Sprout’s grocery store, there are barrels of coffee and espresso beans sold by the pound. (This section smells heavenly!) For only $7.49/lb of espresso beans, I can home-brew so many lattes with the money I would’ve spent at my local coffee shop drive-thru*.

*I do admit that you are definitely paying for convenience, though…because it is no easy task cleaning up the grounds and foam from this project. But with all that caffeine, you’ll be cleaning at twice the speed!

I started by using a spice grinder to make the espresso grounds, enough for 4 shots. Before it started brewing, I poured 2 tsp of Torani sugar-free vanilla syrup into the bottom of the coffee pot so that the espresso brewed and blended with the flavor. I steamed 6 oz. of 1% milk (I would have used skim but my parents are picky & refuse to buy it) until the top was bubbly with foam.

First I poured 2 shots of espresso (which I just learned TODAY is ½ a cup!) into my fancy glass. I poured in the milk and then let the foam follow, sitting on top.  Lastly, a dollop of fat-free cool whip to top it off which melted into the drink almost immediately. IT TASTED EXACTLY LIKE THE MORE EXPENSIVE CHAIN-STORE KIND I AM ADDICTED TO! For a fraction of the cost, this at-home latte was still as delicious and only 100 calories for 10 oz.

As much as I would like to say I actually read one of those books while sipping my latte, in reality I was washing dishes as wiping the coffee grounds out of the spice grinder. Next time, I’ll try sticking it in the freezer and enjoying an iced version in the afternoon. But I think I’ve had enough of a caffeine jolt for one day.