keurig

Cold For Cookie Blended Iced Coffee

- Mama 2 Comments

When I was a teen I used to love buying bottled drinks from a certain coffee brand. These bottled coffee drinks had a specific name, but my younger brother had a specific name for these bottled coffee drinks: Crappucino.

Ever since then, though, cold coffee has been a definite hit with me. But getting that perfect mix of coffee flavor, non-coffee flavor, and getting a great temperature has always been near impossible.

I decided, however, that it was time to re-create these perfect bottled drinks. Now, I’m going to warn you now. There are dessert coffees that pair well with desserts… and then there are dessert coffees that ARE the dessert. This is the latter.

I started with my favorite plain Brew Over Ice coffee. You don’t want to go for anything sweetened or creamy at this point, because you’re going to add that in later.

I selected a Hazelnut variety from Green Mountain Coffee.

From there, we’re going to break the rules. Take everything you knew about Brew Over Ice and how you brew it, um, over ice, and forget it, because you’re going to brew this Brew Over Ice K-Cup like any other K-Cup– NOT over ice. Use the small cup setting on your Keurig Brewer. (Alternatively, you could use 6 oz of Coldbrewed coffee or 6oz of other coffee, but I felt the Brew Over Ice K-Cup added the best coffee flavor after trying all three).

Pour your coffee into a blender. Add 1 scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream (or two… I won’t tell).

Also add a small handful of ice cubes (I used 5 or 6 cubes).

Now for the good stuff…

Add in an ounce of Hot For Cookie Creamer Coldstone Creamery-inspired International Delight (or more or less depending on your taste… I found 1 oz to be just about perfect).

Now, blend the living daylights out of it until it’s creamy and perfectly smooth! It only took a few seconds. Pour it into a glass, top with Whipped Topping and a generous drizzle of chocolate syrup.

Perfection!

Now, you can definitely try this with any other International Delight creamer, but Hot For Cookie is PERFECT for giving that sweet, cookie-like flavor. Only this is way better, because it’s fresh, not from a bottle, and has that delicious whipped cream and chocolate. But it’s sort of reminiscent of the bottled beverage on performance-enhancing awesomeness.

Are you a coffee drinker? What’s your favorite way to serve coffee? Let me know in the comments below!

Oh, and while we’re talking Brew Over Ice, don’t forget to head over to my other post today and enter to win my Giveaway!

A Chance to Escape with Cafe Escapes–CLOSED

- Mama 6 Comments

For those of you who follow me on Instagram (jengerbread88), you might have seen a few pictures from my weekend, including the fact that my mother and I hosted a Cafe Escapes House Party!

When we got a Keurig brewer as our family Christmas gift to each other, my mom was honestly a little hesitant. After all, neither she nor my brother were coffee drinkers. Would they truly use it as often? Would the brewer be difficult to use? Would it be a tough cleanup or big messy contraption?

But, after considering the reviews, we purchased it. We found out that there were many K-Cup options, including tea, hot cocoa, and apple cider, which meant that it was delightful even for the non-coffee drinkers of the family.

The best part is that the Keurig is SO easy to use! In fact, Zach is the one who gets most of our coffee for us (with supervision, of course– the Keurig water is HOT!) because all you do is put the cup in, press a button, and out comes the coffee!

This is why we were thrilled when my mom was accepted to host a party through House Party, featuring Cafe Escapes K-Cups, which I absolutely love.

When we first got the Keurig, we explored tons of different types of K-Cups (there’s over 80) but Cafe Escapes truly stuck with me… their six varieties were delicious and fun, especially the Cafe Caramel. And I loved that their coffees didn’t require cream or sugar at all– the delightful flavor and texture was all built in, smooth and perfectly sweetened. From Cafe Mocha to Hot Chocolate, and even Chai Tea, there are almost enough choices to have one each day of the week.

So, on the day of the party, we pulled out all the stops and invited some gal pals over for girl talk and hot beverages!

 

We made muffins, set out fruit, and some cookies. All of these pair very well with coffee, especially fresh fruit, because it complements the notes without being too overpowering.

The Cafe Escapes, of course, were the star of the show.

The coffee got the conversation flowing,

And after awhile, the laughs really got going!

We had a great group of ladies, and it was so much fun tasting the varieties of Cafe Escapes, perfect for any indulgence, anytime.

I find that Cafe Escapes are perfect for me, because I love to have a cup of something warm at night right before bed, in my favorite Mustache Mug. I always brew up some Cafe Escapes, in one of my favorite flavors, and sip it at night after Zach has fallen asleep, while reading a book.

Cafe Escapes are just right, with not too strong of a coffee flavor, with hints of sweetness and flavor that truly make them a delight to drink. They’re nice and smooth, just right. And, they provide me that little bit of escape at the end of each day.

 

Because of our very awesome House Party, we had a couple of goodies left over. And, I want to give YOU, one of my readers, a chance to indulge in a little escape of your own.

I’m giving away a fun Cafe Escapes prize pack, and it’s SO easy to enter. All you have to do is comment below and tell me which one of the Cafe Escapes flavors you would most want to try: Cafe Caramel, Cafe Vanilla, Cafe Mocha, Milk Chocolate Cocoa, Dark Chocolate Cocoa, or Chai Tea. I can personally attest that each and every one of the six flavors is fantastic.

Anyway, comment below for your chance to win! This prize pack is a lot of fun–the grand prize winner will get some adorable Cafe Escapes mugs, a few products to help you with your own little “me time” escape, and a few K-Cups, too.