By Kelly Kim, Healthy Aggies Intern
Are you a daily coffee drinker? If so, you may have heard of the latest homemade coffee trend. If you haven’t heard… let me introduce you to Dalgona coffee! It is a fun and simple recipe, especially when many of us find ourselves with time to spare. There are only four ingredients: water, coffee crystals, coconut sugar, and milk needed for this whipped coffee. As a daily coffee drinker myself, I watched a few tutorials and tried out the recipe at home. I realized that this velvety whipped coffee was a bit sugary and with the amount of coffee I like to drink, I was interested in finding a healthier ingredient while still maintaining the sweetness of the coffee.
In terms of coffee, adding sugar helps shift the bitter tang to a sweeter taste. However, you may want to reduce added sugar for health reasons. I have found that using coconut sugar as an alternative and reducing the amount works well.
Coconut sugar is a natural sugar found in coconut palm trees. The process requires cutting the flower of a coconut palm, collecting the liquid sap and then heating the sap until most of the water has evaporated. You are left with a granulated coconut sugar. No other processing is needed. It is no miracle replacement for table sugar, the two are quite similar, but coconut sugar does contain more nutrients even if only by a small amount. It contains nutrients such as zinc, calcium, potassium, iron, and fatty acids like polyphenols and antioxidants. It also contains a fiber known as inulin. Inulin tends to lower glycemic index, which is a measure of how quickly foods raise blood sugar levels; it may help prevent a blood sugar spike.
You may choose to replace the table sugar with a reduced amount of coconut sugar when making this dreamy Dalgona drink! Or try it with regular sugar, but add just as much as you need.
Ingredients
- Milk of choice (unsweetened oat, soy, almond or low-fat dairy) [1-2 cups]
- Coffee crystals [2 Tbsp]
- Coconut or regular sugar (as desired) [½ -1 Tbsp]
- Hot boiled water [2Tbsp]
Instructions
- Whisk coffee, hot water, and coconut sugar with a mixer. Continue to whisk for 3-6 minutes until it becomes a foamy consistency and you have your whipped coffee mixture
- Pour cold or hot milk into an empty cup and then top with the mixture made in step 1. Stir well and enjoy!
Let me know how you like it!