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Author:
Dannielle Beardsley
Now, we know what you might be thinking. Why would there ever be a reason for there to be leftover coffee in the first place? While we understand your frustration, we know sometimes mistakes happen. We forget. We thought we finished the cup. We thought we finished the pot.
But the fact is that we forgot there was still coffee and now we don’t know what to do with it. Do we just pour it down the drain? Maybe. Maybe not. We had to look this up because we’ve never had leftover coffee before. But we found some fun and cool things to do with that old brew. Let’s check it out.
You can whip coffee into a few different things. Hope you have a blender handy, because here we go.
Whipped cream
Uh, hello. Coffee-flavored whipped cream! Genius. You can of course put the coffee-flavored whipped cream on your coffee, or use it another way. Try some on your pumpkin pie. It can be like a deconstructed pumpkin spice latte. If you are making cocktails for friends, you could use the flavored whip cream on top of a fancy drink. So many options with this one.
Your batter
Whip that leftover coffee into your morning pancake batter. Kids probably wouldn’t like it, but show us an adult who would say no to a new way of getting their caffeine fix. Pancakes, waffles, or whatever else you eat for breakfast, whip some of that leftover coffee into the batter.
Whipped coffee
Whipped coffee was a huge thing not that long ago. It’s sort of died down, but that doesn’t mean it is any less delicious. And it’s easy to make at home. if you are having leftover coffee problems because you want something different, then there you go. Try a new coffee drink.
If your arm is tired of whipping, then we have some blended options.
Smoothie time
Either a smoothie or a shake. Add a little of that leftover brew to give your shake a leg up. You can also add it into a protein shake to help keep you going for even longer. If you are sick of drinking green smoothies, try a chocolate and coffee combo.
Blend it into frosting
Have that store-bought frosting but don’t want to use it? Add a bit of your coffee into it. Gently mix it up and you have a new frosting flavor. You only need a little to transform your store-bought. You could even tell everyone you made the frosting, since, you know, you did mix things together.
Coffee isn’t only for desserts. More and more drinks are coffee-infused. More foods have coffee in the rub or base. Thank goodness coffee is taking over.
Dress up your salad
If you are getting bored of the same vinaigrette salad dressing, try adding a bit of your leftover coffee into it. You can either make the dressing yourself or add a bit to your store-bought bottle. You don’t need a lot, but it can transform the whole flavor.
Any baking recipe, ever
Pretty much, anyway. What dessert wouldn’t taste better with a splash of coffee in it? We can’t think of any. You can have fun experimenting with how much or how little coffee you need to make your signature chocolate chip cookies stand out from the rest. Brownies, cookies, and cakes would all have recipes where a pour of coffee would taste great.
Rubs or marinades
Do you know someone who loves messing with dry rubs for meats? Or someone who always has the sense to remember to marinate the meat longer than 5 minutes before they need to cook it? That’s not us but we know those people.
Use some of your old (but not stale) coffee for a rub for ribs, pork chops, or steaks. Make a marinade for your next chicken dish for something new. Coffee isn’t only for baking.
Okay, fine. That was a lot of in the kitchen stuff. Can your old coffee be for anything in any other room in the house? Sure!
Outside, outside the house
Wake up your flowers. Perk up your plants. You can use a little bit of coffee when watering your garden. But, unlike you, your greenery cannot have coffee every day. You can turn the soil acidic and then your plants will not like you. But a little bit every so often is perfect. Once a week is safe enough.
DIY wood projects
Are you handy? Awesome, come on over, we have some projects. If you love to buy raw wood furniture to stain yourself, listen up. Use coffee. It’s a cheap and easy way to stain your furniture. Then if someone spills coffee on your table, hey, it’s the same color. No harm done.
Let your kids get creative
We just told you coffee can stain your furniture for a good reason. It can do wonders on paper, too. Let your kids create a fun masterpiece with coffee. If you have a few extra beans they can use, that would be cute, too. Let them make coffee art. We will hang out in whatever room that is hanging in.
Wash your hair with it
Seriously. Coffee doesn’t only help your heart beat faster than you thought possible. It helps your blood circulate. It gets your hair follicles moving. That’s the most important for hair growth. If you are finding yourself suffering from hair loss due to something like stress, put some coffee in your hair. You don’t have to pour it into your shampoo. You can literally put the extra coffee on your head. Wait a bit, then rinse. Easy.
That’s just with leftover liquid coffee. We could do a whole other lesson on what to do with leftover coffee grounds. But before you toss that old coffee down the drain, remember everything we taught you. As long as the coffee isn’t stale or moldy, you can give it new life.
With so many options, no coffee should ever go to waste again. But for us? We will be old fashioned and heat up that cup of coffee, again, for the 5th time today.