Homemade Keto Butter Coffee with MCT Oil & Chaga

I have always been a traditionalist when it comes to coffee, but this current trend of replacing cream with butter and coconut oil (or MCT oil) has me even more addicted to my morning cuppa.  Trust me, I was the biggest skeptic when first hearing about this bulletproof-style coffee, but no more! And now, not only am I swapping out half and half for butter and coconut oil, I’m also adding chaga or mushroom powder  for additional taste and nutrition boost.

In this post, I’ll also share my other recent additions that include ground cacao nibs and collagen peptides, but if you’re new to adding butter, ghee or coconut oil to your coffee, this might be a bit too strange for now. 🙂

What I don’t Know About Keto

Before I share my latest favorite way to enjoy coffee, I should mention that I do not know a bunch about the keto/ketogenic or Whole30 diets. And I’m certainly not a nutrition expert, so I surely can’t explain (nor would I want to)  the nutritional benefits of medium chain triglicerides in the MCT/coconut oil or mushroom powder. Heck, I’m not even a coffee expert! But like the 250+ recipes on Garlic Girl, I just simply enjoy sharing with you my favorite recipes for food and drinks.

Chaga Mushroom Powder in Coffee

I learned about chaga after a recent visit to Kotuku Elixir Bar a trendy coffee shop in Santa Barbara.  I ordered the $7 cup of coffee just because I was curious about what bulletproof-style coffee would taste like with the addition of mushroom powder.  I l-o-v-e-d it!

Turns out chaga is a mushroom that has some interesting health benefits, so I’m all about adding it to my coffee since I both love the taste and the reported health benefits. If you’re curious, you may want to check out Kotuku’s site since they list the different forms of the powder, including Reishi and Cordyceps powder. The only thing I could find near me was a pouch of Chaga Mushroom Powder from Sprouts. I do plan to purchase the Reishi Spore Powder, since that’s what I tried and really love it. It’s pricey, but sometimes a splurge is necessary.

I should mention that this is not an ad for any of the ingredients I added, and not even an endorsement necessarily, I’m just sharing my recent discovery and what I’ve been using to make my delicious homemade keto coffee.

Why Keto or “Bulletproof” Coffee for Me?

I almost hesitated to call this Keto coffee or use the word bulletproof because I am not one to jump on trendy anything, especially trendy diets. My whole life I’ve enjoyed almost any kind of food or dessert in moderation, and that’s always worked for me.

At the end of the 2018, I made a commitment to myself that I would eliminate all the foods that don’t make me feel my best and so I did a kind of blend of keto and Whole30 for about 30 days. That means I eliminated all grains, soy, processed food, sugar, dairy (except for eggs and butter), and a few other things. In other words I ate a whole lot of fatty meat, fish and veggies. The one thing I really missed more than anything was creamy lattes, and nut milks don’t do it for me when it comes to coffee.

That’s how I started experimenting with butter coffee. At first it sounded yucky, but I started experimenting with blending methods and discovered an easy and delicious way to make it.

Other Healthy Additions to Homemade Butter Coffee Lattes

Anything cacao or chocolate is appealing to me, so occasionally I add about a teaspoon of ground cacao nibs to my butter coffees. Also, after reading about folks who add collagen peptides to their coffees I gave it a try and it made no difference to the taste. Because I know that’s also a nice healthy option, I add about a tablespoon of collagen to the mix before blending.

Tips for Making Butter (Keto or Bulletproof) Coffee at Home

1. Get yourself a handy little milk frother. I always purchase mine at Ikea for just a few bucks. This way you don’t need to use a heavy-duty blender every time you want to make a simple cup of coffee.
2. Grind your own beans. It doesn’t have to be fancy – but it makes a difference to use freshly ground coffee beans.
3. Use a Bialetti or French press. I happen to think coffee that doesn’t run through a machine tastes better, but if you love your coffee, no matter how you make it, that’s all that matters.
4. Make sure you do a little research on the types of coconut oils that you prefer,  just for your own peace of mind. I started off with regular coconut oil (the kind that’s hard at room temperature) but now I’m using Organic MCT Oil from Sprouts.
5. Mushroom or Chaga powder is optional. You can add a teaspoon or two before you blend, or just dust on top of the foam. I look forward to sprinkling Reiki spores at the top as I mentioned before, since I really liked the way it was served at Kotuku.
6. Grass-fed butter vs. regular butter vs ghee: Just do your research and decide which works best for you. I am not very picky and use all available options. Because I hear a lot about ghee vs. butter, I read up and realized they are very similar. Here’s a good comparison article you might find helpful. If you only want to use grass-fed butter, go for it. When it comes to taste and frothiness, I think they all work great!

Frother vs Blender

Most of the time I use my little frother because it’s so easy, especially the clean-up. But if you’re adding mushroom powder, cacao, collagen (or a combination of all these ingredients) using the blender seems to work really well to blend everything together and adds more frothiness – which I always love!

Below is an image of a latte with butter, MCT oil, collagen peptides and ground cacao nibs. For this one, I used a good blender.

Print Recipe

Homemade Keto Butter Coffee with MCT Oil & Chaga

Prep Time2 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Total Time7 minutes mins

Servings: 1 -2 cups

Ingredients

• 1-2 cups strong black coffee
• 2 teaspoons butter room temperature (preferrably grass-fed)
• 2 teaspoons Coconut Oil preferrably MCT Oil
• Optional: 1 teaspoon Mushroom or Chaga Powder or 1/4 teaspoon Reishi Spores

Instructions

• In coffee cup, add coconut oil and butter. If using mushroom powder or cacao or collagen, add at the same time.
• Pour hot coffee into cup to 1/4 full.
• Beat with hand frother for about a minute until caramel-colored and frothy.
• Pour hot coffee to fill the remainder of the cup.
• If using Reishi Spores, sprinkle on top of froth.
• Enjoy!

It turns out that I’m feeling so much more energetic since eliminating some foods from my diet. I’m also exercising and stretching more – and we all know that always helps. I’m not sure  I’ll go back to adding half and half, or even heavy cream to my coffee, or eating anything I want, whenever I want. I just know I’m feeling good now and will probably always lean toward doing things that make me feel better, not worse.

On another note, I love making coffee at home. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s an easy way to save a little money when we prepare food (and coffee) at home. It’s all good!

Enjoy!