Turtle Coffee Cocktail for National Coffee Day

Thanks to Staples for sponsoring today’s post.  As always, all opinions are honestly my own. 

Happy National Coffee Day, friends!!  A day just for celebrating one of my favorite things!  My friends at Staples asked me if I’d be interested in helping kick off the party by sharing an original recipe made with coffee.  Um, YES!!!  Erin and I got together on a Friday night to brainstorm and create a tasty treat for you, and I finally get to share it with you today.  Get ready for the Turtle Coffee Cocktail!

Before I share the recipe, first things first.  I have to give you a sneak peek at my new toy, the Starbucks Verismo Brewing System.  It’s the next best thing to having your favorite barista living in your house.  It’s so easy to use, and you can quickly brew espresso, an Americano, a Café Latte, brewed coffee, and so much more at the touch of a button or two.

Before using the machine, fill the water tank in the back all the way up to the line, which will last a good while.  Then, all you have to do is choose what you want to make, lift the lever on the top of the machine, and place your pod inside.  The pods are available in a variety of blends, including Espresso roast, Veranda Blend, Pike Place Roast, Caffé Verona, and more.  If you’re not a coffee lover, they also come in a yummy Masala Chai, and there are Milk Pods you can use with any roast.

Once your pod is in place, just lower the handle firmly and push the button that corresponds to what you’re using…the top one is for espresso, the middle one is for regular coffee, and the bottom is for a milk pod.  The machine will take it from there and brew you the perfect cup.  I’m loving it; not only do I use it for coffee, I often brew chai for myself in the morning, starting with a chai pod then adding a milk pod to finish up.  I also came up with a fun recipe for a fancy espresso shot.  But right now it’s time to talk about a different recipe…check it out.

TURTLE COFFEE COCKTAIL

Turtle Coffee Cocktail Ingredients {for one drink}:

1/4 cup {2 oz} brewed coffee – we used Pike Place, which is a medium roast
1/4 cup {2 oz} Bailey’s Original Irish Cream
1/2 cup {4 oz} milk
2 scoops vanilla ice cream
chocolate and caramel syrup
whipped cream
crushed pecans

Pour coffee (make sure the coffee is cold, or throw some ice in), Bailey’s, and milk into a blender and add 2 scoops of ice cream.  Squeeze chocolate and caramel syrup in, as much as you like.  Blend until smooth.  Drizzle chocolate and caramel syrup on the inside of your glass, then pour the mixture in.  Top with whipped cream, a drizzle of chocolate and caramel syrup, and crushed pecans.

Of course, as with any recipe, there are variations you can make for your dietary needs and preferences.

ALCOHOL FREE: Substitute Bailey’s non-alcoholic Irish Creamer for the actual Bailey’s.

LOW-FAT: We actually did this for ours; we used nonfat {skim} milk and lowfat ice cream.  You can also get light whipped cream or leave off the whipped cream altogether.

GLUTEN FREE: To the best of our knowledge and research, this recipe is gluten free as is.  However, always check the labels on each individual product you’re using to be sure, since there are a huge variety of brands when it comes to ice cream, whipped cream, syrups, etc.

NUT FREE: Simply leave off the pecan topping and you should be good to go!  As always, though, double check the ingredient labels on your specific products to be sure.

CAFFEINE FREE: Use a decaf roast, as we did, or leave out the coffee {sad!}.  Additionally, chocolate has a small amount of caffeine, so you may also want to leave out the chocolate syrup and just enjoy the caramel.

DAIRY FREE: Sorry, this one isn’t easy.  Ice cream, milk, Bailey’s, whipped cream, and caramel all have dairy in them.  There aren’t a ton of good substitutions, but your best alternative is probably to use soy milk and soy ice cream, leave off the caramel and whipped cream, and substitute Kalhua for the Bailey’s.  Or you could just brew yourself a cup of coffee.  Probably easier.

Honestly? This drink was absolutely, amazingly delicious.  We were just kind of playing around with the ingredients and taking guesses at how much to use, figuring we’d tweak what we needed to, but after one taste, we decided the recipe didn’t need a single change!  I hope you get a chance to give it a try and that you enjoy it as much as we did!

Looking for more great cocktail recipes? Check these out…

Orange Dreamsicle Cocktail

Peach Moscato Slush

Candy Cane Cocktail {Peppermint & Chocolate!}