Vanilla-Cinnamon Coffee

Why spend money on overpriced coffee shop beverages or artificially flavored grocery store coffee when you can make your own gourmet vanilla-cinnamon coffee at home using all-natural ingredients - and it's easy, too! This recipe works for a 10 to 12 cup coffee maker, but you can use half as much vanilla and cinnamon for a 4 to 6 cup coffee maker. And you can also adjust the amounts of cinnamon and vanilla to suit your taste.

Ingredients
Ground coffee for a 10 to 12 cup pot
2 cinnamon sticks
1 vanilla bean
Fresh water to brew the pot of coffee
Optional sugar and cream or milk, if desired

Cut the vanilla bean in half crosswise and reserve one half for another use. Split the other half of the bean lengthwise to open it, and place it together with the cinnamon at the bottom of the empty coffee maker carafe. Add the ground coffee and water to the coffee maker for brewing as usual. As the coffee brews into the carafe, the hot coffee will be infused with the flavor of the vanilla bean and cinnamon sticks in the carafe. Once the coffee has finished brewing, pour into cups or mugs. If desired, add sugar and milk or cream to taste. Note: The longer the cinnamon sticks and vanilla bean are left in the carafe with the hot coffee, the more flavor they'll impart, so you might want to remove them from the carafe after the coffee has finished brewing (or leave them longer for more vanilla and cinnamon flavor).

Zestfully yours,
Gloria
Carolina Sauce Company