If I had an ice cream maker, I would save my leftover coffee for ice cream. Coffee is my favorite flavor of ice cream.

Jim

Make less coffee.

LOL paddy! I am such a cheapskate, when I buy my coffee at work and don't drink it all for whatever reason, (if something comes up) I save it and bring it home to store in the fridge. I have a cup of coffee that is probably comprised of the dregs of two or three cups. That's how frugal I am!

Oh I sure wish I had an ice cream maker! Coffee is one of my favorite flavors too. That's what I was thinking, wish I could make coffee ice cream. It was so hot today! But I don't have an ice cream maker. That's probably for the best, since ice cream is a great weakness of mine!

I like to add it to brownies or chocolate cake batter.

"Can't keep up" would seem to imply that you are already doing something, but not enough, with the leftovers. And that is...? On a daily basis, iced coffee would seem a much more obvious choice than using it as an ingredient.

Sorry Lpink, but the only thing to do with leftover coffee is throw it out. I could see warming up a cup of coffee that you started and didn't finish earlier in the day, but I can't see saving more than one cup and mixing them together.

Ann

Freeze it in ice cube trays and use them with some milk and sugar (if you like sweets) and to make a coffee slushy in the blender.

I hope what we're talking about here are partial pots, not partially finished cups. Eeeeww!

Jim

Pour it in your garden! Your plants will love it!

I'm just...guh. LOL!

Ok, you know what I want to say, but that doesn't answer the question. Freeze it in ice cube trays. Then you can either make smoothies or you can add the cubs to FRESH coffee for iced coffee without the watered-down taste. (Although how you can drink it after in the fridge and oxidized is beyone me.) Dare I add the suggestion to buy a smaller size cup of coffee?

Generally speaking, there isn't much you can make with leftover coffee (from your cup, not pot) unless you alone are planning on consuming it. The only thing that comes to mind is coffee granita. I say water the plants with it or throw it on a compost pile.
Jo

Here is a link that might be useful: coffee granita

"I hope what we're talking about here are partial pots, not partially finished cups. Eeeeww! "

Yep

Once it's baked into something I hardly think it matters whether it comes from a cup you didn't finish or from a pot. :)

DH makes a pot of coffee and he will drink the coffee from that pot for two or three days. I don't drink coffee. I love the smell of it when it's perking though.

I would put it into anything baked that also has cocoa or chocolate in it, instead of the liquid called for.

When we're feeling lazy we make enough coffee at breakfast time for the whole day and leave it out on the counter in the Melita carafe. We then nuke it as we drink it. It;'s not great, but it's not horrible either.

I like the ice cube idea. I'm not so sure it's a good thing to save coffee with milk or cream, though. I drink mine black. Sometimes I make iced coffee, if it's not too late in the day. After about 4, I can't take the caffeine.

I usually chuck it but I think I will start pouring it in the garden. Good idea.

Friends I appreciate good coffee as much as the next person, but I am a woman of modest means, and coffee is expensive! I hate to tell you this, but there are a whole lot of people who reheat coffee. Caffeine is caffeine. There are also people who make biscuits out of slightly off milk, etc., and eat a lot of food that some would pitch.

Here's what I made with it, from a recipe given to me by Annie, in a bread machine given to me by Ohiomom!

MAPLE OATMEAL BREAD
3 Â 3 1/4 cups flour
1 pkg dry yeast
3/4 cup prepared coffee
1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats
1/2 (scant) cup maple syrup
2 tblsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 egg
Combine a cup of flour and the yeast. Heat coffee, oats, syrup, butter and salt until just warm and butter is almost melted. Add to flour mixture along with egg. Beat with electric mixer on low for 30 seconds. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface, knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3-5 minutes kneading). Shape dough into a ball, place in lightly greased bowl, and turn over once to grease surface of dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about an hour.
Punch down dough, cover and let rest 10 minutes. Meanwhile lightly grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. Shape dough into a loaf and place into prepared pan, cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (30 to 45 minutes). Bake at 350 F about 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack.
Makes 1 loaf (14 slices)
Each slice contains 149 calories, 3 grams total fat, 2 grams sat. fat, 1 gr fiber, 26 gr. Carbs, 196 mg sodium, 4 gr protein. (Contains 8% of daily requirement of iron)

When we do have leftovers, which is sort of rare, we freeze the coffee into cubes. I'm one of those weird ones whose delicate mouth can't take a really hot cup of coffee so I toss in a coffee cube to temper the heat. But usually, we make just enough coffee for the morning with no leftovers.

That bread sounds good. We have perfected our coffee making to such a degree that there is no leftover coffee. It took awhile but now we know exactly how much to make to fill our two mugs.
Coffee is expensive!

If you buy coffee by the cup or large container from a vendor of some sort...its' expensive, if you make it yourself in a pot it's not so expensive.
I suggest either buying a little drip pot for work, or making a small amount of coffee at home and taking it to work in a insulated coffee to go mug....and tossing the dregs in the bottom of the cup. Not only will you save money but but have better coffee to drink.
However I do sometimes save some morning coffee if I know I will be making a beef roast or a stew. half a cup of coffee or so adds a certain something to a dark gravy and a heavy red loong cooked tomato sauce.
But I don't save sandwich crusts ,but for the birds, nor unfinished salad half a fried egg...nor coffee past 1 PM...If I haven't put ice into it and made it into iced coffee by then I toss it.
Linda c

Two words: FRENCH PRESS.
Make only what you'll drink, even at work. A small french press makes one cup of coffee. It's not expensive like those Senseo pods, it's just a scoop or two of ground coffee.
Voila! No leftovers!

lpink,

I can't help with what to do with leftover 'cause I don't drink coffee but I'm curious...by saving what's left in your cup & reusing it in another food product...are you concerned with contamination? The thought of the bread made with coffee that once was in your coffee cup sorta grosses me out. I take it that consumption of that bread is intended only for you?

I can't help it...I'm envisioning taking what's leftover in somebody's milk glass & then pouring it into a pancake batter. Eewwwww!

Or, are you speaking about what's leftover in the pot?

/tricia

You guys are WAY more organized than me in the morning! I barely manage to get dressed and out the door for my 55 min. commute. Half a cup of coffee that I didn't have time to drink gets stuck in the fridge, and sometimes reheated quick the next morning so I can at least get some caffeine in me before I'm out the door. Cooking with leftover coffee would be relegated to weekends, Sunday to be precise. That's my only kitchen day.

Dump it!

I guess being a biologist/ecologist my EEWW tolerance is pretty high. I don't spit in my coffee, and will willingly taste off of someone else's spoon or drink out of their glass--IF I like that person, know their health history, and they are not a drooler, lol! I'd much rather do that then take a drink out of a public drinking fountain or touch a phone. Or heavan forbid, kiss a toddler!

My husband will make a pot of coffee and then refrigerate the leftover to either drink as iced coffee later or to reheat later (yech!).

I don't drink much coffee, one cup a day at the absolute most. But I'm extremely fussy about it. So I have my little drip cone that sits on top of my coffee cup, I grind my good beans into dust, and slowly stream hot water over the grounds, keeping the water level sufficient to steep all the grounds for as long as possible (instead of dumping all the water in, and then having the grounds left up on the sides of the filter as the coffee drains.

It makes me a wickedly strong cup of coffee.

However, if I don't finish it, it gets dumped (unless my husband snags it). I'm a pretty frugal person, but I figure that since I only have the one cup a day, I can treat myself to having it the way I want it.

My Mom use to make Coffee Jello with leftover coffee.

Coffee Jello
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup prepared hot coffee (reheat in microwave)
2 cups prepared cold coffee
Combine gelatin and sugar in a medium bowl. Add hot coffee. Stil until gelatin and sugar dissolves. Stir in cold coffee. Pour into 4-6 dessert glassess. Refrigerate until firm. Garnish with sweet whipped cream.

Coffee Jello with Spirits
Substitute 1/4 - 1/2 cup brandy, rum or sherry for the same amount cold coffee.

I loved it with heavy cream poured over the top. Very refreshing in the summer. I also love coffee ice cream.

Check out and see if your library has these or any other coffee cookbooks. I have them all because I do love coffee.

The Maxwell House Coffee Cookbook (1964)
Coffee Cuisine (1972) by Diane De Lorme Mac Millan
The Book of Coffee & Tea (1975) by Joel, David & Karl Schapira
Coffee Cookery (1978) by Ceil Dyer

If you have something specific in mind, like a bread or cake or main course, I could look it up.
Clare

Lori, just dump it and go on. Give it it to the roses and lose some slugs. How much iced coffee can you drink?

Reheating it makes for nasty coffee.

Laurie, if I don't make that maple oatmeal bread, I just keep reheating it. I'll make a pot of coffee on Monday, and drink a cup or two while I'm getting ready for work. I'll reheat a cup on Tuesday morning, even on Wednesday, until it's gone.

Sorry, Renee, I know it's heresy, but since you went out of business my coffee has gone steadily downhill, LOL.

Annie

Annie, you know what's funny? I seldom drink coffee anymore. I finally found a local roaster who does OK coffee, but since I usually only drink one or two cups, even a small amount of beans gets stale (my definition of stale) before I can use it. DH was here last weekend, and went through nearly 3/4 lb in three days!

IPink -- yeah, I know. That's why I backed down and just answered the question. :) I've been told I'm weird because I drink coffee solely for the flavor. I couldn't care less about the caffeine, and I am far pickier about coffee than even the husband is. It's amused some of our friends that he's the roaster but will drink stuff I won't touch.

My MIL reheats coffee for 2-3 days. (Doesn't seem to grasp that she doesn't have to brew a whole pot.) Her tongue: her choice. I just stick to tea when I visit. :)

You say you save your coffee, which had milk in it: I would dump that one and only save or freeze the coffee that had no milk added to it.

I know it's not a huge quantity of milk, but that could go bad and you would not know it, until you made something with it and it could taste sour.

I have to have a fresh cup. Drip or French press. No perked, no instant, no serve-yourself coffee sitting in a carafe on the counter. I actually prefer my own coffee to cafe coffee unless I am splurging and buying an espresso drink.

Like you, Lpink. Sometimes I can't finish what I made and it feels wasteful. I've tried saving the balance of the pot to use in a chocolate cake recipe by keeping it in the frig. Or freezing it in cubes for coffee slushes. The cubes get lost in the freezer to be tossed when I do a freezer purge. I never seem to get around to the chocolate cake in a timely fashion. I can't drink reheated coffee. Too bad. No garden, either.

How about an insulated covered go-cup for your morning commute? Then you can take the coffee you make with you. I've several, I'll happily send you one. Just email me with your address.

Renee, I'm like you, I drink for the flavour and I only drink one to two cups of coffee a day and I drink slow so I often don't finish a cup. I don't like it cold.

LPink, have you tried using a French Press to make your coffee? They make the best coffee, aren't expensive and you can get them in a number of sizes from one to two cups up to 8 to 12 cups. I make our coffee in the morning using an insulated French Press. It is the perfect size for us. Makes about 3 cups of coffee. One for me and two for Moe. No waste.

Ann

Barnmom, you made me laugh with the "freezer purge" comment. That's such a perfect description for what happens with leftover bits and pieces -- it goes in, gets lost, gets purged. The path to the trash bin is lined with good intentions.

The "oil" in coffee is not true oils, but water-soluable colloids. The longer coffee sits, the more those flavor constituants break down, which some of us can taste as a acrid, mettallic or "slimy" aftertaste. Also, the longer coffee sits, the more likely it is to upset a sensitive stomach. Doesn't bother some people at all. Other's can't stand it. I figure I scrimp on everything else, but I'm going to have the best coffee, olive oil, and spices I can get my hands on. :)

You don't need an ice cream maker to make ice cream. You can do it without, you just have to freeze it partially and then beat some air into and freeze it again.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to.

I even have a single serve French Press! Actually, I have two, one for me and one for DH- his is an all-steel camping one as I got tired of contantly replacing the ones he dropped in hotel rooms when travelling for work!

Ewwww, being from Louisiana we wouldn't dare drink leftover coffee. Although, I may freeze in cube trays and reuse for cooking. Nothing replaces fresh brewed coffee. But I'm frugal so I would try to reuse. Try it in Chili or an Italian sauce.

Really, a french press sounds like it may be the answer!

I got this from the Cooking Forum about 4 years ago. I don't remember whose recipe it is! My husband is addicted to these. I like them, but can take or leave them. I think you could probably add coffee to the liquid of any quick bread, muffin or cookie recipe you wanted. Might be really good in brownies or blondies...

~Amanda

BANANA MOCHA MUFFINS
2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cup or 3 mashed bananas
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup butter or margarine
½ tsp. baking soda
1 ¼ cup sugar
½ tsp. salt
1 egg
2 Tbsp. coffee
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate broken into chunks

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin pan. Mix together flour, baking powder, soda and salt in small bowl. Dissolve coffee in hot water. Beat mashed bananas, butter, sugar and egg in large bowl. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Fold in chocolate chunks. Bake 25 to 30 minutes

You aren't going to believe this, but not only does my father save his coffee to drink later in the day, he also re-uses the coffee grounds the next day for another pot! Yes, that's right, you heard it here first! Talk about frugal! I know because I was having coffee at his house, and it tasted rather strange -- kind of "stale". So I commented on the taste -- said it tasted "different" but didn't use the "stale" word so as not to hurt his feelings. Whereupon he proudly announced that after brewing one pot, he just adds one scoop of fresh coffee to the used coffee grounds for the next day's coffee! And then he tosses the second day's grounds in the compost (thank Heavens!). That was the last time I've ever had coffee at his house. I now go there "armed" with my own tea bags. I don't drink much coffee, but it has to be a decent cup when I do! MacThayer

It's not like I ALWAYS have leftover coffee or I ALWAYS reheat it instead of throwing it out, but it does happen often enough for me to wonder if there's some way I could make use of the resource instead of dumping it. That's for me the essence of frugality, not throwing out things that can be used. I probably have a lot more in common with my depression era grandparents than my more affluent parents or peers. My parents grew up never throwing anything out, so they now enjoy throwing things out on occassion. And my peers are probably better off financially than me so they never think about such things.

From Renee's explanation (thanks!) it sounds like there's a limit to how long I can keep coffee for any viable cooking use. I was thinking of something like a mocha muffin or brownie.

I had a french press but I broke it. I know they aren't very expensive, but I am a member of the "working poor" so even little inexpensive luxuries are just out of the question right now. Working poor means you work 14-16 hours a day but you don't make enough money to make ends meet. I am living off my savings which are about half gone, and if I don't find full time work soon I will have to sell my house to make more money to live off of. So a french press is the least of my worries, it would just end up being one of the things I sell in the yard sale when the house goes. I have two one-cup filters that will have to do. Plus you are assuming that I always have a clean kitchen and time to take care of the french press before rushing off in the morning to one of my three part-time jobs. I'm not saying a french press is a bad idea, it's a GREAT idea, it's just not the time for me to be getting one.