Ketogenic diets are all the rage these days because they are effective and relatively easy to follow, two features that most diets do not possess. Unlike dieting fads designed to sell products and keep people in the never-ending cycle of hopping from one dieting plan to the next, keto diets are backed by science and don’t require any secret, proprietary ingredients, or other nonsense. One of the best examples of a keto-friendly drink is bulletproof coffee.
Bulletproof coffee is easy to make, delicious, reduces cravings, and can help you stay within your ketogenic diet parameters while still getting a healthy number of calories per day. The simplest recipes only require coffee and butter, and even the more involved ones aren’t too complicated and only use a few ingredients. In this article, we’re going to teach you our two favorite bulletproof coffee recipes and give you a bit of background information about bulletproof coffee. Even if you aren’t following a strict keto diet, bulletproof coffee is creamy and delicious and worth trying.
What Is Bulletproof Coffee?
Bulletproof coffee in its purest form is butter in coffee—that’s it. Of course, many recipes have built on this simple foundation to include other ingredients like MCT oil, cinnamon, salt, and even sugar in some cases. In general, we think it is fair game to call any recipe that calls for butter “bulletproof coffee.”
So why put butter in your coffee, you ask? To the uninitiated, butter in coffee seems like something that would happen by accident at an overly crowded breakfast table. But, for those in the know, it’s a familiar staple in keto diets. The main idea behind keto diets is to consume higher amounts of fat and reduce carbohydrate intake to induce a fat-burning state called ketogenesis.
Bulletproof coffee is commonly a key part of keto diets because it is high in fat and contains no carbohydrates. Additionally, coffee contains caffeine, which is an appetite suppressant. Combining black coffee and butter creates a drink that perfectly suits keto dieting specifically and weight loss in general.
On top of the purported health benefits, bulletproof coffee also happens to taste great and have a rich, creamy texture. Most bulletproof coffee recipes—including both in this article below—use a blender to mix the butter into the coffee and produce a frothy, foamy mouthfeel, making bulletproof coffee popular even outside of health and dieting circles.
A Simple Bulletproof Coffee Recipe
This first Bulletproof coffee recipe is as simple as it gets. To make it, you only need butter, coffee, a blender, and your favorite mug. If you’re new to bulletproof coffee and are looking for a recipe to start with, we recommend this one. It will give you an appreciation for what bulletproof coffee is about at a fundamental level and give you a solid foundation to build off of going forward.
- 1 cup of black coffee
- ½–1 tablespoon butter
- A blender
- A coffee mug
1. Make a cup of coffee.
Brew a cup of coffee exactly how you normally would. You can use your favorite brew method and coffee beans with no changes. We recommend medium or dark roast coffee since we find that light roast flavor profiles can unpleasantly clash with butter.
2. Blend your coffee and butter.
Add ½ to 1 tablespoon of butter to your black coffee and pour both into a blender. We recommend starting with ½ tablespoon and increasing the amount of butter slowly as you get used to drinking bulletproof coffee. Blend the butter and coffee until they are thoroughly mixed. The coffee should have a frothy head.
This recipe is the ultimate barebones version of bulletproof coffee and will give you the cleanest, unfiltered bulletproof experience. The following recipe is similar but spices things up a bit.
A Slightly More Involved Bulletproof Coffee Recipe
If you tried the simple recipe and are ready to take your bulletproof coffee to the next level, this recipe is a nice variation that still doesn’t stray too far from the core principles. You will need some less common ingredients, so make sure you have everything before you start.
- 1 cup of black coffee
- ½ tablespoon butter
- ¼ tablespoon coconut oil
- ¼ tablespoon MCT oil
- A blender
- A coffee mug
1. Brew coffee.
Just like you did in the simple recipe, brew a cup of black coffee. Consider making a slightly larger 10-12 ounce cup if you can, but 8 ounces is fine too.
2. Blend all the ingredients.
Combine the coffee, butter, coconut oil, and MCT oil in a blender. Start blending slowly and increase the speed only once the ingredients start to combine. Occasionally, the oils might not mix well, so be sure only to stop blending when you’re convinced the ingredients are all blended smoothly together.
A general rule of thumb for making bulletproof coffee is to keep the total fat content to around 1 tablespoon. You’ll notice that our second recipe still only uses 1 tablespoon of fats, even though it is divided between three separate sources.
Ideas for Recipe Variations
Bulletproof coffee is flexible, and there are innumerable ways you can tweak the recipe to make it your own. One of the simplest—and most delicious—ways is by adding a garnish. Cinnamon is a popular choice, but other spices like nutmeg and allspice also work well. Spices add flavor to bulletproof coffee without changing the nutritional content, making them a great way to coax a little more flavor from your coffee.
You could also change things up by using different sources of fat. Butter is the classic example, and MCT oil and coconut oil are also good choices, but more exotic options are nut butter, cacao butter, and ghee. Bulletproof coffee made from ½ tablespoon of butter and ½ tablespoon of natural almond butter is a delightful treat and one of our favorite variations.
Finally, you can use different coffee styles. If you usually brew coffee in a pour-over, try French press bulletproof coffee or vice versa. One more adventurous way to make bulletproof coffee is using cold brew. Once you make the cold brew, heat it before blending with butter, and voila, you have an even smoother, slightly sweet version.
Simple Bulletproof Coffee
Equipment
- High-speed blender
- Coffee maker
- Large mug
Ingredients
- 1 cup black coffee
- 1 tablespoon butter
Instructions
- Brew a cup of coffee exactly how you normally would. You can use your favorite brew method and coffee beans with no changes. We recommend medium or dark roast coffee since we find that light roast flavor profiles can unpleasantly clash with the butter.
- Add ½ to 1 tablespoon of butter to your black coffee and pour both into a blender. We recommend starting with ½ tablespoon and increasing the amount of butter slowly as you get used to drinking bulletproof coffee.
- Blend the butter and coffee until they are thoroughly mixed. The coffee should have a frothy head.
Nutrition
Conclusion
Bulletproof coffee is one of those things that sounds like a joke the first time you hear it. Most people have never considered putting butter in their coffee, and the thought of it makes them recoil. Bulletproof coffee is worth trying for the health benefits alone, but once you get a taste of the creamy texture and rich mouthfeel, you’ll be fully sold. As a bonus, there are tons of ways to alter the basic recipe to create your own personal version, making bulletproof coffee perfect for people who like to experiment and tinker in the kitchen.
SEE ALSO:
- How to Make Bulletproof Coffee Without a Blender
- 5 Best Blenders For Bulletproof Coffee
- Who Invented Bulletproof Coffee?
Featured image credit: Natasha Breen, Shutterstock
