Rich Vanilla Coffee Mix.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup instant coffee
1 cup instant dry milk powder
1/2 cup powdered coffee creamer
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup store-bought instant vanilla pudding mix

Direction:

Measure all of the ingredients into a clean, dry bowl. Use a fork to combine everything evenly. If you are ambitious, you can powder everything in a blender. Transfer the mixture to a reseal able container, or a pretty jar. This makes a good gift, especially in the winter time.

To Prepare: Place 1/4 cup of dry Rich Vanilla Cafe mix into a coffee cup. Add hot water to fill up the cup (about 3/4 cup hot water). Stir and serve.

I invented this recipe because I couldn't find powdered vanilla flavorings. The closest I could come was french vanilla pudding mix. After I made this recipe, and then tried it, I was amazed at how smooth and creamy it was. Also, all of the powder dissolved when I stirred it. I didn't find the normal "sludge" of undissolved mix at the bottom of my cup. It turns out that the pudding mix has chemicals added to it to make powders dissolve completely with only a little bit of stirring. Since then, I have included pudding powder in many of my coffee and cocoa drink mixes. It really improves the finished product a lot. When store-brand pudding mixes can be purchase 2 or 3/$1 it is a pretty cheap way to make hot drink mixes into something really special.

In some of the recipes the pudding mix is optional. If you prefer not to chance adding the chemicals to your family's diet, then they can be omitted. I've also seen organic pudding mixes that look like they would probably work in this type of recipe too. If you find any at your local natural foods store, give it a try and let me know about your results.