Mornings are hard. I once worked in an office where I was the only one who drank coffee. That’s right, no coffee pot and no coffee shops or drive-thru’s nearby, just little packets of decaffeinated green tea taunting me from the break room. I would arrive every morning with my personal keg of coffee and quietly caffeinate in my corner cubicle while fresh-faced decaf coworkers buzzed around with irritating peppiness.

We’ll go to ridiculous lengths to make mornings as easy as possible: breakfast prepped, coffee timer set, clothes laid out. Many of us just aren’t morning people. I don’t know what I would do without my coffee. Seeking to minimize my morning routine, my interest was piqued when I came across a recipe for “overnight oats with coffee.” Coffee and breakfast in one? It was almost too good to be true. I looked for a simple overnight oats recipe and added in my own dash of pizzazz.

With fall comes a plethora of rich, hearty flavors too good to pass up. As much of a summer person as I am, I must admit, I’ll take a dash of apple cinnamon or pumpkin spice in my coffee any day. One of my favorites is our Apple Cider Donut flavored coffee. Fusing the flavors of fresh donuts (without the guilt, might I add), spicy apple cider, sweet brown sugar, and cinnamon, this autumnal flavor pairs perfectly with breakfast. I decided to give it a whirl in my overnight oats recipe. This recipe called for ¼ cup of coffee, strong brewed. I made mine double strength and let it chill.

As much as you may want to sleep in, kids and pets often have different ideas. Often, it’s even hard to find much time for meal prep in the evenings. I liked this recipe because it was easy and didn’t require a lot of ingredients. In a jar, I mixed ½ cup of chopped apple, ½ cup of old fashioned oats, a teaspoon of honey, an 1/8 teaspoon of ground cinnamon and chilled coffee. Then, I sealed it up and hoped for the best. It made me a little nervous forgoing the timer on my coffee pot, but I was committed to finding out if my coffee oats would do the job!

I couldn’t believe how tasty this recipe turned out to be. A breakfast that is filling, easy, and gets me going in the morning? If only I had known years back, I could’ve saved myself a lot of sulky mornings in that corner cubicle. Well, better late than never! Give this recipe a try or modify it to your liking. Pumpkin Spice coffee overnight oats? Mash in a banana? Overnight oats with yogurt? Tell us what you think in the comments below!

Nothing says fall quite like a smoldering bowl of soup. There’s nothing like those chilly days, filling up on rich, aromatic dishes. As a self-proclaimed foodie, I love any opportunity to try out new recipes, especially if they include my other passion: good coffee. This fragrant, cheesy, broiled recipe for French Onion soup is cool weather joy, epitomized.

I have always been a huge French Onion soup enthusiast. There was time when it was the only thing I would order when I went out to eat. I’ve always had an affinity for the savory and this was a special treat I could never get enough of. I remember my mother making this recipe for me on snowy days. She used the ceramic two-tone brown bowls allotted for this dish and this dish alone, broiled the cheese, and left the whole house smelling like heaven. My stomach would growl while I waited impatiently for my mother to call me for dinner.

Just like French Onion soup brought my family together on snowy days, the famous dish served as a unifying force in Paris as well. While onion soup had been around for ages, it was considered a food of the poor- many could only afford broth, bread, and onions. This staple was born in the restaurants surrounding les Halles, the only area open to a late night/early morning crowd at the time.

The addition of “gratinee,” or cheese, served as a hearty, affordable breakfast for the blue-collar workers seeking early morning fare or after a hard-partying evening at the cabaret. French Onion soup bridged the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots,” as customers poured into doors of these little cafés. Inebriated socialites in tuxedos sat beside bloody-aproned butchers at the end of their shifts, indulging in the irresistible late-night fare.

Nowadays, French Onion soup is less culturally charged, but it still is tasty enough to appeal to people from all walks of life. In France, they’d often add caramel and burnt onions to soup to add flavor. We added coffee, brown ale, and unfiltered apple juice, layering ingredients slowly to add to the depth of flavor in this recipe.

We recommend a coffee with some bite, as flavor is the name of the game for this treat. We love the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, light or dark roasted, depending on your preference. If you want a smokier flavor in your soup, go for the dark roast. If you prefer a nuttier, sweeter taste, go for light.

Simmering onions in brown ale and unfiltered apple juice as well as fresh-roasted coffee adds a sweet/salty/tart richness that will make this recipe a go-to all fall and winter. This makes for the perfect Sunday dinner as the days get shorter and cooler. Maybe even try it out as a hangover cure. We’re not saying it’ll work, but it’s worth a shot.

Give this recipe a try this fall and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Ingredients:

Serves: 4 to 6

6              medium sweet onions (we used Vidalia)

1              teaspoon dried thyme

1              teaspoon salt

1/2         teaspoon black pepper

2              tablespoons salted butter

8              ounces mild brown ale

16           ounces unfiltered apple juice

32           ounces brewed coffee

1 1/4      tablespoons mushroom or beef bouillon

2              bay leaves

1              fresh baguette, sliced

4              slices Swiss cheese

Directions:

Thin slice onions and add them to a soup pot on medium-high heat. Add butter, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir frequently while the onions reduce and caramelize. Add the brown ale (Newcastle is a great choice!) to deglaze the pan and let the onions reduce again until there is no visible liquid. Add apple juice to deglaze the pan a second time and simmer for 5 to 6 minutes on medium. Combine 32 ounces of fresh brewed coffee (preferably with some acidity, such as our Ethiopian Yirgacheffe) with the bouillon. Add the coffee/bouillon mixture and the bay leaves to the pot and simmer for an additional 20 minutes. Broil the baguette until golden. Remove the bay leaves and ladle the soup into oven safe bowls, top with two slices of toasted baguette and a generous slice of cheese. Place in the broiler until the cheese melts/bubbles.

We love anything that brings people together in a universal cheer. Coffee is most definitely one of those things, but tacos are a close competitor. Every dog has his day, but we think tacos deserve at least two. Thankfully, National Taco Day s coming up, and we can’t wait to celebrate. Since there’s only one day allotted to this joyous food, we have a proposal for you: have your tacos for dinner AND dessert. Is that not genius? You’re welcome.

We all remember being little kids and the thrilling jingle of the ice cream truck. I could hear it from a mile away. My parents would always hope I’d be distracted or out of earshot but nope-not me! The kids from the neighborhood would pile out into the streets, racing joyously toward that merry little bell. As an 80’s baby, I had come into existence a mere two years after the Choco Taco had become a regular on those ice cream trucks. The unique treat fused ice cream, chocolate, nuts, and sugar cone in taco form, yielding a full spectrum of flavors in each bite. The surrounding buzz did not fall on deaf ears.

The inventor of the Choco Taco, Alan Drazen, was inspired by the fastest growing facet of the food industry in the 80’s: Mexican food. He made his debut in the biz while still in college, driving an ice cream truck in Philadelphia. From there, he brought the wonders of the Choco Taco to the world!

What was once an ice cream truck only treat has now been adapted by chefs across the country, copied, and remixed more times than we can count. As DIY enthusiasts, we decided to take matters into our own hands and make our spin on a dessert taco recipe at home!

Whether you’re celebrating Taco Day out on the town or at home, end your day with this tasty dessert taco recipe. You deserve it. Try out our creamy, frozen treat and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Coffee Fudge Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients

½ cup cold, dark roast brewed coffee (we used Medium Roast Espresso)

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups cold heavy cream

Hot fudge (well, warm fudge)

Instructions

Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a large bowl and whisk in the cold coffee (or other flavoring), set aside.

Whip the heavy cream until peaks form. We used a hand mixer on medium-high.

Add whipped cream to the condensed milk mixture and blend by hand or on the low setting until combined.

Blend again on medium until the mixture is just thickened.

Pour mixture into a freezer-safe container (we used a standard size loaf pan) and cover with wax paper.

Freeze overnight or until firm

Dessert Taco Recipe

Ingredients

Frozen or homemade waffles

Fudge

Chopped nuts (we used honey roasted peanuts)

Parchment paper

Baking sheet

Instructions

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

Let ice cream thaw for about 10 minutes

Scoop the ice cream onto waffles and refreeze for about an hour to set the shape

Using a teaspoon, spoon the warm (not hot!) fudge into the taco shells and transfer to the baking sheet

Transfer the tacos to the freezer for about 1 hour

Enjoy!

When you think of punch, two things usually come to mind. The first is the typical, artificial red drink with only a scarce fraction of actual juice and a boatload of sugar. The other is the alternative to beer served at adult parties, with an indiscernible sweet flavor you can barely make out over the bite of plastic bottle liquor. Believe it or not, punch (originally panch), is the Hindustani word for five. The traditional five ingredient drink contained alcohol, lemon, sugar, water and tea or spices. In anticipation of National Punch day, we decided to explore the world of punch to find our favorite celebratory version for the festive day.

Since National Punch day lands on a Thursday, we decided on a non-alcoholic version so we could get festive and still make it to work on Friday. We wanted to integrate loose leaf tea because, in our opinion, tea makes everything at least a little bit tastier! After taste testing quite a few different tea punches, we landed on this Honey Orange Hibiscus Punch. Not only was it a breeze to make, it was so flavorful and fresh, we knew we couldn’t top it. With a combination of orange blossom honey syrup, fresh orange juice, and hibiscus, this punch is equal parts refreshing and autumnal. We love it! It isn’t too sweet or too tart, and that dash of fizziness from the sparkling water screams party!

We hope you celebrate National Punch Day by trying out this fun recipe! Report your findings in the comments below.

YIELD: Makes 5 to 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

2 cups – boiling water

1/2 cup Organic Hibiscus

1 1/4 cup – Orange Blossom Honey Syrup

1 cup of fresh squeezed orange juice

2 1/2 cups of sparkling water

1 bunch fresh mint leaves

orange peel garnish

ice cubes

For Orange Blossom Honey Syrup:

1 cup – orange blossom honey

1/4 cup – hot water

DIRECTIONS

• Pour boiling water over the hibiscus, cover, and allow to steep for 30 minutes. During this time, make the orange blossom honey syrup. In a saucepan, slowly bring honey and water to a boil. Remove from the heat and let cool. Strain hibiscus into 2-quart pitcher; add the orange blossom honey syrup, orange juice, and cold water; stir.
• Pour 10 ounces of the punch into a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice cubes and 2 to 3 mint leaves; close tightly and shake. Pour and garnish with orange peel and fresh mint leaves. Serve!

As Labor Day approaches, cookouts are the perfect activity to kick back with family and friends. The recipes of summer should be fresh, bright and juicy. As relentless coffee lovers, we sought to find a way to fuse our favorite ingredient into the mix with this delicious coffee rub.

Why coffee? Believe it or not, in this rub, coffee does not yield any bitterness. It adds a rich complexity to the sweet and salty kick you get from its other ingredients. We experimented with roast level and settled on a French Roast for its robust flavor. When selecting your bean of choice, take into account that the darker the roast, the stronger the flavor. The ideal grind size is the same as what you brew in your Autodrip pot. The grounds have just enough surface area to contribute flavor without dominating by sticking to the meat more than the other spices.

Coffee makes a truly unique seasoning. Adding the bold, earthy flavor of a ground dark roast to sweet and savory spices will make any steak sizzle. This warm, zesty rub goes with just about anything, but it doesn’t get any better than on your favorite cut of juicy steak. Whether you’re manning the grill, prepping the food, or buying the ingredients, you’ll be the barbeque boss once you break out this spiced, tangy rub!

Try it out this Labor Day. Let us know any modifications you made and how it turned out in the comments below!

• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons finely ground dark roasted coffee beans (regular or decaf)
• 5 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1½ teaspoons dried oregano
• 1½ teaspoons black pepper
• 1½ teaspoons ground coriander
• 1½ teaspoons ground mustard
• ¾ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 of your favorite cuts of beef

RECIPE PREPARATION

• In a small bowl, whisk all of the dry seasonings until evenly blended.
• Rub mixture evenly on all sides of the ribeye steaks (approximately 5 tsp. per steak) and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Pre-heat grillon high heat.

Grill 4-6 minutes per side for medium-rare or longer to taste.