This Easy Homemade Strawberry Milk for One or Two, made with just four ingredients, is fruity, creamy, subtly sweet, and pretty much all your strawberries and cream dreams come to life.
Hey, it’s strawberry season! My very favorite fruit season (except for maybe sweet cherry season), and the time when strawberries are so good and SO cheap (at least here in California) that I always end up buying way too many.
Then I just have a pounds and pounds of strawberries sitting in my fridge or on my counter smelling amazing while I try to eat my way through them before they rot.
And since I figure that I’m probably not the only one with an overabundance of strawberries right about now, I thought that I’d share something to make with some of those extras:
Easy Homemade Strawberry Milk (for One or Two)!
Who doesn’t love strawberry milk?
And if you think you don’t love strawberry milk, maybe you just don’t like the stuff that comes powdered in a can or lukewarm on lunch trays.
Because this strawberry milk? This strawberry milk is a GD delight.
Fruity, creamy, subtly sweet, it’s pretty much all your strawberries and cream dreams come to life.
And it’s made entirely from scratch. No pink powder required.
The ingredients are simple: strawberries, sugar, a bit of water, and a tall, cold glass of milk. The strawberries, sugar, and water simmer together to make strawberry syrup, and then you stir that into your milk, and you’re done.
Unlike my (crazy popular) Chocolate Milk for One , which makes exactly one cup of milk, this recipe makes a little over two cups of strawberry milk, enough for one big glass or two smaller cups.
It also easily doubles or triples for times when you feel like leftovers.
And if you went extra crazy at the farmers market and have way, way too many strawberries, stay tuned, I’ll be sharing a larger version of this recipe in the next few weeks.
Homemade Strawberry Milk for One or Two Recipe Notes
- This recipe calls for a fine mesh strainer to strain out seeds and strawberry pieces from the strawberry syrup. If you don’t own one, they are cheap on Amazon and can be found in the baking aisle at most grocery stores, or you can simply use a slotted spoon to remove strawberries. You’ll just have some seeds and pulp at the bottom of your glass, which doesn’t hurt anything.
- This strawberry milk ends up a lovely pale pink, but if making for kids (or childlike adults), feel free to add a couple drops of red food coloring for a more vibrant pink color. I used two drops for the milk you see in the photos.
- You can make your strawberry milk with whatever milk you have in the fridge, but whole milk makes the richest, tastiest drink. If you have heavy cream or half and half on hand, you can also add a splash of that to the mix for a richer end product (highly recommended).
- Looking for more strawberry recipes? Try my Strawberry Shortcake Sundaes , Easy Strawberry Sauce for Pancakes and Ice Cream , and Strawberry Syrup .
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- ▢ Fine mesh strainer
Strawberry Milk
- ▢ 2 cups milk preferably whole milk
- ▢ 1/2 cup hulled and chopped strawberries frozen is fine
- ▢ 1/4 cup ( 50g ) granulated sugar
- ▢ 1/4 cup water
- ▢ A couple drops of red food coloring optional
Instructions
- Pour 2 cups of whole milk into a large glass and place in the freezer so milk becomes very cold. (Skip this step if making the syrup ahead of time.)
- In a small pot, combine strawberries, sugar, and water. Bring to a low boil and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until fragrant and reduced.
- Use a fine mesh strainer to strain syrup into a small bowl or cup. Discard strawberries. Mix 3 tablespoons or about 2/3 of the syrup into your very cold milk. Stir and then add more syrup to taste. Add food coloring if desired.
- Serve and enjoy!
Homemade peanut butter cups are super easy to throw together and perfect for days when you’re craving something sweet but have an empty baking cupboard. These can be made with just three ingredients and 15 minutes.
Hey, you ever have one of those lazy afternoons where you’re CRAVING sugar but there’s nothing sweet in your entire house/apartment/illegally zoned yurt except a half-full bag of chocolate chips, and you’re not quite that desperate—yet?
The next time that happens, I have a solution for you. Make a batch of these four-ingredient peanut butter cups. They use ingredients you probably have in your cupboard, don’t require you to turn on the oven or stove, and are way, way more fun/more delicious/less sad to eat than a handful of chocolate chips.
What You Need For Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
These homemade peanut butter cups need just four ingredients: chocolate, coconut oil, peanut butter, and powdered sugar, and two of those ingredients are negotiable.
The coconut oil can be omitted, but it makes for smoother melted chocolate which is easier to work with (so if you have it, use it). And if you don’t have powdered sugar in your cupboard, brown or regular granulated can be substituted. Your peanut butter layer will just be a little grainy.
You will also need some freezer space (for chilling between layers), a muffin tin (I like using my 6-cup muffin tin because it requires less freezer space, but full-size works just fine), and paper liners. (Don’t try to make these without liners. They would be a pain to get out of the pan.)
How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
To make the peanut butter cups, you just layer melted chocolate and coconut oil, melted peanut butter plus powdered sugar, and more melted chocolate, chilling in between each layer for a couple of minutes. The whole process will take about 15 minutes to assemble the candies and another 10 minutes or so for them to chill enough to eat.
I like to use the downtime between layers to scrub counters, put away dishes, or rearrange my junk drawer, so at the end of the chilling time, I have delicious candy AND a super clean kitchen.
This recipe will make six regular-size peanut butter cups or twelve minis. Once they have solidified, I transfer them (with wrappers still on) to an airtight freezer bag or container and store in the refrigerator or freezer.
Homemade Peanut Butter Cup Substitutions
You can customize these in a ton of ways, but here are a couple of recommendations to get you started:
- White chocolate peanut butter cups – You can use good-quality white chocolate to make peanut butter cups, but heads up: white chocolate is a little more finicky to melt in the microwave, so watch it closely and make sure not to overheat it.
- Nutella – Nutella can be substituted for peanut butter and does not need any additional sugar. Just melt for 15 seconds in the microwave until easily spreadable.
- Sprinkles – Nonpareils sprinkled over the top chocolate layer before it sets make cuter cups and add a nice crunch.
Recipe Notes
- This recipe calls for refined coconut oil. You can use unrefined, but it will make your chocolate taste slightly of coconut.
- If it’s cool in your kitchen and your coconut oil is in its solid state, don’t worry too much about getting exactly one/one-and-a-quarter teaspoons of oil. A little more or less won’t negatively affect your chocolate.
- My favorite way of measuring peanut butter and other sticky substances is to measure it by weight using a kitchen scale so you’re not continuously trying to scrape it out of measuring spoons.
Looking for more easy desserts? Try my Small-batch Chocolate Chip Cookies , Peanut Butter Bars , and 30-Second Easy Chocolate Sauce .
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- ▢ Muffin tin OR
- ▢ Mini muffin tin
- ▢ Cupcake liners
Homemade Peanut Butter Cups
- ▢ 2/3 heaping cup ( 4.5oz ) chocolate chips divided
- ▢ 2 1/4 teaspoons refined coconut oil divided (optional)
- ▢ 3 tablespoons ( 48g ) peanut butter (not natural peanut butter)
- ▢ 1 tablespoon ( 8g ) powdered sugar sifted
Instructions
- Clear space in your freezer for a muffin tin. Line tin with 6 liners ( 12 if making minis).
- Place 3 small microwave-safe bowls on the counter. To the first, add 1/3 cup chocolate chips and 1 teaspoon coconut oil. To the second, add 1/3 heaping cup of chocolate chips and 1 1/4 teaspoon coconut oil. To the third, 3 tablespoons of peanut butter.
- Melt the chocolate in the first bowl by microwaving for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave for an additional 15 seconds if necessary, until you are able to stir the chocolate smooth. Add 1 heaping teaspoon of chocolate to each prepared muffin cup, smoothing the chocolate out into an even layer so it covers the entire bottom. If there is any chocolate left in the bowl, divide it evenly(ish) between the cups. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes or until chocolate is hardened.
- Place the bowl with peanut butter in the microwave and heat for 20 seconds. Stir and heat for an additional 10 seconds if the peanut butter is not smooth and pourable. Stir in powdered sugar and drop a teaspoon of peanut butter onto the center of each muffin cup. The peanut butter should spread to almost the edges but not touch. If there is any leftover peanut butter, divide it between the cups. Freeze for 5 minutes.
- Repeat step 3 with remaining bowl of chocolate. Freeze for at least 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
What to Do With Leftover Whipping Cream: How to freeze whipping cream and whipping cream recipe ideas to use up the leftovers.
Whipping cream is one of my favorite ingredients to cook with. It’s delicious, versatile, and makes everything taste better.
But it’s also not something everyone keeps in their fridge, and a little goes a long way in recipes (and calorie-wise), so I always hesitate to create recipes for the site that use it.
I don’t want to make you buy an ingredient you’ll use for one meal and then have the rest of it go bad in your fridge.
So I told myself that before I created another recipe using cream, I’d put together a Waste Not post for whipping cream so you’d have a resource on what to do with the extra.
Wednesday I have a savory recipe hitting the site calling for whipping cream, so today, Waste Not: Whipping Cream Edition.
And before we go on, when I say whipping cream, I’m using this term interchangeably to refer whipping cream and heavy whipping cream/heavy cream. The only difference between the two is a small amount of milk fat.
Whipping Cream = 30–36% fat Heavy (Whipping) Cream = 36%+ fat
They can be used pretty much interchangeably.
Side note: As a rule, Half and Half (10.5–18%) and Light Cream (20%) cannot (always) be substituted. If you’re outside the US, here’s a good breakdown of comparable cream labels because they vary from country to country.
Okay, now that we know what is and isn’t whipping cream, here we go.
What to do With Leftover Whipping Cream
Freeze It
Like buttermilk, heavy cream freezes well. You can freeze it in the container in which it was bought (leave plenty of head space if that’s a glass bottle, and double wrap it if it’s plastic or cardboard to prevent it from picking up that freezer taste). Or you can transfer it to mason jars, again, leave space for expansion, or measure out usable amounts and double bag it in freezer bags.
When it comes time to use the frozen cream, leave it in the refrigerator to defrost for a day or two before you’ll need it and then shake vigorously to mix any fat that has separated.
Use It to Make Half and Half
If you have favorite recipes using half and half or you prefer half and half for your morning coffee, you can also use leftover heavy cream to make your own half and half at home. Simply mix approximately 1 part cream with 2 parts milk.
For example, if you have a recipe that calls for 1 cup half and half, fill your 1 cup measuring cup about 1/3 full with cream, 2/3 full with milk. Depending on whether you’re using non-fat or whole milk, go a little heavier or lighter on the cream. It doesn’t need to be exact and when in doubt, go heavier on the cream because fat is delicious.
Make Good Things With It
Finally, use it in other things. My go-to quick recipes for using up a bit of cream are…
- Using it instead of milk in my scrambled eggs
- As coffee creamer (soooooo much better than half and half)
- And making a small batch of caramel
Or try one of these other recipes:
Drinks Made With Whipping Cream
Rich and Thick Hot Chocolate
(1 tablespoon) White Chocolate Mocha (1 tablespoon) Easy Homemade Mocha (2 tablespoons) Milk Tea with Coffee Jelly (2 tablespoons) Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe Two Ways (Light and Decadent) (1/3 cup) Rich and Thick Hot Chocolate for One (1/2 cup) Candy-Sweet Jello Shots with Triple Sec Whipped Cream
Desserts Using Whipping Cream
No-bake Cheesecake Bites With Graham Cracker Crust
(1 tablespoon) 30-Second Easy Chocolate Sauce (3 tablespoons) No-bake Cheesecake Bites With Graham Cracker Crust (3 tablespoons) Chocolate Souffles for Two With Creme Anglaise (1/4 cup) Small-batch No-bake Unicorn Cheesecakes (1/4 cup) Small-batch No-bake Oreo Cheesecake Bites (1/4 cup) Skinny Mini Pumpkin Pie With Graham Cracker Crust (1/4 cup) Better Than Starbucks Caramel Macchiato (1/4 cup) Butterscotch Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies (1/2 cup) Pink Cream Puffs (1/2 cup) Samoa Cupcakes (3/4 cup) Small-batch Cream Scones (3/4 cup) Small-batch Maple Scones (Maple Butter Scones) (1 cup) Whipped Cream 3 Ways (2 cups) No-churn Peanut Butter Oreo Ice Cream (2 cups) Pound Cake Cupcakes
Savory Recipes Using Whipping Cream
Easy Tomato Soup Recipe for Two
(2 tablespoons) My Favorite Easy Parmesan Orzo Side Dish (2 tablespoons) Shortcut Scalloped Potatoes for One (3 tablespoons) Easy Chicken in Cream Sauce for Two (3 tablespoons) Easy Tomato Soup Recipe for Two (3 tablespoons) Easy Baked Ziti Recipe (Dinner for Two) (1/4 cup) Keto Chicken Soup for Two (1/3 cup) Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Pasta Dinner for Two (1/3 cup) Cheesy Potato Gratin for Two (1/3 cup) Quick and Easy Fettuccine Alfredo for One (1/2 cup) Copycat Carmela’s Chicken (1/2 cup) Easy Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup (2/3 cup) Easy Fettuccine Alfredo With Broccoli (2/3 cup) Easy Creamy Chicken Pasta With Bell Peppers (1 cup) 15-minute Vodka Sauce (1 cup) Penne alla Vodka With Chicken
This Easy Homemade Strawberry Milk for One or Two, made with just four ingredients, is fruity, creamy, subtly sweet, and pretty much all your strawberries and cream dreams come to life.
Hey, it’s strawberry season! My very favorite fruit season (except for maybe sweet cherry season), and the time when strawberries are so good and SO cheap (at least here in California) that I always end up buying way too many.
Then I just have a pounds and pounds of strawberries sitting in my fridge or on my counter smelling amazing while I try to eat my way through them before they rot.
And since I figure that I’m probably not the only one with an overabundance of strawberries right about now, I thought that I’d share something to make with some of those extras:
Easy Homemade Strawberry Milk (for One or Two)!
Who doesn’t love strawberry milk?
And if you think you don’t love strawberry milk, maybe you just don’t like the stuff that comes powdered in a can or lukewarm on lunch trays.
Because this strawberry milk? This strawberry milk is a GD delight.
Fruity, creamy, subtly sweet, it’s pretty much all your strawberries and cream dreams come to life.
And it’s made entirely from scratch. No pink powder required.
The ingredients are simple: strawberries, sugar, a bit of water, and a tall, cold glass of milk. The strawberries, sugar, and water simmer together to make strawberry syrup, and then you stir that into your milk, and you’re done.
Unlike my (crazy popular) Chocolate Milk for One , which makes exactly one cup of milk, this recipe makes a little over two cups of strawberry milk, enough for one big glass or two smaller cups.
It also easily doubles or triples for times when you feel like leftovers.
And if you went extra crazy at the farmers market and have way, way too many strawberries, stay tuned, I’ll be sharing a larger version of this recipe in the next few weeks.
Homemade Strawberry Milk for One or Two Recipe Notes
- This recipe calls for a fine mesh strainer to strain out seeds and strawberry pieces from the strawberry syrup. If you don’t own one, they are cheap on Amazon and can be found in the baking aisle at most grocery stores, or you can simply use a slotted spoon to remove strawberries. You’ll just have some seeds and pulp at the bottom of your glass, which doesn’t hurt anything.
- This strawberry milk ends up a lovely pale pink, but if making for kids (or childlike adults), feel free to add a couple drops of red food coloring for a more vibrant pink color. I used two drops for the milk you see in the photos.
- You can make your strawberry milk with whatever milk you have in the fridge, but whole milk makes the richest, tastiest drink. If you have heavy cream or half and half on hand, you can also add a splash of that to the mix for a richer end product (highly recommended).
- Looking for more strawberry recipes? Try my Strawberry Shortcake Sundaes , Easy Strawberry Sauce for Pancakes and Ice Cream , and Strawberry Syrup .
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- ▢ Fine mesh strainer
Strawberry Milk
- ▢ 2 cups milk preferably whole milk
- ▢ 1/2 cup hulled and chopped strawberries frozen is fine
- ▢ 1/4 cup ( 50g ) granulated sugar
- ▢ 1/4 cup water
- ▢ A couple drops of red food coloring optional
Instructions
- Pour 2 cups of whole milk into a large glass and place in the freezer so milk becomes very cold. (Skip this step if making the syrup ahead of time.)
- In a small pot, combine strawberries, sugar, and water. Bring to a low boil and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until fragrant and reduced.
- Use a fine mesh strainer to strain syrup into a small bowl or cup. Discard strawberries. Mix 3 tablespoons or about 2/3 of the syrup into your very cold milk. Stir and then add more syrup to taste. Add food coloring if desired.
- Serve and enjoy!
Homemade Strawberry Milk for One or Two
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- Fine mesh strainer
Strawberry Milk
- 2 cups milk preferably whole milk
- 1/2 cup hulled and chopped strawberries frozen is fine
- 1/4 cup ( 50g ) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- A couple drops of red food coloring optional
Instructions
- Pour 2 cups of whole milk into a large glass and place in the freezer so milk becomes very cold. (Skip this step if making the syrup ahead of time.)
- In a small pot, combine strawberries, sugar, and water. Bring to a low boil and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until fragrant and reduced.
- Use a fine mesh strainer to strain syrup into a small bowl or cup. Discard strawberries. Mix 3 tablespoons or about 2/3 of the syrup into your very cold milk. Stir and then add more syrup to taste. Add food coloring if desired.
- Serve and enjoy!
