Keto coffee is quite a bit healthier than your average breakfast, and it has the calories to match. Commonly used in intermittent fasting, keto butter coffee gives plenty of energy and a great satiated feeling throughout the morning fasting hours.
Now, I want to explain this further. Drinking this coffee will break your fast from the night time, but it will ramp up your metabolism with caffeine and fats. This is to help you get through the fasting process in the 10+ hours ahead.
Personally, I drink 2 cups of this in the morning – fast all day – and eat at 9pm. If you’re only using this for breakfast, and still eating a lunch, then it’s not really intermittent fasting.
Our favorite brew is made with a pour over and goose-neck kettle. I chose the Bonavita Variable Temp Kettle because it’s on the cheaper side for the quality that you can get. If you’re a coffee lover, it’s definitely worth the splurge!
For the pour over, we have an Osaka “Lake Masu” Pour over. It’s really just for the design – I think it looks fantastic. You can easily get a cheap one here that’ll do the same exact thing though. Don’t forget that you’ll most likely need some coffee filters, too.
If you’re not a morning person and just want a quick and easy cup of coffee, you can always consider a Keurig Coffee Maker. I’ve owned numerous in the past and they’re great machines if you want convenience. It doesn’t take up much more room than a regular coffee maker and you can usually get small drawers or stands that will hold the k-cups for you. Plus, you can switch up the flavors with just about any type you want!
Even though k-cups have come a long way on consumer safety and ecological factors, you still might want to grind your own fresh coffee. Luckily, you can grab a small k-cup attachment that lets you brew any coffee you want in it. I actually recommend using freshly ground coffee as it’s healthier for you and tastes better – but I’m a huge sucker at times for the pure convenience of them.
This butter coffee recipe is a great alternative to Starbucks drinks as well.
Main Components Keto Coffee
Coconut Oil or MCT Oil – Coconut oil technically is MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) oil, well about 65-80% MCT anyway. MCT oil is just more concentrated than coconut oil, but both have been shown to aid in fat loss.
Grass Fed Butter – Cows that have a diet of fresh grass yields butter that has improved consistency and nutritional properties. The increase of fresh grass in the diet proportionally increases the amount of fat content, specifically unsaturated fats, which gives a pleasant firmness. The nutritional quality also increases, it’s loaded with Vitamin K2 and Omega 3 Fatty Acids.
Immersion Blender – Go on and try to mix this up with a fork, you’ll be sitting there for 20 minutes and having terrible results. Oil doesn’t mix with water unless you give it some help. You need a blender to be able to force these 2 liquids together, giving you a finished look like a latte – foamy on the top.
Benefits of Butter Coffee
Fat Loss. Plain and simple, the consumption of medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) has been shown to lead to greater losses in adipose tissue (fat tissue), in both animals and humans. If you’re looking for an easy, in-depth approach for the ketogenic diet, consider following The Keto Academy!
Eating Fat? Do I even need to explain this one? Eating fat has been shown to lead to greater amounts of energy, more efficient energy usage, and more effective weight loss.
More Energy. Studies have shown that the rapid rate of oxidation in MCFAs (Medium Chain Fatty Acids) leads to an increase in energy expenditure. Primarily, MCFAs are converted into ketones (our best friends), are absorbed differently in the body compared to regular oils, and give us more overall energy.
Heart Attacks? The myth that saturated fat increases the chance of Coronary Heart Disease has been debunked over and over. Recent studies show that saturated fats can actually have a positive effect on your overall heart health.
The Preparation
- 2 cups coffee
- 2 tablespoons grass fed unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons good quality MCT Oil (or coconut oil)
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream (Optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Optional)
*It’s a simple recipe, but don’t let that fool you. It tastes great, fuels you during the day, and has tons of additional health benefits. If you want to make it 0 net carbs, simply opt out of using the vanilla and heavy cream!
*Ketoproof coffee goes by a lot of names but it is originally adapted from Tibetan and Ethiopian butter coffees that hundreds of years old. Keep in mind that the name has become mainstreamed and is used to describe any cup of coffee with fat in it.
The Execution
1. Brew 2 cups worth of coffee into a large container using your favorite method. Try to choose something large enough (like a measuring jug) to eliminate spilling when we blend it.
2. If you’re using a pour over method, my recommendation is to grind to the size of kosher salt (or a bit smaller). Fill your coffee filter and wet the coffee with a little bit of water, allowing around 30 seconds for it to “bloom”. Then brew normally by pouring the water in a circular motion, carefully making sure the coffee isn’t swimming in water.
3. Grab your butter, MCT oil (or coconut oil), and immersion blender. You can mix this in a regular blender if you want to, but I feel like it’s more hassle than it’s worth to clean in a normal blender.
4. Cut off 2 Tbsp. of grass fed butter. I’m surprised at how few people use the packages markings – just cut into it, they work! I personally prefer salted butter, but many don’t. Feel free to start with unsalted first to test it out.
5. Drop in the butter, add 1 tsp. of vanilla extract, and plunk in the 2 Tbsp. coconut oil (or MCT oil if you’re using it) as well.
6. Last but not least, the 1 Tbsp. of Heavy Cream. This adds a great creaminess to the coffee for a silky texture.
7. Mix it all together with your immersion blender. Usually between 45-60 seconds gets a great frothy cap on the top. Make sure to move the immersion blender up and down to emulsify all of the fat into the coffee. This also aerates the mixture some, adding additional froth. Note: You can do all of this with a normal blender bottle and a blender ball – but the fats won’t be as emulsified, so you may need to shake every few minutes.
8. Watch out when you’re pouring with the froth on top (it can drip down the side), but your ketoproof coffee is finished! Measure it out into your favorite mug and drink away.
I personally drink both of the cups I make, but if you were to drink 1 cup of KPC it would come out to: 260 Calories, 27.7g Fats, 1.05g Net Carbs, and 1.08g Protein.
| Ketoproof Coffee | Calories | Fats(g) | Carbs(g) | Fiber(g) | Net Carbs(g) | Protein(g) |
| 2 cups coffee | 10 | 0 | 1.14 | 0 | 1.14 | 1.49 |
| 2 tablespoons butter | 204 | 23.04 | 0.02 | 0 | 0.02 | 0.24 |
| 2 tablespoons organic coconut oil | 243 | 26.94 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream | 51 | 5.41 | 0.41 | 0 | 0.41 | 0.43 |
| 1 teaspoon vanilla extract | 12 | 0 | 0.53 | 0 | 0.53 | 0 |
| Totals | 520 | 55.39 | 2.1 | 0 | 2.1 | 2.16 |
| Per Serving(/2) | 260 | 27.7 | 1.05 | 0 | 1.05 | 1.08 |
Sources
- The application of medium-chain fatty acids: edible oil with a suppressing effect on body fat accumulation.
- Physiological effects of medium-chain triglycerides: potential agents in the prevention of obesity.
- The linear relationship between the proportion of fresh grass in the cow diet, milk fatty acid composition, and butter properties.
- Conjugated linoleic acid in adipose tissue and risk of myocardial infarction.
- A systematic review of the evidence supporting a causal link between dietary factors and coronary heart disease.
- The questionable role of saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids in cardiovascular disease.
- Increased concentrations of omega-3 fatty acids in milk and platelet rich plasma of grass-fed cows.
