Making your own Espresso Powder takes a few simple steps. A small amount of this powder will add a depth of flavor to many sweet and savory recipes without producing a coffee flavor. Even if you are not a coffee lover, you should try this simple DIY recipe for a secret ingredient to many of your recipes.
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Why You Should Make Your Own Espresso Powder
- It's Cheaper: Espresso powder can be expensive, especially if you buy it in small quantities. Making your own is a much more affordable option.
- It Uses Leftover Coffee Grounds: According to the King Arthur site, espresso powder is made from ground, brewed, and dried coffee beans. Therefore, I figured that if I brewed coffee, I could make it from the leftover grounds! Seriously? Yes - it worked like a charm!
- It's Fresher: Espresso powder loses its flavor over time, so it's best to use it within a few months of purchase. Making your own ensures that you're always using the freshest possible ingredients.
- It's Easy To Make: Making espresso powder is a simple process that can be done at home with just a few basic ingredients.
Making the Espresso Powder - Simple Steps:
- First, I spread the leftover coffee grounds on a baking sheet. Then I put them in my oven at the lowest temperature possible, 170°F. The key here is that I wanted to dry the grounds, not roast them.
- I left the coffee grounds in the oven for several hours until they dried out and felt slightly crunchy. After two hours, the grounds were dried out but still not crunchy. It took me another 30 minutes before the grounds felt crunchy.
- Next, I put the dried-out grounds in a coffee grinder and ground them until I had a fine powder. If I hadn't had a coffee grinder, I could have used a clean spice grinder.
I ended up with my own perfect flavor enhancer for my sweet and savory recipes. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
Adding a bit of espresso powder, like a teaspoon of espresso powder, does not produce a strong flavor or bitter taste in your recipes. Rather, it is a great way to add a depth of flavor to your recipes.
Add espresso powder to your dry spice rubs, marinades, or barbecue sauces. It will enhance the flavor profile of your dishes.
You can use any coffee beans to make espresso powder. We like medium-roast coffee. A dark roast will produce more concentrated and flavorful espresso grounds. It is not, however, necessary to use espresso beans.
Once the powder is completely dry, store it in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. The espresso powder will keep for up to 6 months.
I've not used either a blender or a food processor. However, I don't see any reason not to try one or the other.
Espresso powder is made from finely ground, roasted coffee beans that have been brewed, dried, and then ground into a very fine powder. It is highly concentrated and has a strong, rich flavor. Ground coffee and instant coffee have a much less concentrated flavor.
Watch How I Made This Espresso Powder (Video)
This homemade Espresso Powder uses a simple recipe that introduces a versatile ingredient in chocolate recipes and other baked goods, as well as dry rubs, marinades, and sauces.
Three of my favorite recipes using this Espresso Powder are Espresso Chocolate Shortbread Cookies, Classic Brownies, and Flourless Chocolate Cake. Do yourself a favor and give this recipe a try.
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Make Your Own Espresso Powder
Ingredients
- Used coffee grounds (the amount you use will determine how much espresso powder you end up with)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170° F, or lowest setting if above 170°F
- Spread used coffee grounds on foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 2 to 3 hours until grounds are dry and slightly crunchy.
- Transfer to coffee grinder, and process to a fine powder.
- Store in airtight container.
- Yield: Depends on the amount of coffee grounds you start with.
Julie says
Can I use these to make an espresso martini? Thank you?
Chula King says
Julie,
I'm sorry, but I haven't used this to make an espresso martini, so don't know whether it would work or not.
Chula
Patti Cavender says
Chula and readers. Warning…post is long, but “might be worth reading”.
Here’s a new one for you. I made coffee ice cream today. It’s in the refrigerator cooling before I can churn it in about 5 hours. I went to 3 stores last night looking for it, without success. I’ve had a hankering for strong coffee ice cream (custard type) , so this morning did some coffee ice cream recipes, (which normally call for espresso powder) but this recipe And a different way to do it. Note: I usually add minimum of 3 tablespoons, yes tablespoons of King Arthur’s espresso powder to to my coffee ice cream, so this method has me use whole coffee beans, heating them in with the milk, sugar, and Cream (not half and half). Heat it to just under a boil then let all that sit covered for an hour at room temp. Of course, I did 2 hours because I’m a French roast girl, the stronger thw better for me coffee. Anyway, the beats I use were whole , 50% FR and 50% espresso beans that have been sitting in my cubbies for at least 2 months. Next part of process is to reheat the mixture, tempure the eggs in a bowl, by adding the hot mixture to the eggs slowly, the reheating all of that together for roughly 10 minutes up to 170 degrees. Next remove the bean, I’ll spare you with the process…but honestly it was awesom. The flavor was delicious!!!! After I cooked it, I added 1/2 tsp or a bit more of finely ground espresso bean. So it’s now chilling to 40 gegrees before I churn. I’ll let you know about the final product.
Now if you’ve managed to get threw this whole wordy comment, I’m impressed!! But there is more to come!
Because I HATE to waste, frugality is my middle name, I thought I’d try and salvage those 1.5 cups of beans. So I repeatedly rinsed them to get leftover egg custard off, and put them in the oven at 170 degrees. Gonna leave in for an hour or longer to make sure they are fully dried. Then, tomorrow I’m going to make my usual morning French press coffee with them. Since they were cooked twice in my “base ice cream”, I have no idea what quality the beans will be but it’s worth a shot! The recipe for ice cream said “discard the beans”, but I’m not willing to do that without trying this. If the am coffee is decent, I’ll save all THOSE grounds, and then move on to your method to try and save further. But whatever the outcome on those beans, I’m going to start saving freshly made coffee grounds, and make espresso powder with your method.
I’ll update and let you know how both my ice cream turned out, how my am coffee turned out, and obviously how my normal french roast espresso powder (your method) turns out.
I’m so this was so long!!!
Patti C
Chula King says
Thank you Patti for taking the time to provide such an informative post! I'm looking forward to your update.
Best regards,
Chula
Jen says
Thank you for all of this information. I use espresso powder in my hot chocolate and in my chocolate protein shakes. It is currently very hard to find. I'll be trying this out!
Li says
So much great information here, I appreciate you sharing and the conversations that came about. Greatness is often a group effort. I will be trying this recipe for Thanksgiving.
You are gracious in your responses. Thank you for posting.
Jodie Nelson says
So my friend runs a coffee cart and I went and grabbed the leftover used coffee grounds from her coffee machine. She gives them to people for their garden. So is this what I can use to dry and turn into expresso powder ?
Chula King says
Jodie,
Yes, you can use the leftover coffee grounds for the espresso. By the way, I also use leftover coffee grounds for fertilizer!
Chula
Mark Jackson says
Hi there! I have a question that some other comments kinda hit on but didn't! So why brew the grounds first before it is to be dried then ground? Is this because if not brewed first it will not dry correctly from the oil content in the bean also resulting in a very bitter outcome? (like whats the reasoning behind brewing it first)
Thank you for your time and expertise!
Mark J
Chula King says
Hi Mark,
The best explanation that I can offer is what you suggested. To be honest, I've never tried using the coffee grounds without their being first brewed.
Chula
Lisa L says
Can I dry out the coffee grinds in an air fryer to make espresso powder?
Chula King says
Lisa,
I've not used an air fryer to dry out the coffee grounds. However, I'd be concerned that the air would blow the coffee grinds around, potentially ending up with a mess.
Chula
jari says
Thanks sharing this article about make your own espresso powder
Eric says
Amazing1111 this is something really cool. espresso powder at home, wow. definitely gonna try it.
https://topgrinderguide.com/
Chula King says
Thanks Eric,
I made batch the other day for my daughter to use in a death by chocolate cake!
Chula
Erila says
I always enjoy to read your content. This is so helpful an amazing reading for me to make the espresso powder at home I really like it. Thanks for sharing this article.
Bryan says
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Beverly says
Hi Chula,
Just wanted to let you know that I found your recipe yesterday and today I made my espresso powder using Nespresso capsules. I brewed the capsules once through the machine on espresso setting (40ml) and then opened them (once they cooled down!). I scooped out the coffee grounds and placed on a baking sheet. I put them in the oven for 1 hour at 170°F. I was expecting to leave them in for another hour, but on checking they were dry and crunchy already (I did only use 4 capsules, so that may be why). Each different flavoured capsule made 3 tsps of powder.
Thank you for taking the time to show how to do this :0)
Chula King says
Hi Beverly,
I'm so glad to hear that you can use Nespresso capsules to make the espresso powder! Thanks so much for letting me know.
Chula
Susan says
I have “Cafe Bustelo”- Espresso Ground Coffee. It is very fine. Can I use the unbrewed grounds as a substitute for instant coffee in a Swiss roll recipe? Or should I brew it and dry it like you have here?
Chula King says
Susan,
You should be able to use the Espresso Ground Coffee as a substitute for instant coffee. The Espresso Ground Coffee will likely be stronger than instant coffee, so you might need to reduce the quantity.
Chula
Bojana says
Hello Chula,
Thank you for this great recipe!
I wonder can I use dehydrator instead of oven?
Chula King says
I'm sorry, but I don't have any experience using a dehydrator for this. If you try this using a dehydrator, I'd love to hear how it worked out.
Dustin says
What a delicious classic recipe! I love love love this!
Jason says
This recipe looks yummy. I will try this tomorrow However, I don’t have coffee powder. Can I use Nespresso coffee pods in the place of coffee powder? Waiting for your suggestion.
Chula King says
Hi Jason,
I'm afraid that I don't have any experience with Nespresso coffee pods. Sorry.
Chula