Sweet, spicy, and delicious, this creamy Fall coffee drink is the best homemade pumpkin spice latte recipe you will ever try!
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Homemade pumpkin spice latte recipe
It is pumpkin season once again, bringing the return of scarves, leggings, changing leaves, and everyone’s coffee shop seasonal favorite pumpkin spice lattes.
But before you run off to Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, or Dunkin’ for a basic PSL, why not save time and money by whipping up your own pumpkin spice latte at home?
This quick, easy homemade version is just as good as the original!
Readers also love this Frappuccino Recipe
Benefits of making your own PSL
One of the best reasons to choose homemade is the price.
Even a tall Starbucks pumpkin spice latte costs over five dollars, while a grande size is close to six dollars.
Order the drink throughout the Fall, and this gets expensive pretty quickly.
In contrast, a DIY pumpkin latte can be made for under a dollar, which is less than one fifth of the traditional coffee shop latte!
Another benefit to making your own pumpkin beverage instead of buying one from a cafe is the nutrition facts.
A tall Starbucks pumpkin spice latte contains 300 calories, 38 grams of sugar, and 12 grams of fat. Meanwhile, a similar size homemade latte can come in at under 100 calories, with less than a third of the sugar even when using real sugar instead of a no sugar substitute.
And it is no longer necessary to wait until pumpkin season. Enjoy this festive and cozy spiced drink all year long, whether it is Halloween or the middle of summer.
(The Starbucks pumpkin spice latte is set to return to their menu on August 24th.)
Finally, the lazy reason. If you make your own pumpkin latte at home, there is no need to ever leave your pajamas or the comfort of your own kitchen.
Starbucks pumpkin latte recipe video
Above, watch the video how to make a pumpkin spice latte at home
Healthy pumpkin spice latte ingredients
Depending on the ingredients you choose, this healthy pumpkin latte can be vegan, gluten free, low calorie, low fat, soy free, and nut free, with no high fructose corn syrup.
The pumpkin recipe calls for brewed coffee or espresso, milk of choice, pumpkin puree, pure vanilla extract, pumpkin pie spice, and sweetener of choice.
Coffee – My personal preference here is for dark roast coffee, such as French roast. Medium, light roast, cold brew, or decaf coffee for a mostly caffeine free treat also work if you prefer.
Or you may use two shots espresso instead of the brewed coffee for a stronger latte.
Milk – Generally, whole milk or oat milk produce the best steamed latte foam.
Almond milk or soy milk will also work. Low fat milk and carton coconut milk do not work as well.
Sugar – Feel free to go with your favorite all purpose sweetener, including regular or brown sugar, coconut sugar or date sugar, pure maple syrup, agave, or xylitol for a keto and sugar free pumpkin spice latte.
Pumpkin – To save time, I like to use canned pumpkin puree. If you are feeling ambitious, or if canned pumpkin is not available, you can make fresh homemade pumpkin puree by roasting a pie pumpkin or kabocha squash.
When making your own puree from scratch, it is best to avoid sugar pumpkins. Look for a smaller pumpkin, because large ones tend to be watery and stringy.
Use up leftover pumpkin to make Pumpkin Banana Bread
What is pumpkin pie spice?
You can usually find jarred pumpkin pie spice, sometimes called pumpkin spice, in the spice section of most regular grocery stores in America.
In England, the product is also known as mixed spice or pudding spice.
This spice mix combines ingredients like ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice. It does not contain any pumpkin but is often used to enhance the flavor of both sweet and savory pumpkin recipes, including pumpkin pie and pumpkin curry.
If you wish to make your own homemade pumpkin pie spice, simply combine half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, a fourth teaspoon each of ground nutmeg and ground ginger, an eighth teaspoon of ground cloves, and an optional eighth teaspoon of ground allspice.
Store in a tightly sealed container in the kitchen cabinet or pantry. If all of the ingredients are new, this pumpkin spice should keep for up to three years.
Try adding pumpkin pie spice to these Easy Cinnamon Rolls
How to make the best pumpkin spice latte
Gather all of your tools and ingredients.
No espresso machine? No problem! You can easily make this classic Fall recipe without any fancy equipment.
The first step is to stir together the milk of choice, pureed pumpkin, ground pumpkin pie spice, and sweetener of choice in a small saucepan on the stove top.
Whisk over medium heat just until the milk is hot.
If you prefer to use a microwave, simply whisk the first four ingredients in a coffee mug. Heat for around forty five seconds. If you have a cooking thermometer, it should read 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
Turn off the heat, add the pure vanilla extract, and use a milk frother or whisk vigorously for a few seconds, until the steamed milk forms small bubbles.
A good tip if making pumpkin latte art, is to not whip for too long. Let the foam sit for about thirty seconds to settle.
However, if you wish to turn it into a pumpkin cappuccino, whip away until the pumpkin foam is whipped, bubbly, and frothy, with lots of foam.
Pour the espresso or brewed coffee into a mug, glass, or cup.
Swirl the pumpkin milk mixture into the mug, on top of the coffee.
Enjoy while it is hot. Or refrigerate until cold, then pour over ice to make a wonderful autumn pumpkin iced coffee.
Top your homemade pumpkin drink with caramel sauce, whipped cream, or a cinnamon stick and sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
This recipe makes a single serving pumpkin spice latte. For a larger yield, simply double or triple all ingredients.
Serve your latte for breakfast or snack, alongside a batch of Applesauce Muffins or these healthy three ingredient Banana Oatmeal Cookies.
Vegan pumpkin spice latte
At press time, a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte is not vegan even when ordered with nondairy milk, because its pumpkin syrup contains condensed skim milk.
Thankfully, making your own pumpkin coffee drink at home is easy and just as tasty as the Starbucks version. And it can be completely dairy free and plant based.
To make a vegan pumpkin latte, use oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk, or another non dairy milk alternative as your milk of choice.
Choose a vegan friendly sweetener instead of honey, and top your vegan beverage with store bought or homemade Coconut Whipped Cream.
Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 1/4 cup brewed coffee or espresso
- 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 – 2 tbsp sugar or sweetener of choice
Instructions
- How to make a pumpkin spice latte recipe: Stir pumpkin puree, milk, pumpkin pie spice, and sweetener in a small saucepan over medium heat just until hot. (If you have a cooking thermometer, it should read 150 degrees Fahrenheit.) Turn off the heat, stir in the vanilla, and use a whisk or milk frother for a few seconds, until small bubbles form. Let the foam settle, then pour it over the coffee or espresso in a mug. View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Homemade Pumpkin Recipes
or this Keto Pumpkin Bread
Hi Katie,
I was just wondering, did you see this: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/pumpkin-spice-latte/detail.aspx
It looks very similar to your recipe, suspiciously similar, even.
Oh wow, I just looked at the recipe you linked. I SWEAR to you I did not see that recipe before posting mine. I just googled “starbucks pumpkin spice latte ingredients” and ended up on some food.com link that said the ingredients were pumpkin pie spice, milk, sugar, pumpkin syrup, and espresso… and then I went from there, using pumpkin for the syrup and adding vanilla because I always add vanilla to my coffee recipes (such as in my frappuccino fudgsicles). I’m amazed at how similar my recipe is to the allrecipes one (not that they’re identical. Mine is a *little* different).
But I obviously didn’t know… because I’d have to be really stupid to knowingly copy an easily-searchable recipe (such as the one you linked) and post it on my blog. People could easily find out that I’d copied it! Now I’m just feeling embarrassed that other people might feel like you! 😕
I know you might not believe me, but that’s the truth.
The thing is, if you google “starbucks pumpkin spice latte ingredients,” the very first result is…another well-established recipe that’s virtually identical to the AllRecipes one.
Yes, well it doesn’t mean I click on every single link that comes up in a google search!
I’ve already stated the truth, but you are welcome to believe what you want. I can’t change your opinion. (I’ll leave your comments up to prove that I believe you are entitled to your opinion. But you’ve had your say, so all further false accusations will be deleted.)
Megan, whether or not she copied it, does it matter that much? Firstly, the only way that I personally was able to get to the recipe you are indicating was through your link. When I tried searching, I kept coming to a different recipe on Allrecipes, and I had to actually put Allrecipes into my search or I got a million other pumpkin spice latte recipes on vegan blogs. There really is only so many ways to make the same drink so it’s not surprising that there would be similar, or even same, recipes somewhere out there. It kinda seems like you are just trying to be argumentive or mean. For all you know, people have copied her recipes too. But if you really think she just copies all her recipes and steals them from other people- Well, don’t read her webpage anymore. It’s really that simple. That said, time to move on.
I don’t drink Starbucks, or know about their syrup, but the Torani Pumpkin Pie Syrup IS free of Dairy:
http://www.torani.com/faq/allergen
These pictures are just gorgeous! Just found your blog from foodgawker, and I’m already obsessed. Uh oh, this could be a dangerous thing ;).
Trying this for sure. And now off to explore some more :).
I just made this as a nice warm after school snack. It was delicious! Dare I say it, better than Starbucks???? I think it was!
Never mind that it’s 90 degrees outside. I’m having another one tomorrow!
Love this Katie!! Will be linking to this post tomorrow 🙂
I just discovered a way to make easy Pumpkin Spice Latte as well. All I do is add a teaspoon of organic canned pumpkin and a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice to the espresso, add milk and top with fat-free whipped cream…Ta-da! Additional sweetener is optional. But your version sounds great, I’ll have to try it out.
I am a pumpkin pancake die hard. words cannot describe. Also, I wish I liked coffee for the SOLE purpose of consuming pumpkin spice lattes. And because I would feel cooler and more grown up and junk.
Can you believe I don’t think I’ve EVER had pumpkin pancakes?!? I need to fix this!!
ASAP. I’ve blogged some with local/organic eggs, but no vegan version. I say jump ON it.
oooohhhh. love this latteee!!.. hmmmm.. pumpkin whoopie pies! and pumkin pie spice in pretty much every quick bread!:)
I’ve been trying to think of a way to make guilt free pumpkin whoopie pies!!! 🙂 That would use up the left over pumpkin
hey!!! just wanted to say that Lauren Conrad posted this on her blog!!!! http://www.laurenconrad.com/post/tuesday-ten-fall-drink-recipes-pumpkin-spice-latte