DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte. Oh Yeah.

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear. I can't decide if this is the best or worst thing to happen to me in recent weeks. As you may know, I have a bit of a love affair with the Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. "Bit of a love affair" being code for "total and complete and sometimes destructive obsession."

Anyway.

I was browsing Etsy the other day when I came across a woman who makes upcycled coffee sleeves, you know to save the environment and such, one corrugated coffee sleeve at a time. She mentioned having a recipe for a make-at-home Pumpkin Spice Latte. My tastebuds perked up at the thought. About 3 seconds later I was in the kitchen, hard at work on this recipe. (Incidentally, I didn't like the looks of the recipe that the Etsy lady linked to, so I poked around and found an alternate).

First, I made pumpkin pie spice, using this recipe. I ground the nutmeg myself, and probably did a bit too much. I think freshly ground nutmeg is stronger than the alternative, and I was probably a bit too heavy handed with it. It was fine, just a little nutmeg-y.


I could definitely see this recipe actually being a bit spendy for a DIY, mainly because it calls for two full tablespoonfuls of vanilla extract. I think perhaps if you use vanilla flavored coffee it helps and you might be able to cut back a bit.


Anyway, a little milk, sugar, pumpkin, coffee (I did the strong brewed coffee option, using my Senseo), spice and vanilla extract later and I was sipping on sweet goodness, in less time than it would have taken me to drive to Starbucks and have a barista do it. I'm guessing this cost about 1.25 to make. Maybe. And it made waaaaay more than you might think--I'd say I got two grande sized lattes out of this. So at $4 a pop for a grande... I saved about $6.75 today. That's some real money, honey.

Here is my finished product. I didn't do whipped cream on it but I'm open to it. I just didn't have any cream in the house. Little bit more cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice on top and... as Roxy says... Sluuuuuuuurp! Pop!

Starbucks Who?

Here's the recipe. Thank you Kathryn Hill and Apartment Therapy:

Pumpkin Spice Latte
makes 1-2 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin OR 1 teaspoon of Torani Pumpkin Spice Syrup (your choice)
2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute - you can halve this amount
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1-2 shots espresso (about 1/4 cup of espresso or 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee if you don't have an espresso machine.)

Directions:
In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice, transfer to a blender and process for 15 seconds until foamy. If you don't have a blender, don't worry about it - just whisk the mixture really well with a wire whisk.

Pour into a large mug or two mugs. Add the espresso on top.

Optional: Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon on top.

-- Lindsay
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