Pumpkin Spice Latte

Are you a Starbucks person?  Is that your first stop every morning for a grande, a latte, machiatto, or whatever?   Not me.  No, I prefer to brew my favorite blend at home.  However, at this time of year they feature a flavored coffee that I particularly like because it contains, you guessed it, pumpkin!

Pumpkin Spice Latte:  hot, spicy, so good;  but I’m concerned about the amount of sweetener in it, and after I’ve downed about half the cup, I begin to think it’s just too over-the-top spicy.  So to remedy the situation I experimented with making it at home and I think I’ve come up with an acceptable alternative.  In my version, the sugar is on a sliding scale, so you can adjust to your sweetness level, and although the flavors of pumpkin and spice are there, they are not overpowering.  With this recipe I can make a special cup whenever I want it, and not have to wait for it to be “in season”.

Another reason to like this recipe:  it uses up small amounts of pumpkin from another recipe. Don’t you just hate it when you’re left with a 1/4 cup of this or that?  Now what am I supposed to do with this?  In most cases it gets lost somewhere in the refrigerator, until the day comes when I find it and then MUST throw it out.  EEEEEUWH!     The pumpkin in this case was the perfect amount left over from when I made the Pumpkin Doughnuts.

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE

YIELD:  2 servings

• 2 cups milk, or half and half
• 2 Tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 1 – 3 Tablespoons sugar (to taste)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice mix
• 1 cup strong, hot coffee
• whipped cream

1.  Into a medium saucepan put the milk, pumpkin and sugar.  Heat over medium heat until hot, but do not boil.

2.  Remove from heat and add vanilla, pumpkin spice and coffee.

3.  Pour into two large mugs, and garnish with whipped cream, and an extra pinch of pie spice.  Add a cinnamon stick if you wish.

This tastes like “the real thing”!

Pumpkin Spice Latte

SOURCE:  adapted from “Almost Real”,  the Food Network