It’s no secret that I love coffee, and nothing says Fall like coffee and pumpkins! Once upon a time I had a spiced pumpkin latte from Starbucks and it was wonderful, but I can’t justify consuming that much sugar, or much less paying $5 a cup to consume said sugar!
Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
Instead, I’ve been making this easy pumpkin spice latte recipe that can be made stove-top or in a crock-pot. It tastes very similar to the coffee shop versions without the artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners.
Oh, and it actually contains pumpkin, because it’s not a REAL pumpkin spice latte without it!
This recipe is easily adaptable for larger quantities and can be doubled, tripled or even 10x for a mom’s day out. To make it dairy free, use coconut or almond milk. If you avoid sugars and sweeteners, these can be omitted. My personal favorite sweetener in this recipe is pumpkin spice stevia drops.
How to Make it
Super Easy 5-minute Pumpkin Spice Latte
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 1
A spicy and delicious pumpkin latte made with real food, dairy free ingredients!
Ingredients
- 1 cup of milk (coconut milk, almond milk, etc all work)
- 1 Tablespoon canned pumpkin or without added sugar (I get mine here)
- 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract (here's how to make your own)
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice ( or 1/2 tsp cinnamon and a sprinkle of cloves and nutmeg)
- 1/4 cup of strong coffee or espresso
- 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup (or more to taste)
- Heavy cream or coconut cream for whipping (optional) [note: can also use the cream that accumulates at the top of a can of coconut milk.
Instructions
- Blend all ingredients: Blend all ingredients except for cream or coconut cream in a blender until smooth and incorporated. Or, if you have an immersion blender, pour all ingredients into a medium saucepan and blend with an immersion blender.
- Heat and Simmer: Heat the mixture by simmering for about 5 minutes until hot. Stir constantly.
- Garnish and Enjoy: Top with whipped heavy cream (or coconut cream) and a dash of cinnamon and enjoy.
Notes
Making for more than one person? Easily double, triple or quadruple the recipe to make for extra people. Serving for a party? Make a big batch and keep warm in a slow cooker the whole time. Can also be served chilled by cooling the coffee first and blending all ingredients in a blender with 1/2 cup of ice.
Courses Drink
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Additional Notes
- If you are using canned pumpkin and won’t use the whole can, freeze the rest in ice cube trays and keep in a bag for future batches.
- The iced version is pretty good too 🙂 To make: cool the coffee and blend all ingredients with 1/2 cup ice cubes until smooth.
- Are you pumpkin spice obsessed? Leave a comment below and let me know… apparently, it is more than an obsession for some people and now there is even a clothing line to sing its praises! Though some people aren’t so enthused:
Where do you fall on the pumpkin spice debate? What’s your favorite fall drink? Share below!
Delish! I am wondering if this can be canned…make up large batches and store the rest by canning.
I haven’t tried but it probably could… let me know how it turns out!
Sounds SO yummy! I can’t wait to try this!
Now I have to go to the store for vinegar for bone both AND canned pumpkin tonight!
This is great – one thing that I’m having a hard time with when switching over to paleo is not having any treats for the kids to celebrate little things like the first day of autumn or feast days, etc. I want to cut way back on sugar but it’s fun to have little traditions throughout the year. Recipes like this are great – if you have anymore, please keep them coming. I am going to use decaf coffee – don’t need four littles running around maniacally!
Karyn, treats are my weakness! Here are a few ideas to help you out:
I adapted these muffins from a recipe from Elana’s Pantry. My husband loves them! Add chocolate chips for an extra treat: http://nograinnopain.blogspot.com/2011/09/banana-nut-muffins-paleo-style.html
This stuff is gold! Great way to get your fruit servings in. I’ve made it with heavy cream as well as almond milk: http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/07/25/decadent-fruit-dip/I’ve also played around with this recipe a bit. It’s nice to have something reminiscent of a cookie every so often: http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/09/30/one-crazy-week-nutty-cookies/ (scroll down to the bottom of this link for someone else’s variation on this yummy little cookie as well: http://everydaypaleo.com/2011/01/16/paleo-talk-episode-2/ – I loved these straight out of the freezer!)
Best of luck with the paleo kiddos 🙂
Great suggestions! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! I’ve been drying for a pumpkin latte. Every coffee shop I’ve asked uses that nasty syrup to flavor the coffee. I can’t wait to make this!
I want one now after reading that recipe. Sounds so warm and nourishing.
Sounds wonderful! I feel the same way about the Starbucks version – too expensive, too much sugar. In fact, when we had our first cool morning a few weeks ago, I got one against my better judgment, and you know what? It was just too sweet. That’s what primal/paleo life will do to you, huh? 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Do you have any experience with storing and re-heating the left overs?
I’m so stoked to make this!!! Will be using homemade almond milk as a sub. Thanks for the awesome ICE CREAM IDEA!! Genius! Chocolate chip pumpkin ice cream just made its way to the top of my to-do list 🙂
Hi I’m from Australia and have been making some your recipes, which are fantastic BTW. You’ve got me stumped with the canned pumpkin. We don’t have canned pumpkin here. Is it just mashed up pumpkin in a tin? If I was to steam my own and blend it would I end up with the same thing?
It is basically just canned mashed pumpkin, so you could certainly make your own. Just make sure it is well blended and it should work great! Australia is on my bucket list… can’t wait to make it there and hopefully scuba dive someday!
Anyone tried the latte with fresh/frozen pumpkin instead of canned? If so – how would you prepare it?
I haven’t tried it yet because I can my own and haven’t run out, but it should work just fine as long as the excess liquid is cooked out and it is well drained.
I have not made a latte but, I have baked pumpkins and froze it in portions and made smoothies with pumpkin pie spice,almond milk, coconut milk or almond milk and stevia. Delish! Healthy too.
I will sooooo be making this. Very soon, in fact!
I tried this recipe yesterday then again this morning. I think I may try it again but I have a few suggestions. It needs more coffee and less coconut milk-mine turned out very thick and way too creamy even after using the crockpot. My Whole Foods sells something called Coconut Milk Beverage and it comes in a rectangular box (like what broth comes in) which is thinner than the coconut milk that comes in a can so I may try that as well.
Mine turned out way too thick too. I think I’m going to try the leftover over ice and let it melt a bit and see if that helps.
I use the Almond Breeze unsweetened almond coconut milk in the refridgerated section. It is a little “thin”. 1/4 cup beverage concentrate (chai or coffee) with 1 cup of that stuff is the perfect ratio for a slight creaminess and delicious caffeine. If it’s turning out too thick for you with your beverages of choice, maybe add more water for a less concentrated coffee base.
For sweetener, I usually use 4 drops of liquid stevia.
Made it today and it was really good!!! I have a bit left over, can i put it in the fridge and heat it up tomorrow? Thanks for the recipe!
This was delicious! I will definitely make it again. Next time I might add a little more coffee. It does turn out pretty thick which I thought would be a turn off, but I really enjoyed it. Making it again tomorrow for my hubby! Thanks!
I think I will try this with Teecino to see how it tastes! We use homeopathy and the coffee bean stops our remedies from working. Thanks for this yummy looking recipe!
great idea. I’ve also thought that it would probably be lovely with chai tea!
i’m pregnant and not drinking coffee/caffeine. can i omit the coffee and or sub something else besides decaf?
Tea works well, and you could use raspberry leaf tea if you are past first trimester…
I made it without the coffee and it was super yummy! I used a little stevia to sweeten it.
Can you use purée pumpkin instead of canned? If so, how much?
yep… I’ve used homemade too. Just make sure the water is drained off once you cook and use equal amounts. You may have to add more coffe/tea to water down though, as homemade tends to be a little thicker
How much is “half a can” …or better yet, how big is the can you’re using?
Thanks 🙂
Do you use already brewed coffee or grounds?
already brewed usually. And you can actually double or triple the amount of coffee if you prefer a thinner or more coffee like taste.
these look/sound amazing!!!
Dear WM, you make no mention of your stand on dairy. What is it? Other than your lack of discussing dairy, you’re 100% doing paleolithic nutrition!! For all your faithful followers, they can Google or YouTube the following to help them on their journey: Dr Loren Cordain, Robb Wolf, Nell Stephenson Paleoista, Mark Sisson, Food Inc movie, Wheat Belly lecture, Paleodiet.com, and many many more. Your name should be on the list if you
I might try this with decaf coffee or strong black tea? (I am always able to sleep after coffee, but I feel more jittery/anxious and it often makes my stomach hurt especially if I haven’t eaten anything). Does anyone have suggestions?
Hi! Great dessert idea. But I think most “pumpkin spice lattes” are called that because they flavor a regular latte using the spices commonly used pumpkin pie (cinnamon, nutmet, ginger, etc) but no actual pumpkin is used for coffee flavoring. Found your recipe on a search to make my own syrup naturally. I think you could eliminate the pumpkin and the long cooking and have a great “natural” syrup to keep in the fridge. Just an idea…
I’m a little worried about the saturated fat content. Isn’t coconut milk very high in that? I’ll try with regular milk since I have no allergies. Thanks!
Here’s an article on Saturated Fat content: https://wellnessmama.com/1265/saturated-fat/
I made this for some friends and we all loved it, paleo or not! I added a little maple syrup for a little sweetness and it was perfect. I kept the leftovers in my fridge and drank it cold the next morning. Thanks for the great recipe! I featured it on my blog:http://www.domestic360life.com/blog/healthy-pumpkin-spice-latte-crockpot-paleo-dairy-refined-sugars/
Just wondering about the cook time. You list 10 minutes in heading but 2 hours in instructions.
Is it good without coffee?
HI, I am wondering how much calories are in it? like in all.
This inspired me to jazz up my normal coffee creamer. I usually chill a can of coconut milk, skim the cream off and add some vanilla and stevia. This morning I added some pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice for a nice hint of fall in my coffee. I’ll be enjoying this for the next few days. Thanks!
Hello WM,
Just made your pumpkin pie and was curious about this recipe. The coconut milk is so rich to drink as a drink. I usually use a splash in a soup or dish…
I would dilute the coconut milk in half with water. Way too rich to use a whole cup.
This is an AWESOME Autumn drink!!!
I just made this using some left over roasted Kambocha squash. I added the three spice ingredients instead of the store-bought mix. The squash already had cinnamon sprinkled on it so I probably should’ve left that out because the latte came a little too spicy hot. Still good! For the sweetener I first added a little bit of maple syrup (usually I drink coffee without any sweetener) but, since this was a special treat, I also added a teaspoon of sugar in the raw. The milk was whole, raw milk.
This one is definitely going in my permanent recipe file! 😀
I so wanted to like this, but sorry, I found it blah. I even increased the ingredients and still didn’t get the pumpkin latte taste. 🙁 And it certainly didn’t look orange colored like the picture! So sad…
Do you have to use canned pumpkin or can you use fresh?
I use twice the coffee, heaping T of pumpkin and add stevia with the cream (the trick to coffeeshop taste is LOTS of sweetness!) Delish.
I use a chicory-dandelion coffee too and its still good, just not as good as with coffee.