No need to pay for pricey coffee-shop pumpkin spice lattes with this easy, homemade version that uses real pumpkin puree (no fake, sugary syrups) and can be made quickly and inexpensively at home. And now you can enjoy pumpkin spice lattes year-round from home.
Every year around this time the world seems to go crazy for Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes
The Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes are lovely…
But you can make them at home
And I’d like to think my make-at-home version wins
Why?
Because you can make them vegan at home, if you so choose.
And the ones you purchase are generally made with fake, sugary, pumpkin-flavored syrups, not real pumpkin puree.
It should be noted that this is a natural latte, made with real pumpkin puree and real pumpkin pie spice. It does not all fully dissolve and there will be some settling at the bottom of the mug. If you don’t want settling, the way to avoid that is to use synthetic syrups made from chemicals rather than real pumpkin and real spices. Your choice.
Since some people enjoy a daily dose of HFCS, you make lattes at home and can control what goes into your latte.
Another reason the at-home version wins is because you could go into the poorhouse if you like your coffee as much as I like mine buying these specialty drinks.
I bet the cost per cup of the homemade latte is less than a quarter and probably even less.
Far less than the $4 coffee shop lattes and the cheapskate in me wants to make things at home whenever possible.
And I actually prefer the taste of my version to the Starbucks version but I could be biased.
For the recipe, there are many ways to make these and many recipes I’ve seen on the internet, but here’s what I do because I like these ratios the best.
And oh yes, it’s easy.
A Visual Guide
Brew your coffee
I was lucky enough to receive this Godiva Pumpkin Coffee from Godiva in conjunction with being a FoodBuzz Featured Publisher
The coffee is delicious and being that it’s pumpkin-flavored it just enhances the recipe but it’s not required to use pumpkin coffee
Any ole coffee will do if you don’t have any of these just laying around your cupboards
After you’ve made your coffee, make the pumpkin milk
Everything in
Blend
This stuff is so good!
You don’t even need to pour it into coffee. You can just drink this as is. Mmmm, good. Just ask Skylar.
And when you’re chugging this straight taste-testing this before you pour it into the brewed coffee just remember the old saying: “Pumpkin Milk: It does a body good!”
I recommend heating the pumpkin milk mixture up in the micro (or stovetop) before you add it to the brewed coffee (or Vita users, just let ‘er rip and let the machine do the work for you)
But I truly despise lukewarm coffee drinks so I always heat it up as to not cool off my coffee too much
Pour the coffee into your mug, top with half the pumpkin milk mixture
Garnish and Drink Up
And be glad you don’t have to rely on buying pumpkin spice lattes anymore!
As I said in the recipe section, you know you will want a refill
Every bit as good as Starbucks Star Who?
And easy and cheap!
And for the rest of the can of pumpkin puree you have on your hands, I have a great recipe coming up for how to use it…
Tip: I actually mix up about 2 cups+ worth of pumpkin milk at a time and store that in the fridge and heat it up as needed and then add that to coffee as I see fit over the next couple days
I figure as long as I am dirtying dishes and have everything out, I always make a little extra for refills or future use
Or, you can also freeze the extra pumpkin puree in a small container and make something else that tickles your pumpkin fancy because you never know when a pumpkin craving is going to hit.
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Pumpkin Spice Latte
Ingredients
- At least 2 cups coffee, strong and freshly brewed
- 1 cup milk, I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk but use any kind you wish from whole to soy to rice milk
- ¼ heaping cup pumpkin puree, more if you really love pumpkin
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice blend, or to taste
- 1 teaspoons cinnamon, or to taste
- 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
- sweetener of choice, to taste (I suggest 2 tablespoons agave or 2 tablespoons brown sugar, or a pinch of stevia to taste; or try honey, maple syrup, etc. to taste)
- Optional: pinch of ground nutmeg, ginger, garam masala, cardamom, or other warming spices to taste
Instructions
- Make coffee (a pot, single-serving cup, in whatever fashion and however you prefer making your coffee. The stronger the better)
- Make Pumpkin Milk by combining all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk well by hand or blend using a Vita-MIx or blender Optional: Warm the finished pumpkin milk mixture in the microwave or on the stovetop (I do a quick nuke of about 1 minute)
- Pour 1 cup of brewed coffee into a mug and pour half the pumpkin milk mixture over the top of the coffee and enjoy. (The other half of the pumpkin milk mixture is for the refill you know you will want. If you truly don’t want a refill, refrigerate it for up to a few days and use for your next latte, in a smoothie, or drink it as is. As long as you’re dirtying dishes, I always make a little extra for refills or for later)
- Optional: Finish by garnishing with real whipped cream/whipped topping such and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice/cinnamon on top
- Notes: The spices will not “blend” or entirely dissolve. This is to be expected and normal. If this bothers you, this may not the recipe for you and you may want to experiment with other recipes or techniques.All spices and seasonings are to taste; in this case, mine. If you want to reduce the spices (or increase them), obviously adjust everything according to your own taste preferences. Some people may find the amounts I used a bit strong, but I like robust flavors.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Here’s a Roundup of my Favorite Pumpkin Recipes
Do you like Pumpkin Spice Lattes? Are you one of those people who has been over-paying for your seasonal pumpkin spice lattes (or come Christmastime the gingerbread lattes)?
Maybe you’ll make these at home because as I said here, if I relied on Starbucks for my coffee or specialty drink fix, I’d be broke!
Plus I truly prefer the taste of the make-at-home.
Pumpkin Milk is literally GENIUS! I like iced coffees right now (Arizona never cools down) so last fall I was just mixing the milk and pumpkin puree directly into the iced coffee. The pumpkin milk is so incredibly simple and genius! What kind of shelf life would you give it, about 7-10 days right? Great idea I will definitely be doing this!
7 – 10 in the fridge, yes, as long as regular milk in your fridge lasts, this is about the same.
And I’m in San Diego and the past few days have been HOT right at the beach. I can only imagine how bad it is out in AZ right now!
Your blog is my absolute favourite! I was drawn to it by your coconut oil cookies, in fact i’m eating a freshly made fluffy pumpkin spice honey cookie (or two) for breakfast right this moment! As much as I love butter, coconut oil is wonderful in baking! I find myself coming back often and remarking on the amazing collection of recipes you have! I just want to make everything!! Thank you! Much appreciated :)
Thanks for the compliments and for saying my blog is your favorite! Glad you keep coming back for the recipes, and tried those pumpkin cookies!
So, I had to come back and comment again because I just had to share what just happened. My boyfriend brought me home a PSL from Starbucks and I hadn’t yet started making yours. Well, I went ahead and continued with yours and put the Starbucks in the fridge! Speaks to how much I love this!!
I’m also making your candy corn soft batch cookies today. I have to get the remaining cc’s out of the house and my bf has been nonstop asking me to make your cookies!
Well that’s an awesome story and thanks for LMK that you love my latte recipe and those candy corn cookies – love that dough base. I hope you love how soft they are just as much as I do :)
My second Averie Cooks recipe in 12 hours… love it! So easy, less calories, and much cheaper than Starbucks. Thanks!!
Oh that is so awesome! Both that you made two of my recipes in 12 hours and that you’re loving this and it’ll save you calories & money!
Too many pictures. It’s so hard to read with a picture of the same mug between every single sentence…
I just made one of these using the exact recipe you put on here. It smells amazing and the aroma went throughout my entire house which I loved very much! It tastes great but I feel like next time I make it I will not be putting any cinnamon in at all. The drink tasted a lot like cinnamon which isn’t quite my favorite! All in all this is definitely a recipe I will be using every morning to save money by not going to Starbucks! Thank you soooo much for posting this I really enjoy the taste and staying in my budget! You’re the best!!!!!
I love cinnamon but if you don’t, reduce/omit it next time. Glad you loved the drink overall and yes it sure does make your house smell great, doesn’t it!
I just made one of these using the exact recipe you put on here. It smells amazing and the aroma went throughout my entire house which I loved very much! It tastes great but I feel like next time I make it I will not be putting any cinnamon in at all. The drink tasted a lot like cinnamon which isn’t quite my favorite! All in all this is definitely a recipe I will be using every morning to save money by not going to Starbucks! Thank you sooooo much for posting this I really enjoy the taste and staying in my budget! You’re the best!!!!!
I’m trying this today, along with the pumpkin peanut butter bars. Just found your site today, and can’t wait to browse through all your recipes! I love all the tweak/subs others post, which helps with my dietary issues. I’m sorry about the negative posters tho… way too nit-picky. I guess some feel the need to complain…I just say thanks!!!
Thanks for finding me and for the great comment and compliments! Some people are way too nitpikcy; agreed! It’s free. If they don’t like it, they can come up with their own recipes or move onto another blog…or start their own :) I always try to give subs/tweaks because so many people have issues and many of my recipes are very easily made GF or vegan (or already are) just by swapping out a bit of flour or using buttery spread rather than butter, etc.