Pumpkin Spice Latte
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Warm up your autumn with this homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe that combines creamy milk, rich coffee, real pumpkin, and autumn spices to bring cozy coffee shop vibes right to your kitchen. Perfect for fall lovers, this easy-to-make latte captures the flavor of the season in every sip.
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I have a confession….I’m totally intimidated by Starbucks. I walk in there and freeze-grande what? Tall who? Mocha-latte-skinny huh?
While I love a good pumpkin spice latte as much as the next girl I generally shy away from actually stepping into a Starbucks if I can help it (and when I do I usually have a Starbucks junkie friend as my guide!)
Add to that my cheapness and lack of desire to blow 300 calories on the glorious creation known as the Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL for short) and I came up with this slimmed-down version you can easily make at home with just a few simple ingredients!
You might also like to try our pumpkin spice creamer or pumpkin spice white russian!
How to Make a Pumpkin Spice Latte with Less Calories
While the Starbucks pumpkin spice latte has over 300 calories, my lower calorie recipe has just 114. How did I reduce the calories in my homemade version without losing the taste?
- used vanilla almond milk or oat milk in place of milk or cream
- sweetened with a bit of brown sugar instead of coffee syrup
- used light whipped cream instead of full-fat
Ingredients
First, gather your tools: you’ll need a coffee maker or espresso maker and small saucepan.
- strongly brewed coffee
- milk
- pumpkin pie spice
- vanilla extract
- brown sugar
- pumpkin puree
Step by step
To make the latte, whisk together all ingredients other than the coffee and whipped cream in a small saucepan and heat until steaming, not boiling. While it’s heating brew the coffee.
Pour the steaming pumpkin mixture over the coffee to mix and top with whipped cream. If you want to get extra fancy, sprinkle a little cinnamon or nutmeg on top while you’re at it!
Easy enough?
This copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is sooooo good you may just skip the coffee shop all together this fall!
Variations
- Use your preferred milk: regular, almond, cashew, soy milk, coconut milk
- Skip the whipped cream
- Use stevia or other calorie free sweetener instead of brown sugar
- Sweeten with maple syrup or agave syrup instead of brown sugar
- Use instant coffee if you don’t have a coffee or espresso maker
- Allow to cool then serve over ice for an iced PSL or start with cold brew coffee and serve over ice
A grande PSL from Starbucks is 380 calories. This skinny version is about 114, saving you a whopping 266 calories! I’d say that’s a win!
Make your own by mixing 2 tablespoons cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ginger, 1 tablespoon nutmeg, and ½ tablespoon cloves.
If you have a milk frother feel free to froth the pumpkin mixture. Depending on what kind of milk you use you will get different results. I’ve found that most non-dairy milk does not froth well. Whole milk is the easiest to froth.
If you try this recipe, please comment and rate it below, I love hearing from you!
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Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 1 1x
Description
Warm up your autumn with this homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe that combines creamy milk, rich coffee, real pumpkin, and autumn spices to bring cozy coffee shop vibes right to your kitchen.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 3 tablespoons pumpkin puree
- 1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 3/4 cup strongly brewed coffee-I used Starbuck Veranda K-cup
- light whipped cream and cinnamon or nutmeg for garnish (if desired)
Instructions
- Brew coffee.
- In a small saucepan combine pumpkin, almond milk, vanilla, sugar, and spice and heat over medium heat until steaming-do not boil.
- Pour pumpkin mixture over coffee and top with whipped cream and cinnamon or nutmeg if desired.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Category: Drinks
- Method: none
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 114
- Sugar: 15.3 g
- Sodium: 146.8 mg
- Fat: 2.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 19.8 g
- Protein: 1.8 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Am I the only one on the planet intimidated by Starbucks? Are you one of those super savvy Starbucks addicts? Let me know in the comments!
Great ….
I had to laugh at your description of what it’s like to walk into Starbucks, I am just like you… confusion at its best, lol. I am however working a weight watchers program and I’m wondering where this will fall on my point scale. Can you give me some insight on the carbs, fat, protein etc?
I don’t have that info Katy but I think there are online calculators that can figure the points for you if you input the ingredients!
Wow, can’t wait to try this when it gets cooler. I LOVE pumpkin ANYTHING. And I too have issues with Starbucks. No 1 is price and No 2, it IS intimidating. Thank you for sharing.
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I am terrified of Starbucks. Too many choices!!! Thank you for the alternative!
This looks amazing! What is the calorie content?
I’m sorry Cara, I’m not sure…you’d have to plug it in to some sort of online calculator to figure it out.
I used the recipe analyzer at calorie count.about.com to calculate nutrition facts for this recipe. Here are the basics for this single serving recipe (including 2 Tbsp. light aerosol whipped cream and a pinch of cinnamon as garnish):
Calories 125
Calories from Fat 30
Total Fat 3.3 g.
Cholesterol 3 mg.
Sodium 131 mg.
Carbohydrates 20.7 g.
Sugars 15.3 g.
Protein 1.6 g.
Thanks Sybil!!
Can you make this ahead and keep as a coffee creamer?
I am pretty sure that Pumpkin Spice Latte’s are my love language… this looks amazing!
Hello Fall in a mug! Cannot wait to make this for an early morning treat!!
So I tried this recipe this morning….absolutely amazing! Thanks for doing all the hard work and saving me the $5 I would spend treating myself to one of these each week!
I’m so glad you liked it Laura Beth! I loved it too, I’m a fan of anything pumpkin!
My mother especially loves “fou fou” coffee drinks around the holidays. She will be so surprised when I offer her this version and don’t have to drive to a Starbucks!
Thanks so much for this, Melissa! I just saw an awful infographic with all of the nasty chemicals and poison that comes in a regular pumpkin spice latte. I’ll be staying home, saving $$ and using this version! 🙂
Yum! I bet it makes your house smell amazing too!
This looks amazing, Melissa! I usually default to my regular old 2% latte at Starbucks. I’ve got most of their menu figured out, but I find a lot of their fancy drinks to be way too sweet, and like you, don’t want to ingest so many calories in one drink!
Okay, me too on the Starbucks freeze. I always get so nervous when it’s my turn in line and I end up ordering something I don’t even want because I’m trying to hurry and say all the “coffee words” correctly.
Thanks for this recipe–almond milk is my obsession so, you’re like the best ever right now.
You’re very welcome Regina! I’m totally addicted to your blog, thanks for stopping by!! ~Melissa
wow- this looks delicious!
Thanks for sharing– I’m pinning and sharing, too 🙂
Thanks so much Mitzi!