Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe

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This homemade healthy pumpkin spice latte brings a new meaning to the word, delicious!

I remember the day I took my first sip of a friend’s PSL from Starbucks and just about fell over at the amount of sugar. It made my teeth ache!

But I did like the flavor, so I decided to go home and try making it myself. What I came up with is, in my humble opinion, leaps and bounds better than the sip I took that day from my friend’s drink.

In fact, I have to be careful not to let Mini Chef get ahold of this because it’s almost like candy. Hot or cold, this is seriously good stuff! I would even be willing to bet that you too could kick the Starbucks habit completely with this little recipe. My friend sure did! The price, flavor, and nutrition of this homemade version is just so much better!

There is no pumpkin puree, foamed milk, or even a small saucepan for this recipe. You don’t have to worry about shots of espresso or anything else. It’s just coffee, pumpkin pie spice, and milk. It’s super easy!!

Pumpkin Spice Latte Calories

Let’s compare the nutrition data of this drink to the Starbucks version. This is directly from their website.

Now check out the data of this recipe!

That’s quite a difference, don’t you think? The ingredient list alone is a major upgrade for your health when you make this at home!

Homemade Latte

This time of year brings up all things pumpkin. While a pumpkin spice latte doesn’t have any real pumpkin in it, it can be full of simple ingredients and natural flavors.

The best part of a homemade version of this favorite fall drink is that it beats the long lines at your local coffee shop. This recipe doesn’t include any of the pumpkin spice syrup that most coffee shops use. But it doesn’t need it when you use strong coffee or hot espresso, real spices, frothed milk, and a touch of maple syrup.

I made this using a French press. So it was easy to get these specific measurements. If you use a coffee maker, you’ll need to adjust the amounts of all the ingredients based on the amount of coffee you use. You can double or triple or…

What Type Of Coffee Maker Works Best?

If using a coffee maker, be sure you use the type that requires paper coffee filters. The spices will clog your machine if you have the other type that does not use these filters.

I made this using a French Press, and I highly recommend them.

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Latte

This recipe is naturally vegan if you use plant-based milk. The rest of the ingredients are naturally vegan!

Tools For Making A Pumpkin Spice Latte

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While you can easily make this and many different types of lattes with a regular, paper-filter coffee maker, those of us who like to take our lattes to the next level like to have the toys to do it. Try this milk frother, this French press, this large mug, or this espresso machine!

Note that you don’t really need any of these fancier tools. You can froth your milk with an immersion blender, heat your water on your stovetop and then brew a single cup of coffee with a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. But if you enjoy the toys and make enough lattes for them to be worthwhile, they can be a fun addition to your kitchen.

What You’ll Need To Make A Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte

• Ground coffee – Use your favorite, as long as it isn’t flavored. Or use espresso. Your choice.
• Pumpkin spice – Pumpkin pie spice is typically a blend of spices such as nutmeg, allspice, cloves, ground cinnamon, ginger, and other spices. Everyone has their own formula. If you’d like, you can make your own in minutes. And if you don’t like the pumpkin flavor all that strong, you can back off to about 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice. This recipe is totally adjustable in that way.
• Water
• Milk – You can use unsweetened almond milk, whole milk, soy milk, coconut milk, oat milk, skim milk, nonfat milk, whipped cream, or other non-dairy milk. The choice is yours. Whatever type of milk you most enjoy in your regular coffee, as long as it isn’t a flavored creamer.
• Pure vanilla extract – Use the real stuff, not flavoring. You can use up to a full teaspoon of vanilla extract if you like.
• Pure maple syrup – Use the real stuff, not imitation syrup. Don’t use honey because the flavor of honey will overtake the pumpkin spice flavor.
• Cinnamon stick – For garnish

How To Make A Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte

Combine the coffee and the pumpkin spice and brew as usual with the specified amount of water.

Pour the maple syrup into the bottom of your cup, jar, or mug with the vanilla extract, and pour half of the hot coffee over that.

Add 1 cup of milk and stir, whisk, or shake. Repeat steps 2-3 for the second serving.

Cool a bit to medium-hot or medium heat, add a little whipped cream if you like, and enjoy.

How To Make A Healthy Latte

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Recipes Used

• Pumpkin Spice

More Coffee Drink Recipes

• Chai Tea Latte
• Apple Pie Spice Latte
• Coconut Milk Latte

This recipe from the Gracious Pantry archives, originally posted 9/20/11.