Pumpkin Spice Latte is the perfect symphony of robust espresso and creamy milk, interwoven with the quintessential blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove, and the star of the show: rich, velvety pumpkin.
This isn’t just your average coffee shop brew; it’s a homemade ticket to autumnal bliss, crafted with love and the perfect balance of spice. Each sip promises a cozy sweater for your soul, inviting you to savor a moment of pure seasonal magic.
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What makes the Pumpkin Spice lattes one of the quintessential fall beverages?
The combination of pumpkin and the warm spices of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves are the fall spice flavors that we all crave. The PSL is only available for a limited time each year. So, if you don’t rush out and grab a couple of these during the fall, you will have to wait until the next time they come back. Not anymore. So if you love those fall-favorite pumpkin pie spices, you are in luck. We will show you how to make one.
Why You Should Try Making a Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
When you make your PSL at home, you can make them any time of the year. This is on the Starbucks fall menu. There are other advantages of creating one, though, and it costs less to recreate your fancy coffee drinks at home. You can customize this any way you like: change out the type of milk, want more spice in your drink, or add some additional syrup.
What Makes This Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe So Good
Unlike other recipes that have you add the spices and syrup separately, this recipe has a spice-infused syrup, so all of the autumnal flavors are pronounced.
It has a subtle yet comforting pumpkin taste perfectly balanced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. You can create this yummy latte while staying comfortable at home without venturing outside. Not to mention, you can make it any time of year.
Ingredients
Here’s a list of what you need:
- Water
- Ground nutmeg
- Cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon
- Fresh or ground ginger
- Sugar
- Canned pumpkin puree
- Espresso or strong coffee
- Milk
- Whipped cream
How to Make Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte
- Combine nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and water in a medium-sized saucepan.
- Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Strain out spices by pouring the water through a coffee filter.
- Place the spiced simple syrup back into the pan.
- Add sugar and pumpkin and mix well.
- Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Prepare espresso or strong coffee.
- Pour a couple of tablespoons of pumpkin syrup into a coffee cup, then add coffee.
- Gently pour frothed milk over the coffee and stir.
- Top with whipped cream and dusting of pumpkin spice.
Ingredient Substitutions
You can substitute the milk for an alternative milk if you wish. If you have a dairy allergy, other options like almond milk, oat milk, or soy milk are excellent options.
Oat milk has a rich, silky texture, and soy milk froths up quite nicely. Almond milk is slightly trickier but works with high-fat content.
Espresso Tips for This Pumpkin Latte Recipe
Espresso is stronger than drip coffee because the water is steamed through the coffee, so using regular coffee won’t give you the same result, if you use an espresso machine. In general, espresso has more caffeine.
How much caffeine is in a pumpkin spice latte depends on how big of a latte you make or buy. At Starbucks, a tall Pumpkin Spice Latte has 75 mg of caffeine, whereas a grande size has 150 mg.
Luckily, if you don’t have an espresso maker, you can use instant espresso. Regarding instant espresso, I prefer the brand Medaglia D’Oro Instant Espresso Coffee for its quality and flavor.
If you want to make espresso like Italians, you can benefit from using a Bialetti Moka Express 3 Cup Espresso Maker. This appliance type is how Italians make authentic espresso in the comfort of their homes, and the product is only about 30 dollars.
How to Froth Milk for a Latte
You can easily froth warm milk in a jar with a lid on it, in a mixer, or in a blender. If you don’t have any of those, you can froth your milk with a whisk.
I would suggest that you use whatever milk you enjoy the most. You can use half and half, whole milk, 2%, or even skim milk. You can heat milk for about 1 minute in the microwave before frothing it.
What to Serve with The Pumpkin Spice Latte
For this delicious Pumpkin Spice Latte, Starbucks Petite Vanilla Scones are an excellent pairing, especially if you love a pastry with their coffee. The vanilla sweet treat enhances the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in the latte.
Love Starbucks? Try these copycat recipes!
- Butterscotch Latte
- Caramel Macchiato
- Eggnog Latte
- Flat White
- Mocha Coffee
- Peppermint Mocha
- Pink Drink
- Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew
- Snickerdoodle Hot Chocolate
- Egg White Bites
- Spinach Feta Wrap
Favorite Pumpkin Recipes
Check out more of my easy drink recipes and the best copycat Starbucks recipes here on CopyKat.com!
Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte
Ingredients
Pumpkin Spice Syrup
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
- 3 cinnamon sticks or 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 inch fresh ginger or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons canned pumpkin
Pumpkin Spice Latte
- 2 to 3 tablespoons pumpkin syrup
- 4 ounces prepared espresso
- 4 ounces milk warmed and frothed
- 2 tablespoons whipped cream
- 1 dash ground nutmeg
Instructions
- To make the pumpkin spice syrup, bring the water and spices to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the water through a coffee filter to remove the spices. Discard the spices and return the water to the saucepan. Add the sugar and pumpkin, mix well, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- To make the pumpkin spice latte, place 2 to 3 tablespoons of pumpkin spice syrup in a coffee cup. Then add the prepared espresso. Gently pour the frothed milk over the coffee and stir gently. Top with whipped cream and a dash of ground nutmeg.
Jennifer Farley
Yum! I love that I can make this at home!
Cathy Pollak
PSL is my favorite time of year!
Joanne
So doable at home, and tastes even better than Starbucks!
Scott
I tried and followed your wonderful instructions. .but I could not get it to strain. I completed the recipe but I am afraid of how it will taste. The house smells great..but not real sure I wanna put what I ended up with in my coffee. I used ground cinnamon and nutmeg!! I love the pumpkin spice flavor…I maybe doomed to paying for it#!
Fathom
Don’t use ground cinnamon, ever. It goes slimy only use a cinnamon stick
Maxine Tuesday
Maybe I missed it, but how much milk? And could I use the same recipe for frappe or frappaccino? Not hot, of course.
Stephanie Manley
I most likely add an ounce or two of milk. I hope this helps.
olramkam
I made this following your directions and it tastes grrrreat! The syrup/sauce is brown, not an artificially died orange like Starbucks. The taste is fresh and natural. I am impressed! Thank you for sharing this recipe. For me, next time I will add less sugar or none so that I can sweeten to taste and my guests can too. Thanks again!
Stephanie Manley
I am glad you enjoyed this recipe. Nothing artificial in here.
ItsJoelen
Thank you! Now I can save some time and money from going to Starbucks every day lol!! 🙂
dineanddish
The pumpkin spice lattes are my kryptonite!
Kim Beaulieu
This looks amazing, I know so many people just love their Starbucks but their prices are so high. This is a great option to make it at home.
marye audet
definitely one of my favoritess!
debcom
if you cover the lid while simmering, won;t the condensation that forms om the lidwater it down?
Val Catwalker
This is a fantastic recipe. I’ve made several batches and prefer using sugar in the raw to organic as it gives the syrup a richer, darker color. I was one who had problems with a paper filter but I had a gold cone filter from an old coffee brewer I no longer used and it worked perfectly and fast for straining my syrup.
Thank you for going to the trouble (I know you enjoyed it) to replicate a coffee syrup I enjoy so much, in a latte or cappuccino.
Val
Stephanie
Val,
Thanks for the comments on this. I appreciate it. I am glad to hear the gold filter worked out better for you. I know my syrup is a little on the chunkier side.
Cindy Besher
Going to try this recipe for when I don’t have any syrup on hand. I usually buy
Torani Syrups…since they have sugar free varieties too. They syrups taste very similar to Starbucks. here’s a link if you want to try the syrup.http://shop.torani.com/?gclid=CO3-s5njrbsCFa4-MgodKRsAdg
Pangurban
This is a good recipe. Be patient when straining through the coffee filter. Use a large coffee filter, I used a rubber-band to hold it over a bowl to strain. The bigger surface area you have, the faster it strains. It may not look like there is a large amount after straining it, once you add the pumpkin and sugar it does make a pint. It’s much less expensive than going to Starbucks.
stephaniemanley
Thanks. I think that Starbucks is great, and a wonderful treat. But if you want to enjoy them more often, you need a raise, or make it yourself.
Jeebus
If you’re trying to copy *anything* from Starbucks you’re doing it wrong. Starbucks = swill
stephaniemanley
Well thank you for sharing your personal opinion of Starbucks. I’ll most likely leave the recipe up for everyone else. I wonder how you found this recipe if you dislike Starbucks so much.
Betsy
This is a really good recipe. I had trouble straining the spices, so squeezed everything through a very clean cloth. I am vegan and I love that this is vegan. It was delicious with almond milk. Thanks for the delicious start to fall. I’m going to make this as gifts for friends!
stephaniemanley
Just be patient with this, it will work. You could strain it less diligently if you don’t mind your coffee a little chunky 😉
dmswan
I’m on my third batch of this since finding it a few months ago. I have never had any difficulty making it at all. You need to be patient when straining it with coffee filters. It takes a bit of time. I dont’ worry about getting every single bit of the spices out because it doesn’t bother me to have a little in my coffee. I think it tastes good! As far as it looking like sludge….it’s supposed to. We joke at how gross it looks in the mason jar which is how I store it in the fridge. But oh does it smell an taste delicious! Thanks for the recipe!!
stephaniemanley
It isn’t the prettiest 😉
sussanna
Hi guys, If you use a pumpkin spiced tea (you can find it in a bunch of grocery stores) instead of the syrup and spices it tastes great with little effort. Just make coffee like you would normally, or a bit stronger if you’d like the coffee flavor to stand out a bit more, then add the tea bag to the coffee, let it seep and add sugar to taste. It takes about three minutes longer (because of the seeping) than a normal cup of coffee and you don’t have all the hassle of simmering the spices or straining them.
It also tastes great with just milk and the tea (no coffee added).
Note: with tea and coffee there’s added caffine..
stephaniemanley
This works great.
Shannon
Thanks for this recipe. I could not strain the spices with the filters.I had to use the ground cinnamon and it basically looked like sludge. It was not fun, but I did end up making the syrup albeit 8 ozs. Any suggestions? The drink was just overall okay. I thought it would taste like pumpkin pie but it was very bland. Where do you think I went wrong? I was looking forward to trying this at Thanksgiving.
Stephanie
It sounds like a couple of things went on here. One, you really need to strain the spices. Just curious did you use all of the spices, but you couldn’t strain out only the cinnamon? I used very fresh spices when I developed the recipe, this may have made a difference, you control the amount of flavor that you add by how much syrup you put in the recipe. I sorry this try didn’t work out well for you.
Fathom
When cinnamon gets wet it turns into a sludge, I have the same problem when I make my chai tea from scratch. Now that I think about it, thats probably why she used cinnamon sticks lol
Sweeta
Great demonstration……..very informative I will make this for Thanksgiving it is my daughter’s favorite drink at Starbucks!