Pumpkin Week: Pumpkin Spice Latte

I don’t usually post more than three recipes in a single week, but I found myself in a most unusual position this morning: I had leftover pumpkin. Specifically, about 1/4 cup.

Immediately, my mind kicked into high gear (which sounded like an lawnmower with a cold) thinking of possible uses for less than 1/4 cup pumpkin puree.

… make 7.5 Pumpkin Cloud Cookies? Nah, too repetitive.

… stir into oatmeal? Nah, too pedestrian.

… use as glue to make a heart-felt card for Peter? (Bonus: Unlike the stuff you “tasted” in kindergarten, you can actually eat this paste!)

Nah, too likely to rot into a foul mess.

… use as war paint when I lay siege to the overgrown weeds in our FIRST EVER garden plot?

That won’t take long to weed. Not at all.

Okay, even I know that’s a bad idea.

And then, an idea struck!

And by “an idea struck”, I mean “I Googled ‘what to do with small amounts of pumpkin'”.

When I saw this recipe for pumpkin spice latte, I knew I had to try it. This version is lighter and less sweet (which I like), so feel free to adjust the sweetness to your taste. In this season of pumpkin abundance (at least in the U.S.), why spend $4 for a pumpkin latte from the coffee shop on the corner when you can whip up your own for a fraction of the price?

 

Pumpkin Spice Latte

  Cook Time: 5 minutes

  Keywords: breakfast beverage pumpkin

Ingredients (1 serving)

  • 1-1/2 tablespoons ground coffee
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  • 3 tablespoons canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Pinch ground nutmeg
  • Pinch ground ginger (optional)

Instructions

Prepare coffee using favorite method.

While the coffee brews, combine in a small saucepan the milk, pumpkin, brown sugar and spices. Cook and stir over low heat until steaming. Be careful not to let boil, or the milk and pumpkin will separate.

Combine coffee and milk mixture in large mug and stir. Top with additional ground cinnamon if desired.

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So ends Pumpkin Week on THIH! Next week I’ll feature another fun ingredient in 2-4 wildly different recipes. Then I’ll space out the rest of your Ingredient Week suggestions so we have a little more variety.

I’m always looking for more possible Ingredient Weeks, so if you have a particular food/ingredient you want to see in new and possibly horrifying ways, suggest it below. So far I have seven ingredients in the queue, not counting Peter’s suggestion of smoked pork and his brother Dave’s suggestion of bacon-wrapped fatty (THANKS, GUYS).

As a final note: my sister D was surprised I didn’t show an empty ricotta container for the first inadvertent ingredient week. To her, I say only this:

Have a great weekend! See you all on Sunday!

8 Comments

  1. I’ve still never tried the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks because everyone always says it’s too sweet, but it never crossed my mind to try and make it at home – brilliant! I can have it alongside my pumpkin oatmeal ;-)Thanks, Jessie! 🙂

  2. I ALWAYS seem to have extra pumpkin around! Love this!!

  3. Great recipe! I’ve been looking for one! I’m a big fan of the Starbucks one, but usually order it fat free with 2 versus 4 squirts of syrup (in a Grande). Still expensive though. Would love to make it at home with more natural ingredients for sure! Thanks!

  4. Wait. You used canned pumpkin!!?! Blasphemy!

    1. Feel free to come visit and stew me some pumpkin 😀

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