Autumn in Tucson: Pumpkin spice coffee hacks

Easy Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

Makes: about 2 cups of creamer

2 cups almond milk*

2 tablespoons mashed pumpkin (canned is fine, but make sure it’s just pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling)

2 tablespoons maple syrup**

1 teaspoons cinnamon***

¼-½ teaspoon nutmeg***

¼-½ teaspoon ground cloves***

¼-½ teaspoon ground ginger***

½ teaspoon vanilla extract*

* If you use vanilla almond milk, you may not need to add any additional vanilla. You can also use soy milk, rice milk, flax milk, or hemp milk. Do not use animal milk — it will separate, spoil quickly, and taste off.

** Adjust to taste and desired sweetness. If you use sweetened almond milk, you won’t need as much sweetener. Fair Trade/Equal Exchange brown or white sugar or agave nectar can be substituted for the maple syrup. The maple just falls up the flavor that much more.

*** Adjust spices to taste. You can also substitute pre-mixed "pumpkin pie spice."

Source: blogher.com

Quick Pumpkin Spice Latte

Makes: 1 serving

 1 cup milk, divided

 1 tablespoon white sugar, or more to taste

 1 tablespoon pumpkin puree

 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

 ¼ cup brewed espresso

Prep: 5 minutes

Cook: 5 minutes

Directions: Whisk ½ cup milk, sugar, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla extract in a small saucepan over low heat. Simmer for 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining ½ cup milk.

Pour milk mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove pulp. Return milk mixture to saucepan and simmer, whisking, 2 minutes. Add espresso and whisk until foamy, 1 minute.

Source: allrecipes.com 

Copycat Pumpkin Spice Latte

Goodhousekeeping.com says with its recipe you can make 10 lattes at home for the same price as a store-bought drink.

Makes: 4 cups syrup (32 to 64 lattes)

For the syrup:

• 2 cups granulated sugar

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

• 1/4 cup canned pure pumpkin

For the latte:

• 8 ounces whole milk

• 4 ounces strong brewed coffee or espresso

• Whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice, for garnish (optional)

Prepare the syrup: Bring the sugar and 2 cups water to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking, until the sugar dissolves. Add the cinnamon sticks, pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin. Simmer, whisking occasionally, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Set aside 5 minutes, then strain twice through a fine-mesh strainer into an airtight container. Refrigerate until cool. Store in the refrigerator for about 1 month. You'll end up with about 4 cups total.

For each latte: Microwave the milk on High about 1 minute or until very hot. (Transfer to a blender and blend 20 seconds for extra frothy milk, if desired.) Put 1 to 2 tablespoons pumpkin spice syrup in the bottom of a mug. Top with the coffee and warm milk. Garnish with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice, if desired.

Source: goodhousekeeping.com