Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (2024)

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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!

Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (1)

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.

Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (2)

Now check out the data of this recipe!

Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (3)

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.

Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (4)

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

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. Here are some options:

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.

Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (9)

About Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte Ingredients

Ground coffee – Use your favorite, as long as it isn’t flavored.

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 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

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

Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (11)

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.

Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (12)

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

Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (13)

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

Recipes Used

  • Pumpkin Spice

More Coffee Drink Recipes

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

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe Card

Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (15)

Healthy Pumpkin Spice Latte

Why buy the garbage and sugar filled drinks from the coffee shops when you can make this so much cheaper and healthier at home? In fact, this could even be better than what most coffee shops make. Delicious!

IMPORTANT:

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

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Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 servings

Calories: 68kcal

CLICK TO WATCH THIS RECIPE IN ACTION!

Equipment

  • French Press OR coffee maker with paper filters

Ingredients

  • 4 tbsp. ground coffee
  • 1 tbsp. pumpkin spice
  • cups water
  • 2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or any milk you prefer)
  • ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp. pure maple syrup

US CustomaryMetric

Instructions

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

    Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (16)

  • Pour the maple syrup in the bottom of your cup with the vanilla extract and pour half of the hot coffee over that.

    Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (17)

  • Add 1 cup of milk and stir. Repeat steps 2-3 for the second serving.

    Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (18)

  • Cool a bit to a medium-hot or medium heat and serve with a little cinnamon or extra pumpkin pie spice sprinkled over the top.

    Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (19)

Notes

  1. While this recipe shows the use of a larger french press, the measurements are the same if using a coffee maker with filters.
  2. Do not use coffee makers that do not use paper filters. The spices will clog up your coffee maker.
  3. Please note that the nutrition data is a ballpark figure. Exact data is not possible.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5the recipe | Calories: 68kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Sodium: 20mg | Potassium: 82mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 1.5mg

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

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Clean Eating Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How to make a skinny PSL at Starbucks? ›

Minimize Your Order

Without whipped cream and with almond milk, you can chop that count almost in half to 180 calories and make it a skinny Pumpkin Spice Latte. (And it's just as tasty as the original.)

How do you ask for a healthy pumpkin spice latte? ›

How to make a pumpkin spice latte healthier
  1. Ask for sugar-free syrup.
  2. Reduce the number of syrup pumps added to the drink.
  3. Use a sugar substitute like stevia, aspartame, or sucralose in place of syrup.
  4. Add cinnamon in place of sugar.
  5. Eliminate or decrease the amount of whipped cream.
Sep 27, 2022

Can you get a skinny pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks? ›

How to order a 'skinny' pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks. Ask for nonfat milk and no whipped cream, says Martin. This will reduce the calories in a grande cup by 120, making it 260 calories, 0 grams of fat, 51 grams carbs and 49 grams sugar.

What is the PSL hack at Starbucks? ›

Instead of a pumpkin spice latte, you're gonna order a grande. blonde roast coffee with four pumps of pumpkin sauce. And add the pumpkin spice topping to. ask for a splash of milk, and you're good to go.

How do you reduce sugar in a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte? ›

Ask for less syrup.

And trust us – a lot goes into it! A hot venti PSL gets five pumps of syrup, which adds a whopping 165 calories to the drink on its own, even before milk and whipped cream are added. Ask your barista to dial it back to just two or three pumps to cut back on calories and sugar.

How many pumps of syrup in a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks? ›

At Starbucks, the pumpkin spice latte is usually served with 3 pumps of the brand's signature Pumpkin Spice Syrup, which gives the drink roughly 40 grams of sugar. Ask your barista to opt for 2, or even 1 pump instead to keep up healthy eating habits while maintaining delicious flavor.

Why do people like pumpkin spice lattes so much? ›

Smell and Association

Two Krieger School perception researchers say a key to understanding why people love pumpkin spice is the smell of it. Those notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger trigger deeply rooted cozy memories of autumn.

What can I order instead of pumpkin spice latte? ›

5 Cozy Pumpkin Spice Latte Alternatives
  • Purity Coffee. But first, coffee. ...
  • Maple Matcha. Our friend and founder of Tea Bar, Erica Indira Swanson, shares her latest creation, the Maple Matcha Latte. ...
  • Golden Milk Latte. ...
  • Holy Cacao Cocoa. ...
  • Caffeine Free Dandy Latte.
Oct 5, 2023

Can diabetics have pumpkin spice lattes? ›

Every year I see ladies posting in my Facebook support group desperately craving Starbuck's Pumpkin Spice Lattes, but these sweet Halloween drinks are packed with carbs (sugar), making them a risky choice for anyone with diabetes.

What is really in a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte? ›

They spent the next three months prototyping the beverage, settling on a recipe that used pumpkin spice sauce with cinnamon, clove and nutmeg – handcrafted with espresso and steamed milk – and finished with whipped cream and a dash of pumpkin pie topping.

Why are pumpkin spice lattes so high in calories? ›

But only about half of the Pumpkin Spice Latte's 390 calories come from the milk and espresso you'd get in a regular latte (190 calories). The rest comes from pumpkin spice sauce—with more sugar and condensed milk than actual pumpkin purée—and whipped cream.

Why are pumpkin spice lattes so expensive? ›

Simply put, the flavor is the commodification of the feeling of fall, and consumers eagerly await its return every year. So much so, that they're willing to pay a premium for it. A 2020 study conducted by Magnify Money found an average pumpkin spice tax of 8.8% across 40 items from six retailers.

How do you order a skinny medicine ball at Starbucks? ›

You won't see the words medicine ball on any Starbucks menu, so it's best to order the drink is to use its official name: Honey Citrus Mint Tea. It's possible your barista will recognize nicknames like Medicine Ball or Cold Buster, another way that Instagrammers referred to the drink in the late 2010s.

How do you make a skinny drink at Starbucks? ›

Ask for “less whip” or “no whip” • Make it “Skinny:” Most handcrafted espresso and Frappuccino® blended beverages can be requested “skinny,” which means the beverage is made with nonfat milk, no whipped cream and a sugar-free syrup if available.

How to make PSL better? ›

Pumpkin puree: It's key for a richer, truer pumpkin flavor. For two PSLs, you'll need two tablespoons of puree. If you freeze the leftover pumpkin puree in two tablespoon portions, your pumpkin spice-loving future self will thank you.

What does Starbucks put in their PSL? ›

They spent the next three months prototyping the beverage, settling on a recipe that used pumpkin spice sauce with cinnamon, clove and nutmeg – handcrafted with espresso and steamed milk – and finished with whipped cream and a dash of pumpkin pie topping.

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