The Best Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
How to make the best pumpkin spice latte at home with pumpkin puree, coffee, milk, and fall spices. Better than store-bought! Jump to the Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe or watch our quick video showing you how to make it.
Watch Us Make It
How to Make the Best Pumpkin Spice Latte at Home
The moment Fall hits, we rush to our local coffee shop and order a pumpkin spice latte. We love them so much, we took it upon ourselves to try making it at home.
This recipe is easy and I bet you have most, if not everything, you need to make it at home right now. It also comes together in under 10 minutes!
Start by heating milk, pumpkin puree (here’s our homemade pumpkin puree), sugar, pumpkin pie spices, and vanilla extract on the stove. You can use whole, 2%, skim, or dairy-free milk. Coconut or almond milk would be delicious.
Then we combine the pumpkin spice milk with strong coffee. The mixture is divided between two mugs and it’s time for whipped cream. Simple, quick, and no coffee shop lines.
More Pumpkin Recipes
- Easy Pumpkin Mac and Cheese — How to make extra creamy pumpkin mac and cheese in under 1 hour. The perfect Fall dinner!
- Homemade Pumpkin Pancakes — We love these pumpkin pancakes: not too sweet with a hint of spice.
- Seriously Good Pumpkin Cupcakes — These moist spiced pumpkin cupcakes are hard to beat.
- Homemade (and easy) Pumpkin Pie — How to make classic, unfussy pumpkin pie from scratch. This is our favorite way to make pumpkin pie. It’s easy, too!
- Pumpkin Scones — How to make the best spiced pumpkin scones inspired by Starbucks.
Recipe updated, originally posted November 2011. Since posting this in 2011, we have added a recipe video and tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne
The Best Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
- PREP
Make the popular coffee house pumpkin spice latte at home. Canned or homemade pumpkin puree both work well in this recipe. Here’s our recipe for making pumpkin puree from scratch.
Makes 2 Drinks
You Will Need
2 cups milk (dairy or non-dairy)
2 tablespoons pumpkin puree, or more to taste, see our homemade pumpkin puree recipe
1 to 3 tablespoons sugar, depending on how sweet you like it
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, plus more for serving
1/2 cup strong hot coffee
Whipped cream, for serving
Directions
Add milk, pumpkin puree, and sugar to a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until hot, but do not boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and the coffee.
Divide the mixture between two mugs. Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Milk: This tastes best with 2% or whole milk, but you can substitute with skim milk. Non-dairy milk like soy, almond, or coconut milk will also work.
- Sugar: This recipe calls for 1 to 3 tablespoons of sugar. How much you use is up to you. We tend to prefer less sugar in our drinks. You can also use a sugar substitute. Add this to taste.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend: Find pumpkin pie spice at the store or make it at home. You likely have everything you need to make it already. Mix the following spices in a spice jar: 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon + 2 teaspoons ground ginger + 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg + a pinch of ground cloves.
- More Pumpkin Flavor: Since posting this recipe, some readers have noted that they would prefer a stronger pumpkin flavor. You can achieve this two ways: increase the puree by 1 to 2 tablespoons or cook a large batch of puree down in a saucepan over medium heat until reduced and concentrated in flavor, and then use in the latte.
- Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values. We assumed 2% milk and 1 tablespoon of sugar.
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste
Nutrition Per Serving: Serving Size 1 drink / Calories 171 / Protein 9 g / Carbohydrate 21 g / Dietary Fiber 1 g / Total Sugars 20 g / Total Fat 6 g / Saturated Fat 4 g / Cholesterol 24 mg
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Do you think Splenda would work in place of the sugar? I absolutely LOVE pumpkin spice lattes but they can be so calorie heavy.
Yep — just add slowly and taste. I think Splenda is a little sweeter than regular sugar.
This is great!!
…Now I need you to tell me how to make a truly delicious EGG NOG latte! I can’t seem to perfect it on my own!
Thanks! Hmm — might have to try that this Fall.
Yummmmmmmmm!I would love to try making the Egg Nog Latte!!!
Love that this has real pumpkin in the drink! I tend to have some pumpkin always in the freezer from various recipes that do not call for the whole can so this will be a perfect way to use that up.
Good point, Lisa. Especially during the fall months!
Could I use 1/2 cup espresso in place of coffee?
Yep!
I wonder if Pumpkin Pie Spieces would work. It’s a little jar I just bought. Ill try it tomorrow but can’t compare it to the real recipe :/
Hi there! Pumpkin Pie Spices will work — they are similar (if not the same) to pumpkin spice blend.
that coffee looks so good, need a few ingredients but am looking forward to trying this ; )
great!
I made this yesterday for my afternoon snack, what a great drink. Easy to make and tastes wonderful.
Yay! SO happy you loved it!
I did not see the headnotes for the pumpkin spice mix! Did I miss something??
Good catch. We updated the recipe and the headnote was stripped. Just fixed it!
Love latte. Will try when I return home from Az as it is much cooler there. Can not wait.
This is the best recipe for pumpkin spice latte tastes better than the one famous cafe, recipe tried it is sensational, natural ingredients, perfect for cool days and a number of spectacular. I recommend!
I wonder if this would be good in hot chocolate? I don’t like coffee.
maybe chai tea?
That would be lovely – I bet hot chocolate would be a nice touch, too!
I don’t drink coffee either (or caffeinated teas). Do you think this would be good without the coffee, just with the milk, pumpkin and spices, or would it need something else?
Hi Megan — Hmm, not sure. It really might be a it weak? Would love to hear if you try it , though! The pumpkin flavor is really wonderful.
I don’t like coffee, either. I made this with Tim Horton’s brand on the Keurig & I couldn’t even taste the coffee; just the sweet, warm & creamy taste of pumpkin spice!
Hi Linda! I actually didn’t have any coffee, so I tested some substitutes. I found that the best for this is (for 1/2 CUP of coffee) use 1/2 of a 1/2 cup [vanilla] almond milk, and fill the other half with chocolate milk [I use Horizon].
I also tested with coffee, both taste exactly the same!
I love that you use actual pumpkin instead of just spices – it always bothers me when “Pumpkin Spiced” drinks are pumpkin-free. Just because a certain combination of spices goes well with pumpkin doesn’t mean it tastes anything like pumpkin!
This sounds so good right now! I love your photos.
Yay, I found another homemade Starbucks coffee drink recipe! I must make this! Thanks for sharing 😀
I love coffee art! I had no idea there were templets out there to make me look way fancier than I am 😉