It's no secret that I love Starbucks, especially their seasonal drinks. In winter it's the Gingerbread Latte and Peppermint Mocha (which I'm told they have year-round now). I love the Cool Lime Refresher they offer in summer. Of course, in Fall, it's all about the Pumpkin Spice Latte. It's a little bit sad that Japan doesn't do the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Instead, their Autumn drink is a Roasted Almond Latte, which is really kind of a cop-out when you can get an almond latte year-round. In order to bring a little bit of fall into my life, I decided to create my own pumpkin spice latte, or, as it turns out, coffee creamer.
They don't sell those in Japan either - coffee creamers. It's called milk here, and usually comes in the powdered form (if it's meant for coffee). It only took at little bit of wandering around Pinterest to find a Pumpkin Spice creamer recipe (here), and I just adapted it a little bit to suit the ingredients I could get here.
The result, Autumn goodness in a mug - yum!
To make the your own little bottle of coffee creamer you will need:
1 cup milk
1 cup half & half (I used regular cream)
4-5 Tbs canned pumpkin puree (make sure it's not pumpkin pie filling!)
4 Tbs pure maple syrup
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice*
1/2 tsp cinnamon*
1 tsp vanilla extract
*I couldn't find pumpkin pie spice, so I just used about a 1/2 tsp nutmeg, and a little extra cinnamon.
In a small saucepan mix together the first 6 ingredients over medium heat until steaming, stirring constantly. Once it's nice and hot, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve before storing in the fridge. Be sure to shake it a bit before using!
Serve in a Starbucks mug if you wish...
It has been a really long time since I've had a proper Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte, but adding this homemade creamer to hot chocolate or my morning coffee is pretty darn good! I think it could give Starbucks a run for its money!!!
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