All Natural Pumpkin Spice Latte (50% of Vitamin A!)
The Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte has been getting a lot of buzz lately. Nothing like a reported pumpkin syrup shortage to start a craze!
As regular readers will testify I am already a bit pumpkin obsessed and have done pumpkin pie as well as soup in a pumpkin this blogging season, but mixing pumpkin with coffee (another obsession of mine 😉 ) really had me interested.
Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte
So… even though I had heard allegations that there was no actual pumpkin in the mix, I sent my daughter on a Starbucks run. When she returned we both tasted. And the verdict? Well (taking a deep breath)… why would someone pay $4 for something that tastes like artificial flavoring?
And so I did my own version. Economical. Tasty. All natural. Whirred up in a blender, it is even foamy! Even better, it has a mere 104 calories along with a bit over 50% of your RDA of vitamin A (according to the Calorie Count website)! Does this mean I can count my Pumpkin Spice Latte as a serving of vegetables?
Latte Ingredients
Whir Up in the Blender
While researching all of this, I picked up an interesting tidbit. Did you know that canned pumpkin is more nutritious than fresh? The reasons for this are unclear but there may be a number of factors in play. First, fresh has fewer calories which tells me that it simply contains more water, but this only explains part of the difference. Other explanations that I found included the freshness of the pumpkin that is canned (I admit mine can sit in the cool basement for months) as well as the canning process itself, perhaps similar to the fact that cooked tomatoes are more nutritious. So this is one time that there is no guilt taking the easy way out and opening a can!
No Guilt Canned Pumpkin!
Pumpkin Spice Latte
Ingredients (Makes 1 serving)
- 1 T canned pumpkin
- 1 T sugar
- 1/2 c skim milk
- 1/2 c strong coffee
- 1/2 t vanilla
- 1/4 t cinnamon (or pumpkin pie seasoning)
2. Enjoy!
Perfect for Fall!
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oh…I am definitely saving this one.
I do hope you get a chance to try them!
i certainly never knew that about canned pumpkin, but now i won’t feel nearly as ashamed when i tell people that my pumpkin goodies aren’t made using fresh pumpkin. 🙂
Well Grace,I am pretty confident everyone thinks your beautiful baked goods are amazing even if you tell them you used canned pumpkin!
I must admit that I hadn’t heard of the pumpkin syrup shortage! But anyway, your version sounds much better.
I probably should have called it a pumpkin flavored syrup shortage 😉
So a pumpkin latte is one of your five a day (as recommended here in the UK) 🙂 very interesting about the canned pumpkin being “better”, we don’t see it canned here, so it’s fresh, or as you point out stored fresh !
Well if the schools can count ketchup as a vegetable why not pumpkin latte? Okay, probably not, but with all the vitamin A, I might count it on a bad day 😉
omg! i love you for sharing this coz i am obsessed with those starbucks lattes but hate shelling out all that money …lol!
I agree–isn’t it great when you can indulge economically?
I am SO impressed with this, Inger! Good sleuthing! You deserve the Pumpkin Award. I would have never imagined that you could put real pumpkin in a latte. So very awesome. (OK, will quit gushing in admiration and go off to slurp now…)
Wow, the Pumpkin Award–that sounds special! I figured that since people grind up whole beets in smoothies, how hard should a tablespoon of cooked pumpkin be!
I love that this is with fresh pumpkin and not just pumpkin spice…YUMMY!!
The only downside is the leftover pumpkin. Though I guess I can’t call it a real hardship to have to bake one of my 5 minute pumpkin pies 😉
Oh yum….Pumpkin spice latte! Sounds wonderful!
Isn’t it nice when some of your favorite things come together!
We make lattes at home but have never done pumpkin. Yum!
That’s right–I remember the cute foam design you posted! That would be a stretch for the blender though 😉
Clever! That surely is delicious!
Thanks Freeda! It was a fun doing a seasonal variation on coffee!
Love the look of this recipe…after subtracting coffee and adding RumChata 🙂
Everything’s better with RumChata!
The idea of homemade lattes is so cool my friend, this looks awesome 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks. And it’s easy enough to fit into a hard night of exam prep should a pick-me-up be needed 😉