A homemade dairy free pumpkin spice latte recipe that easily rivals Starbucks!
This version uses a comforting blend of real pumpkin puree, coconut palm sugar unsweetened almond milk, and warm spices. Making it at home allows you to save money and get your fix in a healthier way with less sugar, no caffeine and no dairy.
Here’s my dirty secret.
I used to work at Starbucks.
Well it’s not Scandal dirty or gas station washroom dirty, it’s just that it’s surprising to most considering I’m a nutritionist.
I have maaaaad respect for the baristas holding it down every single day building concoctions that would even amaze Albert Einstein. Part of my orientation was to work in the stores for 2 weeks. As I dragged myself home each day tired, smelling of coffee from every region of the world I collapsed on the couch, bewildered as to how well those baristas knew their s**t. They make it look so easy, but I can tell you from first hand experience it’s not.
During my time at Starbucks I was actually in the marketing department so I had a front row seat to all of the hype around the infamous pumpkin spice latte, affectionately known as the PSL.
Most people love their frappucinos or iced teas but I LOVED Thanksgiving at Starbucks. I love how at the flip of a switch everything instantly becomes cozier and wrapped up with traditional spice flavours like nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves – from loaves to muffins to drinks.
While at Starbucks I became a certified Coffee Master. Yes there is such a thing. My mind is still completely crammed with random coffee facts from how to grow coffee to the geographic regions to the art of roasting. I frequently led coffee tastings – pairing coffee and foods to bring out and compliment the harmonious flavours of each.
For my certification I replicated a Thanksgiving feast.
My alltime favourite Starbucks coffee is Thanksgiving blend (which is out right now) which I paired with savoury foods like turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce right through to my homemade sweet potatoe pie for dessert.
It was probably one of my most memorable moments of my career and feel so fortunate to have had that experience.
One year ago I made the very difficult decision to leave my job at Starbucks to pursue my nutrition consulting business full time. I could no longer ignore the calling and burning desire I had to share my knowledge and expertise so that I could help people thrive and live healthier lives.
It has been such a fulfilling year having the opportunity to help people meet their health and weight loss goals. I never could’ve imagined how being of service to others could also fill and nourish my soul.
SO there was a bit of an uproar a while back that there was dairy in the pumpkin spice latte syrup so vegans weren’t havin’ it.
Although I’m not vegan, I wanted to make a version that was dairy free. I love the original pumpkin spice latte and have already had one this Fall but like anything I love to eat that is not healthy for me, I like to come up with a substitute, rather than cutting it out all together.
The cool thing about this dairy free pumpkin spice latte is that it uses Dandy Blend instead of real coffee! Now you can use real brewed coffee if you like but if you’re trying to cut back on caffeine like me you may want to consider Dandy Blend.
There was a time where I could not walk to my car without having a coffee. Once I found Dandy Blend it made it so much easier to wean myself off of coffee. Not only does it taste SO much like coffee it has a whole heap of health benefits as well.
Dandy Blend is a herbal coffee substitute. Taken from their website, it’s a mixture of ‘roasted roots of dandelion, chicory and beets, and the grains of barley and rye. Nothing else is added’. It also has 50 trace minerals and is gluten free. Dandelion root is exceptional for aiding in digestion and for removing toxins from your liver. It also has powerful antioxidants which slow down aging. These health benefits only scratch the surface.
This dairy free pumpkin spice latte is indulgent and won’t leave you with the jitters caused by caffeine and sugar.
I also made a video! Check it out! I included some bloopers to show that shooting videos is not as easy as you may think 🙂
If you make this drink or check out Dandy Blend come back and comment and let me know.
I want to hear from YOU!
What’s the most creative way you’ve used canned pumpkin or pumpkin pie spice in a recipe?
Homemade Dairy Free Pumpkin Spice Latte
Ingredients
- ¼ cup coconut palm sugar
- 2 ½ tablespoons pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon each cinnamon nutmeg, ginger
- 1 ½ cups almond milk
- ¼ cup brewed Dandy Blend
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan over medium high heat add sugar, pumpkin puree, spices and almond milk whisking together.
- Add 1 tablespoon of Dandy Blend to ¼ hot, boiling water and stir together. Add to pot with rest of mixture along with vanilla, whisking together to combine. Bring to a simmer (do not boil).
- Pour into a mug and enjoy!