Pumpkin Spice Latte – A Healthier Version
It is the first day of fall, which means that it is officially pumpkin spice everything season!! I can see you now, you’ve got your favorite jeans on, with a cute sweater, and a scarf just about to start your morning with a pumpkin spice latte (or is that just me?). STOP! Before you rush off to your favorite coffee shop to get a cup of that fall deliciousness, check out these frightening nutrition facts. A 12 oz pumpkin spice latte can have anywhere from 38-71 grams of sugar in it and cost you on average 250-300 calories. OUCH! I knew that PSL’s were sweet, creamy, and delicious, but I had no idea just how bad for me they were. Denial is a powerful thing haha, I just really love fall. Since I refuse to give up my favorite fall treat I decided to remake it with a fraction of the sugar and calories. Check it out:
I have experimented with many versions of this latte and have narrowed it down to 1 recipe that I like the best. It has enough of the sweetness and creaminess that I want in a PSL and a nutrition profile that I can deal with. The 4 simple ingredients include: coffee, pumpkin butter (store bought, most are dairy free, check the label), unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and pumpkin pie spice. All together it comes out to 55 calories and 9 grams of sugar. Not bad when compared to the coffee shop version. By the way, I do think that 9g of added sugar is a lot. I don’t want anyone walking away from reading this post to think that Dr. G says this is a healthy pumpkin spice latte. That said, if you are anything like me, I know that you are going to treat yourself with one (or 10) of these this fall, so you may as well have a healthier version.
During my experiments I did try using pumpkin puree and a sweetener instead of pumpkin butter. One tablespoon of pumpkin puree plus 1.5 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice with either 1 dried pitted date or 2 teaspoons of honey resulted in a latte that was as good as the pumpkin butter version. However, these versions contain 16g and 11g of sugar respectively.
In terms of coffee choice, a light or medium roast coffee works best. Pumpkin spice flavored coffee adds extra pumpkin flavor if you are into that, not judging.
I hope you enjoy this recipe 🙂
Happy fall and best health,
Dr. G
Pumpkin Spice Latte – A Healthier Version
Notes
Don't have pumpkin pie spice in your cupboard? Make your own with: 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon, 2 teaspoons ground ginger, 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg, 1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice and 1 ½ teaspoons ground cloves
Ingredients
- 6-8 oz coffee of your choice (hot or cold works)
- 1 tbsp pumpkin butter
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
Instructions
- Combine pumpkin butter, pumpkin pie spice, and vanilla almond milk (I do this in a blender, whisking works as well).
- Heat almond milk mixture in microwave or sauce pan (optional, I usually skip this step)
- Pour almond milk mixture into coffee and enjoy.
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02 . Nov . 2017