Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup

Fall is finally here! The weather is cooling down (thank goodness!), boots are being warn, and knit scarves are being taken out of their storage boxes in the basement. Along with the cooler weather comes something that I know that I also associate with fall: pumpkin. Pumpkin in coffee, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin candles, pumpkin everything. 

One of my favorite things about fall is the pumpkin spice latte that comes out at all of the local coffee places. However, as a college student, paying at least four dollars a latte starts to put quite the dent in my wallet (particularly a college student who’s basement just flooded). So, I found a way that you can make it at home which is good for two reasons: one, I’m going to be saving a lot of money and, two, I now can stay in my pj’s and drink pumpkin spice. Hallelujah.

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Syrup

Adapted from The Messy Baker Blog

Makes a pint.

The Stuff:

1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 cup white granulated sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon 

(or more! the more cinnamon the better, in my opinion)
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. of cloves
1/2 cup pumpkin puree 

(I probably used closer to 3/4 cup, but what can I say, I love pumpkin!)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

The Process:

In a medium saucepan combine white sugar and brown sugar with the water. Simmer the mixture on medium heat until all of the sugar dissolves. Mine took about 10 minutes.

Once sugar has dissolved, add cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pumpkin puree. Then, whisk until the mixture is smooth and heat for another 10-12 minutes, but don’t allow the mixture to boil.

After heated through, it is suggested that you strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer, however, I do not own one (college student life, yay!) and ended up not straining it at all. So, I ended up with a thicker, darker syrup. You could do it either way, depending on your preference.

Once strained, allow the syrup to come to room temperature and then add the vanilla. Keep your syrup in an air tight container in the fridge. I put mine in an old kombucha bottle.

When making a pumpkin spice “latte”, I add about two spoonfuls of this to my mug, and a splash of milk. It gives such a great fall touch to my morning, afternoon, all of the time coffee.