Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe

Ah, the smell of Autumn. It wafts through your window, filling your senses and reminding you of red and orange leaves and of the approaching Fall festivities. What is this smell? Well, if you live anywhere near a Starbucks or Panera, it might be the smell of a Pumpkin Spice Latte. You might even be tempted to go buy one. But, what? Four or five dollars for one drink? No thank you! If you're turned off by the high prices of most store-bought beverages, then you can follow this recipe for making a Pumpkin Spice Latte of your very own.

You will need:

Coffee grounds (can be substituted for espresso shots)
Hot water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 generous pinch nutmeg

1 teaspoon sugar

1 small pinch cloves

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons canned pumpkin (here is my moment of superiority when I noticed that the Starbucks and Panera Lattes only used pumpkin syrup. Bah, I reject your silly syrups!

1 saucepan

1 Whisk or 1 Blender

Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Make a cup of very strong coffee or make 2 shots of espresso. Keep hot.

2. Put your saucepan on the stove and turn to medium heat

3. Add milk, sugar, pumpkin and vanilla. Stir until the pumpkin is mostly dissolved.

4. When the mixture starts to steam, add in the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir those until dissolved as well. The cinnamon, by it's nature, probably won't dissolve or mix in evenly. That's fine.

5. Take the mixture off of the heat and either whisk it or blend it until frothy. During this step, it will cool down a lot, so make sure that your coffee is hot. This is not a drink that tastes very good cold.

6. When frothy, pour the mixture over your coffee and stir until evenly mixed. Now add your whipped cream if you so chose and enjoy your Pumpkin Spice Latte!

This drink goes very well with, as you can imagine, pumpkin flavored treats, but also is awesome with apples, dark chocolate or gingerbread cookies.It's my current favorite treat after walking 2.5 miles home in the chill and it makes my house smell delicious. I have not tried to make it with non-dairy milks, though I imagine that soymilk would not affect the taste too strongly, though I would not recommend coconut, which does not mesh very well with pumpkin flavors in my experience.