Make This Oat Milk Pumpkin Spice Latte at Home and Skip the Coffeeshop Line

September 23 marked the first day of fall, and many people celebrated with a trip to their local coffeeshop for a pumpkin spice latte. If you don’t feel like leaving the house to taste the season’s official beverage, you can make one in your own kitchen. This recipe for an oat milk pumpkin spice latte from the Institute of Culinary Education puts a plant-based spin on the autumnal drink without sacrificing flavor.

Chayanin Pornsriniyom teaches classes in plant-based culinary arts at ICE, and she says a pumpkin spice latte is the perfect vehicle for a dairy substitute. “I find that oat milk is much more neutral,” the chef-instructor tells Mental Floss. “So you get to taste more of the spices.”

The recipe includes instructions for making your own oat milk at home. If you already own a blender and a fine-mesh sieve, it’s a cost-effective alternative to buying the pre-made product from the supermarket. This recipe also works with whatever milk you already have in your fridge, including dairy. 

To make the pumpkin spice mixture, simmer together nutmeg, cinnamon, fresh ginger, cloves, vanilla extract, canned pumpkin puree, maple syrup, and water. Strain the ingredients into a mug, and after frothing the milk, add it to the mug with the pumpkin spice mix. Finish by adding an espresso shot and any excess milk foam. After tasting the homemade version, it’ll be a lot easier to resist spending your money at Starbucks this autumn.

With campuses in Los Angeles and New York City, the Institute of Culinary Education is one of the largest schools of its kind. To browse courses in hospitality and hotel management and the culinary and pastry arts, you can view ICE’s current curricula on their website. 

Pumpkin Spice Latte with Oat Milk

Serves 1

Oat milk

1/2 cup oats
1 date, pitted and chopped
1 cup distilled water, cold

Pumpkin spice mix

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup water

Double shot of espresso

1. Place all of the oat milk ingredients into a blender and blend on high for 15 seconds.
   
2. Using a fine-mesh strainer, strain the oat milk into a jar and set aside.
   
3. Combine all the ingredients for the pumpkin spice mix and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain
   into a mug and set aside.
   
4. Froth the oat milk until foamy, then pour into the mug on top of the pumpkin mixture.
   
5. Add espresso and spoon any extra foam on top.