Fall is upon us! And with fall comes the pumpkin-themed season. I’m kicking it off with a homemade pumpkin spice latte that is keto friendly.
Ketofying the pumpkin spice latte
A tall pumpkin spice latte has 210 calories, 8 g fat, and 27 g carbs (26 g of which are just sugar). While the first ingredient is milk, the second is “Pumpkin Spice Sauce.” The first ingredient in Pumpkin Spice Sauce is sugar. There is also vanilla syrup, which also has sugar as its first ingredient. Rest assured, there is A LOT of sugar crammed into the pumpkin spice latte. Ergo, the most important thing to realize when trying to mimic a pumpkin spice latte is that you will have to add A LOT of sweetener.
To make this recipe, I started with a homemade pumpkin spice latte and changed ingredients to ketofy it.
Ingredients
I’ll take you through how I swapped out ingredients step-by-step to ketofy the pumpkin spice latte.
- Almond milk. The default for pumpkin spice lattes is 2% or whole milk. Swapping almond milk for cow’s milk saves 9 g net carbs per serving.
- Pumpkin puree. Here’s the secret about 100% pumpkin puree. It tastes pretty gross by itself. It’s part of the “pumpkin spice sauce” in the Starbucks drink, where its listed as the third ingredient. There’s more sugar and condensed skim milk in the pumpkin spice sauce than actual pumpkin puree.
- Sweetener. I use stevia extract and Swerve in lieu of sugar. You could try using either stevia or Swerve alone if you don’t have both in your house.
- Vanilla crème stevia extract. If you don’t have this, it’s acceptable to use vanilla. Using stevia vanilla crème 0.8 g net carbs and 2.2 g alcohol (which your body burns preferentially before fat).
- Pumpkin pie spice. Pumpkin pie spice is a blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove. I also add extra cinnamon to mine, because cinnamon is actually my favorite of these.
- Coffee. There’s never much worry about substituting coffee, as it has no carbs after being brewed.
Tips and tricks
Heating the almond milk over a stove ensures that the pumpkin puree, Swerve, and spices dissolve easily. I stirred with a whisk.
You can taste the latte while you proceed through the recipe to judge its sweetness. If you are worried about making your latte too sweet, start with fewer stevia extract drops or less Swerve.
PAIRINGS
This homemade pumpkin spice latte goes really well with my death by chocolate cheesecake. What a great way to celebrate a keto friendly date night at home!
Pumpkin Spice Latte
Ingredients
- 2 cups Unsweetened Almond Milk
- 2 tbsp Pumpkin Puree
- 2 tbsp Swerve, granular
- 12 drops Vanilla crème stevia extract
- ½ tsp Pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp Cinnamon
- ½ cup Brewed coffee Strong
Instructions
- Heat almond milk in a small saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Add all ingredients except the coffee.
- Whisk until the pumpkin is dissolved and there are no visible clumps of spices. Continue whisking until the mixture is hot but not boiling.
- Remove milk mixture from heat. Whisk in the coffee. Taste once more before serving. Top with whipped cream and additional cinnamon (optional).
