Skinny Pumpkin Spice Latte Recipe

By Amy Gorin, MS, RDN

Have you had your first PSL of the season yet? Thankfully, you don't have to venture to your local coffee shop to get it! Brew up this homemade version, and you'll be sipping a healthier PSL in minutes.

Plus, each serving of this latte truly is skinny–each drink contains just 100 calories! Get ready to enjoy this delightful pumpkin flavor right now.

For most people, those kitschy mugs stamped with the words, "Don't talk to me until I've had my coffee" couldn't be more true. In fact, a cup of coffee (or mug of matcha) is one of my favorite ways to perk myself up in the morning. And thankfully, all those cups of joe come with more benefits than just a punch of caffeine.

This can be especially true when you're adding pumpkin to your coffee beverage. Yup, drinking pumpkin spice coffee drinks can be good for you! Let's explore.

First of all, let's dive into all the health benefits of coffee, from its antioxidant power to its mental health benefits. Yup, java can help you think more clearly! 

Way back in the '90s, coffee was deemed an all-around bad-for-you drink and was even classified as a possible carcinogen. But thanks to advanced research, we now know that coffee is packed with healthful qualities. And lots of them. So what are they? Well for starters, coffee can help reduce inflammation in your body and can enhance focus.

Scoop up even more of these health benefits in my article for The Healthy, in which I asked registered dietitians to spill the popular drink's most surprising health benefits.

As for pumpkin itself, you might be surprised to hear that my skinny pumpkin spice latte recipe features real pumpkin. The winter squash not only provides filling fiber, it offers eye-helping beta carotene. The nutrient is what gives pumpkin its orange hue!

Make sure to buy canned pumpkin puree–not canned pumpkin pie mix, which contains added sugar.

Being your own barista to brew up a homemade pumpkin spice latte is easier than it sounds. All you need is a way to brew espresso. This can be anything from a fancy espresso machine to a French press to an espresso K-cup brew coffee.

Then, you need just a little bit of patience to steam up a combination of low-fat milk, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin spice seasonings on the stovetop. If you happen to have a Capresso Froth Select milk steamer on hand, the process is even more simplified when you froth up the ingredients and add them to a mug with espresso.

Once everything is ready, you can top your drink with a little light whipped cream. Because aerosol whipped topping is so airy, this adds just a little bit of calories.

Plus, this homemade pumpkin pie spice drink doesn't contain anything artificial, unlike a lot of flavored coffee out there. And it's made with nonfat milk, which steams and froths surprisingly well, to cut down on the calorie count.

Here's a secret: You don't need official pumpkin pie spices to make your own PSL recipe. Pumpkin spice is  a blend of spices such as cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice. But you can create your own taste-alike seasoning blend with warming spices that you have on hand.

I have a strong sensitivity to cinnamon, so I didn't use any cinnamon in this recipe. But you can absolutely add a sprinkling of it!

If you love pumpkin spice flavor as much as I do, you'll want to try these pumpkin-spice-infused recipes:

• Pumpkin Spice Smoothie from my own kitchen

• Overnight Pumpkin French Toast from Shannon A. Garcia, MDS, RD, owner of KISS in the Kitchen 

• Baked Butternut Squash French Toast from my own kitchen

• Sugar-Free Pumpkin Muffins from Josten Fish, RD, nutrition blogger at Muscle & Manna

• Pumpkin Spice Baked Oatmeal Cups from Cara Harbstreet, RD, author of Healthy Eating for Life

• Greek Yogurt Pumpkin Spice Overnight Oats from Emily Cooper, RDN, food blogger at Sinful Nutrition 

• Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Donuts from Julie Andrews, MS, RDN, co-author of The 28-Day DASH Diet Weight-Loss Program

• Mini Pumpkin Pies from Shahzadi Devje, RD, CDE, MSc, owner of Desi~licious RD

• Peanut Butter Pumpkin Pie Bites from Karman Meyer, RD, author of Eat to Sleep

• Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles from Brittany Poulson, MDA, RDN, CDCES, author of The Healthy Family Cookbook

• Easy Pumpkin Pie Truffle Bites from Maggie Farley, RDN, nutrition blogger at Meals with Maggie

• Holiday Pumpkin Burrito Cake from Lisa Andrews, RD, owner of Sound Bites Nutrition

This blog post was updated in October 2021.

I’d love to hear from you! What other pumpkin spice recipes do you enjoy?

Comment below, or tag @amydgorin on Instagram and Pinterest and @amygorin on Twitter and Facebook.

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