Counting Down to Pumpkin Spice Lattes

If you’re like me, you count down the days until September 1st. Not only does it mark an (unofficial) turn of the seasons with cooler weather, crisper air, and falling leaves, it also means pulling all of my autumn decorations out of storage and decking out the house in reds, oranges and golds!

Naturally, my thoughts also turn to warmer fare, and what cooler evenings mean for dinners, and cooler mornings mean for caffeination!

One of my favorite ways to “celebrate” is to grab a Pumpkin Spice Latte. Starbucks usually rolls theirs out around September 1st, and many other more local coffee shops will follow suit. I actually don’t get many of these throughout the season — the flavoring is a bit heavy-handed for my taste — but they do help mark fall for me.

Oddly enough, though I do like to make as many things as I can on my own at home, I never thought to check into pumpkin spice flavoring syrup. The best part is, you don’t even have to buy it. Using what you’ve probably already got in the cupboard, the blog Think Inside the Icebox has a great recipe to make your own pumpkin spice mix at home.

Using a simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar) combined with typical pumpkin pie spices, the concoction is boiled together and then strained before adding vanilla extract. Keep it in the fridge and you’ve got an instant autumnal coffee flavoring.

If you don’t feel like making your own syrup, you can always pick up a bottle, such as Torani’s Pumpkin Spice Syrup.

[image: flickr]