Anti-Inflammatory Turmeric Pumpkin Spice Latte (vegan, caffeine free & refined sugar free)

I have never had a pumpkin spice latte before.  And since I’m putting it all out there, I haven’t even touched or eaten anything pumpkin yet this year.  Am I the only one?!

Honestly, I don’t really get it.  The whole pumpkin thing.  I like pumpkin, I really like my homemade vegan pumpkin pie if I find the time to make it once a year, and I’m doing really well if I actually carve one.  I just don’t go out of my way for it.  If that sounds like heresy and you’re already marching out the door to buy yourself another double-pumpkin-extra-spice-tastes-like-fall latte – I wish I could be passionate about it like you.

Spending so much time growing up in the tropics, Autumn (or Fall) was never a season I spent a lot of time with.  And being English, I never grew up with a lot of things synonymous with Fall here in the United States – things like Thanksgiving and Pumpkin pie.  So usually by the time Fall comes and everyone goes Pumpkin crazy, I’m grieving the loss of summer and still making myself smoothies.

Back to pumpkin spice lattes.  The main reason I have never had a pumpkin spice latte before is because they are 1. coffee and 2. loaded with awful ingredients like:

processed sugar, natural flavors, annatto, salt, mono and diglycerides, carrageenan, potassium sorbate, citric acid, etc

This morning I saw a can of organic pumpkin puree in my cupboard and I thought I would give this pumpkin spice latte thing a try – but my way – vegan, refined sugar free and caffeine free.  If coffee is your thing though, go ahead and add it in!

The ingredients are simple, from whole foods and versatile.  

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Hemp milk

My ultimate plant based milk is home made almond milk.  But when I don’t have time to plan ahead, I really like using hemp milk.  It’s creamy and flavourful with a slightly nutty taste.  Hemp is also a great source of protein.  You can use any plant based milk, whichever is your fave!

Pumpkin puree

Real, organic pumpkin puree.  If you have fresh pumpkin, all the better.

Maple syrup (optional)

I like using organic maple syrup as an unrefined, liquid sweetener.  Maple syrup contains numerous antioxidants, has a lower glycemic score, helps fight inflammation, is easier to digest and contains important vitamins and minerals.  But you could use raw honey, unrefined coconut sugar, date syrup or make it sugar free.

Pumpkin Pie Spice

I buy mine in bulk and fill up empty spice jars to be waste-free and plastic-free.  If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice you can substitute by adding 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp nutmeg.

Vanilla Extract

I use organic vanilla extract and make sure it’s not sweetened.  Also, make sure it’s extract and not flavour.  Vanilla flavour usually contains some kind of sugar or high fructose corn syrup in the ingredients.

Turmeric

This is the main anti inflammatory agent in this powerhouse pumpkin latte!  Turmeric contains curcumin, which is the active inflammation fighting component.

Black Pepper

Black pepper is important to add as curcumin needs either black pepper or some kind of fat to be made available to the body.  All you need is a dash, and it can’t be tasted.  However, if the thought of adding black pepper to your latte is too much, you could add a little bit of coconut oil instead.

My Method

I put a saucepan on the stove, threw in a mugs worth of hemp milk and started adding in pumpkin puree, then pumpkin spice, some vanilla, some maple syrup, then a little more pumpkin, a little more pumpkin spice, and then a little more.  I like my flavours strong.

Then I thought it would be extra exciting if I knew it had some health benefits too, so I added in my two secret ingredients – turmeric and black pepper.  I love turmeric lattes, so it’s the best of two latte worlds.

To finish it off, I used my really cool mini hand frother to whisk it all together to create the foam.  Is a latte really a latte without foam?  No, it’s not.

It tasted like a pumpkin pie mixed with the caramel flavour of a flan.  I am definitely going to make this more often as the weather gets colder and the days get shorter.  It was comforting, warming and down right yummy.  I’m sold.  Gonna go buy a pumpkin now to carve.

Let me know if you try this version of the infamous PSL, or if you have a way of making your own version at home!