It’s that time of year when many of us (the lovers of Fall!) are craving coziness, and in a culinary sense that is often manifested in the warm flavors found in Pumpkin Pie Spice! I realize I am a slight cooking nerd, but I like to remember that the spices that comprise one of my favorite flavors come not just from jars, but from actual plants. Cinnamon, which must be the best tasting tree bark everrrr, ginger, a root or more specifically rhizome, nutmeg a seed, cloves which are flower buds and allspice which are dried berries (My apologies to this berry as I had none on hand at the time of this photo!). These varied plant parts, when dried and pulverized, come together to create a flavor that brings joy each and every Autumn.
So why make your own Pumpkin Pie Spice when you can easily pick up a jar at the grocery store or online? Well, I’ll offer you a couple of suggestions. First of all, for whatever reason, it always seems expensive which I find very annoying since I most likely have all the component parts sitting in my cupboard anyway! Second, making your own allows you to customize your spice combo to your palette. I’ve created this one that I love and I encourage you to be creative making your own. Perhaps you’d like to add a little cardamom, maybe freshly ground black pepper…or maybe you can’t stand allspice and you’d rather never have to put that spice in your mouth again, thank you very much! You get to chart your own Pumpkin Pie Spice path. And third, it makes a cute little customized gift straight from your kitchen!
Once you’ve gathered your spices the method is a simplistic dump and stir! Literally it takes less than 5 minutes.
Put that spice combo in a cute little jar and you are done! Congratulations! But what to do with it now, besides making a pumpkin pie? Here are my current favorite ways to use Pumpkin Pie Spice:
- Put a pinch or so in my coffee grounds. It’s not the richness or sugar blast of a Pumpkin Latte, but it gives my coffee just that extra seasonal boost that I love!
- Stir some canned pumpkin and (again) a pinch or two into my morning oatmeal.
- Pumpkin Granola! (recipe coming soon!)
- Add some to my pumpkin smoothie.
- Toss a small amount with squash or root vegetables before roasting.
- Sprinkle it on popcorn.
- And of course there are the seemingly endless amount of baked goods like muffins, bread, cake, rolls that all make me smile when they include pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice.
- Finally, make a big batch, put it in cute jars and give away to other like-minded Lover’s of Fall!
