If you are a fan of pumpkin pie then you’d probably be surprised to learn that the main flavor of the pie isn’t pumpkin. Instead, it gets most of its flavor from a unique blend of spices simply called pumpkin pie spice. And this is nothing new, as we have references to this spice blend being used in pumpkin pies all the way back to the 1796 book on American Cookery. So in honor of this tradition, I will be showing you how to make this wonderful spice blend right at home.
A Spice blend so good it has a season dedicated to it!
Some dread it, some love it, while some like myself have quietly come to accept our new spice mix overlords.
That’s right thanks to Starbucks and the success of their pumpkin spice latte there is now officially a season dedicated to pumpkin spice. And over the years it seems like every company has followed suit and with their own pumpkin pie based products. In fact, just check out this latest article for USA today explaining all of the new pumpkin spice brand products for 2020.
And I’m not bringing this all up because I want you to go out and buy these products. Instead, I want it to show you just how versatile this spice blend can be. Besides pumpkin pie, you can use it in your coffee, on top of roasted vegetables, and even in your oatmeal. The possibilities are practically endless!
The beauty of homemade spice blends
- It’s cheaper: While it might seem convenient to go out to your local grocery store and pick up premade pumpkin pie spice, it’s not very economical. You see a small jar of the stuff will often cost around 5 to 6 dollars. However, you can make this right at home for about half the price. So if you like pumpkin pie spice, then make it at home.
- You can adjust the spice blend to your personal taste: Let’s say that you aren’t a fan of cloves, one of the five spices used in this blend. Well if you make your own then you can easily lower its amounts so that its flavor isn’t as pronounced. Likewise, you can add different spices to the blend. For example, some people like to add cardamom, cayenne, or even black pepper to their pumpkin pie spice. Since you are making it for yourself, you get the final say in what goes into the blend.
- Sometimes it’s your only option: Pumpkin pie spice can be found in every grocery store in the U.S and Canada. However, it can be difficult finding it outside of those two countries. That means your only option is to make the spice blend yourself.
Tips, Tricks & Suggestions
- How do you store your spice blend? Well, you can either purchase little glass jars to put it in or just reuse old spice jars that have gone empty. Just make sure to clean the jars out before using them.
- This will make about ½ cup of spice blend, however, if you don’t want to make that much you can make some simple adjustments. All you need to know is that ¼ cup equals 4 tablespoons, and 1 tablespoon equals 3 teaspoons. So if you wanted to reduce it by ¼ you would do 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of ginger & nutmeg, and ¾ teaspoon of allspice & clove.
- Check out our recipes for pumpkin bread, and pumpkin scones both of which use this spice blend.
Pumpkin Pie Spice Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ Cup of cinnamon ground
- 4 Teaspoons of nutmeg ground
- 4 Teaspoons of ginger ground
- 1 Tablespoon of allspice ground
- 1 Tablespoon of clove ground
Instructions
- Add all of the different spices to a mixing bowl. Then use either a whisk or a fork to mix all of the spices together.
- Store the pumpkin pie spice in a glass jar and use as needed.
