DIY PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES without the trip (and $$) to Starbucks!-- Vegan and Organic

Who doesn't' love Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks?  I mean, its pretty much the only reason I am OK with summer slipping away into fall.  But the $3 or so it takes to shell out for a Soymilk-Pumpkin Spice-extra hot-no whip-latte gets to be a little expensive.  And worse than that, the time it takes to pull my butt out of bed, go to Starbucks, parallel park without hitting anyone, stand in line, order my latte, wait for the baristas, get my latte, add extra nutmeg, dodge traffic on my way back to my car, etc. is time that I DON'T HAVE, and could be using to sleep an extra 15 minutes.

Glorious solution to this problem: MAKE IT YOURSELF!!

I have seen a few recipes for this floating around, so I took a bunch of them, mushed them together, and experimented to create the best mashup of Pumpkin Spice recipes for the MASTER latte syrup mix.

And it is SO. EASY. TO MAKE.

And it is perfect to make with another one of my favorite things-- PUMPKIN BUTTER! (THIS WILL BE MY NEXT POST)

Literally, it is so easy to make these 2 together, and would be crazy not to.  Pretty much the same ingredients, and it works out that you only need one can of pumpkin.

Without further ado, here is the FIRST of the two recipes:

PUMPKIN SPICE LATTE SYRUP:

• 4 tablespoons of pumpkin puree
• 1 1/2 cups apple cider
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• couple dashes of ground cloves-- up to 1/2 tsp
  ***NOTE-- use organic ingredients if you are on an organic diet, and add to soymilk if vegan.

The front pot is my syrup :)

1. Take your 4 tbsp of pumpkin puree, and set the can aside (it creates the perfect amount to make the pumpkin butter I am going to tell you about later!).  
2. Combine everything in a pot.
3. Put on the stove on medium-high heat, and stir.  Stir that puppy for 5 mins so it doesn't boil.  After 5 mins, check to make sure the sugar is dissolved-- if not, keep heating and stirring until it is dissolved.
4. Turn off heat and let cool for 15 mins.
5. Pour into a container.  DONE.  BAM.  

I use it with 1/2 cup coffee, the rest soy milk, and about a tbsp of syrup.  It's yummy!  And perfect for sharing :)

**note-- all measurements are "ish--- use as much/little spice as you want.
**ALSO-- this is SUPER easy to make ORGANIC, for all of my Boulder friends :)