Easy Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend Recipe

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DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice

All right, sadly the summer is going to come to an end and the leaves will start to change color. The weather will become cooler, and the air will be nice and crisp.

When it’s still kind of hot Starbucks rolls around with a pumpkin spice Frappuccino, but on the colder September and October days, we gotta have that pumpkin spice latte!

I’m so excited to be sharing this recipe with you! I’ve been so pleased with this homemade pumpkin spice that I definitely don’t use it only when it’s pumpkin season! I use it in the summer and winter, from pancakes to oatmeal to desserts! Really, it’s so versatile and I find it tastes great! I like to occasionally replace cinnamon with pumpkin spice to further enhance flavors!

Why Make Pumpkin Pie Spice

Sometimes we want to enjoy the luxury of pumpkin spice-themed goods at home though! Of course you can purchase pumpkin spice, but I like to make my own blend!

Here’s why you should follow this recipe to make your own pumpkin pie spice!

• Save money! The small bottles you’ll get at the grocery store are quite pricey! Making your own will slash the ultimate cost in half!
• Easy! It’s so easy to make your own spice blend! Just gather all the spices you need, mix, and store! Woo!
• Convenient! If you run out, no need to go out to the store to get more. Just make another batch! The good news is that you can make very large batches, so you won’t run out very often! Well, unless you’re like me, then even the huge batches don’t last long! Oh well, the fresher the tastier, so I don’t mind!
• Empty out the spices! As I said, the fresher the better. Unfortunately, spices don’t last forever, so if you have some that you use less frequently, this is a great way to use them so that they don’t spoil.
• Share with friends and family! Homemade gifts always come from the heart, and they’re well appreciated by everyone! You could give a few jars to your friends and family for any occasion!

Tools Needed

• Mixing bowl
• Measuring spoons
• Whisk

Ingredients for Pumpkin Pie Spice

Pumpkin Pie Spice uses a blend of the following spices:

• Cinnamon
• Ground ginger
• Ground nutmeg
• Ground cloves
• Allspice

How to Make Perfect DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice

To make this homemade pumpkin pie spice, all you need to do is mix all the spices together in a bowl or shake the ingredients together in an airtight jar.

This spice blend can be stored for 1 year.

The Right Proportions, and How to Scale the Batch

Every pumpkin pie spice recipe is really just an argument about ratios, so here is how mine is balanced. Cinnamon does the heavy lifting at three tablespoons, which is close to three quarters of the mixture by volume and the reason the blend smells the way it does the moment you open the jar. Ground nutmeg comes next at two teaspoons, bringing the woody sweetness people actually mean when they say a thing tastes like fall. One teaspoon of ground ginger adds the bit of heat and bite that stops the whole thing being cloying. Then the two you have to be careful with: a quarter teaspoon of ground cloves and an eighth of a teaspoon of allspice. Both are enormously strong, and a heavy hand with either turns a warm blend into something medicinal in one stir. The recipe card counts this as sixteen servings.

Scaling up is straightforward as long as you scale everything together. Double or triple the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger by all means, but measure the cloves and allspice properly rather than eyeballing them, because they are the ones that will run away from you in a big batch. Whisk it in a small bowl until the color is even, with no darker streaks of clove, or put the lot in the jar and shake. If you like a chai-leaning blend, a pinch of black pepper is a common addition elsewhere and works nicely, though it is not in this recipe as written. This is the same blend I use in my iced pumpkin spice latte, so a batch of it goes a long way through the fall.

Storing Your Pumpkin Pie Spice

Keep it in an airtight container, and keep that container somewhere cool, dark and dry. A pantry, a cupboard or the back of a spice cabinet is ideal. What you want to avoid is the spice rack above the stove, however convenient it looks, because heat, light and steam are exactly what strip ground spices of their oils. Label the jar with the date you mixed it. A year is a fair guide, but your nose is a better one than the calendar: rub a pinch between your fingers and if it does not smell strongly, it has faded and the blend will taste like dust rather than fall.

One small habit worth picking up is not shaking the jar directly over a steaming pot or mug. Measure into a spoon or the palm of your hand first. Steam rising into an open jar is the fastest way to get clumps, and clumped spice will never distribute evenly through a batter again.

More Ways to Use It

Beyond the recipes in the FAQ above, this blend earns its place in the cupboard year round:

• Stir a small pinch through plain or Greek yogurt with a drizzle of maple syrup. It takes about four seconds and turns a plain breakfast into something that tastes deliberate.
• Add a quarter teaspoon to the grounds before you brew a pot of coffee, or whisk it into a homemade coffee creamer, so the spice comes through the whole cup rather than sitting on top.
• Fold a teaspoon into pumpkin bread, banana bread or muffin batter in place of the cinnamon a recipe calls for.
• Whip it into cream with a little sugar for topping pies, hot chocolate and pancakes.