Name: Real Pumpkin Spice Latte
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 5 min
Total time: 7 min
Ingredients: 1 cup milk (any kind; oat milk froths best for dairy-free); 2 tbsp pumpkin purée (not pie filling); 1 tbsp maple syrup or brown sugar (to taste); 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (plus a pinch for topping); 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 1 shot espresso (about 1 oz, or 1/2 cup strong coffee; optional, use decaf or skip for a steamer); whipped cream (optional, for topping); ground cinnamon (for topping)

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National Pumpkin Day is Monday, October 26, and I am fully in pumpkin mode. When I gave up drinking, fall was the season I worried about most: cider tastings, pumpkin beers, spiked everything. It turns out pumpkin is even better without the booze.

So here are my 10 favorite pumpkin mocktails, from a cozy latte to a fizzy dirty soda. Some are full recipes on the site, some are quick riffs you can make tonight, and the featured Real Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe is at the bottom.

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10 pumpkin mocktails to try

1. Real Pumpkin Spice Latte (featured recipe)

Real pumpkin, warm spice and maple, steamed into frothy milk. Add a shot of espresso, or skip it for a cozy caffeine-free steamer. Get the recipe below.

2. Pumpkin Pie Milkshake Mocktail

Pumpkin pie in a glass: vanilla ice cream, pumpkin purée and a graham cracker rim for the crust. Get the Pumpkin Pie Milkshake recipe.

3. Pumpkin Patch Pepper (Pumpkin Dirty Soda)

Dr Pepper, pumpkin spice syrup, vanilla and a float of half-and-half over pebble ice. It’s my fall latte’s fizzy cousin, ready in 2 minutes. Get the Pumpkin Patch Pepper recipe.

4. Pumpkin Apple Cider Sparkler

Start with my Spiced Apple Cider Mocktail, whisk in a spoonful of pumpkin butter, and top it with chilled sparkling cider. Serve it in a wine glass and it feels like a celebration.

5. Pumpkin Spice Coffee Mocktini

Shake my Coffee Mocktini with 1/2 oz pumpkin spice syrup in place of some of the simple syrup. You get the foam and the espresso-martini look, with zero alcohol.

6. Pumpkin Velvet

Pumpkin purée, coconut milk, maple and a pinch of nutmeg, shaken hard with ice and strained into a coupe. Creamy, silky and dressed up enough for a dinner party.

7. Pumpkin Root Beer Float

Add a spoonful of pumpkin spice syrup to my Root Beer Float-ish dirty soda. Root beer’s vanilla and sassafras notes love pumpkin.

8. Pumpkin Chai Steamer

Steep a chai tea bag in hot milk, then whisk in pumpkin purée and a little brown sugar. Use decaf or rooibos chai for a bedtime version.

9. Pumpkin Ginger Fizz

Shake pumpkin purée with lemon juice and maple syrup, strain over ice, and top with spicy ginger beer. Bright, fizzy and not too sweet.

10. Pumpkin White Hot Chocolate

Melt white chocolate into warm milk with pumpkin purée and pumpkin pie spice. Top with marshmallows for kids, or whipped cream and cinnamon for grown-ups.

Tips for better pumpkin drinks

Use pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling. Filling is already sweetened and spiced, so it’s hard to balance.
Make a quick pumpkin spice syrup: simmer 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup pumpkin purée and 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice for 5 minutes, then strain. It keeps 1 week in the fridge and works in drinks 3, 5 and 7.
Freeze leftover purée in an ice cube tray. Two cubes is about right for one drink.
Out and about? Most coffee shops carry pumpkin sauce or syrup all fall, and lots of soda shops do too. Ask for it in a steamer, a shake or a soda.

Five pumpkin mocktails on a white marble kitchen counter: a pumpkin spice latte, a pumpkin shake with whipped cream, a pumpkin dirty soda over ice, a sparkling cider drink in a wine glass and a creamy pumpkin drink in a coupe, with mini pumpkins, cinnamon sticks and star anise.

Real Pumpkin Spice Latte

A homemade pumpkin spice latte with real pumpkin, maple and warm spice, steamed into frothy milk. Add espresso, or skip it for a caffeine-free pumpkin steamer.

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Prep Time 2

Cook Time 5

Total Time 7

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Servings 1 12 oz mug

Ingredients

1 cup milk any kind; oat milk froths best for dairy-free
2 tbsp pumpkin purée not pie filling
1 tbsp maple syrup or brown sugar to taste
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice plus a pinch for topping
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 shot espresso about 1 oz, or 1/2 cup strong coffee; optional, use decaf or skip for a steamer
whipped cream optional, for topping
ground cinnamon for topping

Instructions

Add the milk, pumpkin purée, maple syrup and pumpkin pie spice to a small saucepan. Whisk over medium-low heat until steaming but not boiling, 3 to 4 minutes.
Take it off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Froth with a handheld milk frother for 20 seconds, or whisk hard until foamy.
Pour the espresso into a mug (skip this for a caffeine-free steamer). Pour in the pumpkin milk, holding the foam back with a spoon, then spoon the foam on top.
Top with whipped cream if you like and a dusting of cinnamon. Serve right away.

Notes

How to order it at a cafe, bar or soda shop: At a coffee shop, ask for “a steamer (steamed milk) with pumpkin sauce and pumpkin spice topping.” Add “one decaf shot” if you want the latte taste without the jitters. At a soda shop, ask for “pumpkin spice syrup in a vanilla steamer or hot cocoa,” or go fizzy with a Pumpkin Patch Pepper. At a cocktail bar in fall, ask if they have pumpkin syrup or purée behind the bar, then ask for it “shaken with cream and a splash of cold brew, served in a coupe, no alcohol.”

Iced version: whisk the pumpkin, maple, spice and vanilla with 2 tbsp warm milk into a smooth paste, then add the rest of the milk cold. Shake with ice, pour into a glass of ice, and top with cold espresso.

Make ahead: whisk a batch of the pumpkin milk (no coffee) and keep it in the fridge up to 3 days. Shake, warm and froth one mug at a time.

Allergens: contains dairy (milk) unless you use oat milk. The espresso adds caffeine; use decaf or skip it for a caffeine-free steamer.

Keyword pumpkin spice latte