Copycat Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Sauce Recipe
From the kitchen of CarlyInspired by Starbucks's Pumpkin Spice Sauce. Real pumpkin puree, real ground spice, ten minutes on the stove and you have the syrup-thick base for every fall drink and half of fall baking. Two weeks in the fridge. No shelf-stable shortcuts.
This is a fifteen minute project that unlocks two months of drinks and a stack of baked goods. The Starbucks version is a syrup base, not a flavored milk: pumpkin puree, brown sugar, the warm-spice quartet (cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg), and enough water and heat to pull it into a spoonable thickness. Simmer until the spices bloom and the puree loses its raw edge. Fresh ground spice and real pumpkin hit harder than the shelf-stable thing. Two tablespoons turns a black coffee into the drink, lasts two weeks in the fridge.
- Prep
- 5 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 15 min
- Servings
- 24
- Difficulty
- easy
Ingredients
24 servings
- 3/4 cupPumpkin puree
- 1 cupBrown sugar
- 1/4 cupGranulated sugar
- 1/2 cupWater
- 1 1/2 tspCinnamon, ground
- 3/4 tspGinger, ground
- 1/4 tspCloves, ground
- 1/4 tspNutmeg, freshly grated
- 1 tspVanilla extract
- 1/4 tspSalt
Instructions
Combine pumpkin puree, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and water in a saucepan over medium heat.
Whisk in cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
Bring to a low simmer. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, whisking often, until the sauce thickens and the spices bloom.
Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract.
Cool to room temperature. Transfer to a sealed jar; keeps in the fridge 2 weeks.
For a latte: stir 2 tablespoons into a 12-ounce coffee with steamed milk.
Substitutions
- Brown sugar to Maple syrup. Use 3/4 cup; reduce simmer time by 2 minutes.
- Pumpkin puree to Sweet potato puree. Different but works. Slightly sweeter.
- Cloves to Allspice. Equal amount. Less sharp.
Pairs well with: Whole milk for lattes, Vanilla ice cream as a topping, Buttermilk pancakes, A bourbon old fashioned
Pro tips
- Real pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. The pre-spiced kind goes muddy.
- Whisk constantly through the simmer. Untouched, the bottom scorches and the spices turn bitter.
- Add the vanilla off-heat. Boiling vanilla flashes off the aromatics.
Try the original
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