Homemade Pumpkin Chai Latte
Description: This pumpkin spice chai latte is made with natural ingredients: pumpkin puree, almond milk, maple syrup and spices. I believe you could make a big batch of this, store it in the refrigerator and rewarm individual drinks on the stove (whisk well to recombine). Amounts listed below yield one latte, so multiply as necessary.
Ingredients
- 1 tea bag of spiced chai or decaf spiced rooibos chai
- ½ cup plain, unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice*
- 2 tablespoons real pumpkin purée
- 1 tablespoon real maple syrup or honey
- ¼ teaspoon pumpkin spice blend (or ⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger, dash of nutmeg, dash of cloves)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Tiny dash of salt
- ½ teaspoon arrowroot starch or cornstarch (optional, makes the latte super creamy)
- Optional garnishes: 1 cinnamon stick or star of anise, coconut whipped cream** or real whipped cream
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, bring ½ cup water to a gentle boil. Remove the water from heat, add the tea bag, and let it steep for 4 minutes. Before removing the tea bag, squeeze any water remaining out by pressing the tea bag against the side of the pan with the back of a spoon.
- Add the milk, pumpkin purée, maple syrup, pumpkin spice blend, vanilla, and salt to the pan. Whisk in the optional arrowroot starch or cornstarch, if using. Pour the mixture into a stand blender and blend for a minute or two, until the components are blended together and the drink is nice and creamy. (You can alternatively use an immersion blender, but I had much better results with my stand blender.)
- Pour the mixture back into your pan and gently rewarm on the stove, then pour it into a mug. Top with optional whipped coconut cream and/or garnish with a cinnamon stick or star of anise.