Pumpkin pie spice is one of the most awaited flavors for fall. It’s a delicious blend of warm spices with a little bit of sugar sometimes. It reminds us of the warm pies and Thanksgiving dessert. If you’re looking into creating your own blend of pumpkin pie spice or for alternatives, here’s a list of the top 5 substitutes for pumpkin pie spice.
Pumpkin spice is a very Northern American thing. When pumpkin is mentioned, we immediately think fall, Thanksgiving and holidays. Fall, the season in which Thanksgiving is celebrated, means the season of harvest. During the olden times, crops were harvested and preserved in homes with herbs and spices. These herbs and spices were a lot of most of these were also traded from all over the world.
The blend of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves have been around for 3,500 years and we have been enjoying this as pumpkin spice in the newer world. This is now called pumpkin spice because of a series of history handing it down to the now and good marketing by modern companies.
McCormick created a blend called pumpkin spice in the 1950s to originally flavor pumpkin pies, and Starbucks then popularized the Pumpkin Spice latte. Now, every fall, we smell and see pumpkin spice all over – in grocery stores, malls, cafes, restaurants, shops, etc.
This beloved spice is used for fragrances, beverages and food. Here’s a list of pumpkin spice alternatives.
Table of Contents
1. Make your own Pumpkin Pie Spice
There’s nothing like making your own pumpkin spice. The original pumpkin spice is a blend of nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon. If you separately have these three, grounded, simply mix these in a bottle and shake! If you want to use it for desserts, you may add a little bit of sugar. If you want a little bit of sharpness to it, add some ground ginger to the mix. If you want more peppery taste to the blend, add allspice.
The grocery store blend of pumpkin spice will automatically have cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and allspice in it.
2. Apple Pie Spice
Apple pie spice is a blend of ground cinnamon, cardamom, allspice, ginger and nutmeg. Like pumpkin spice, it is used in food and beverages. This is the closest substitute to pumpkin spice you’ll get because of the blend of spices. The only difference would be the cardamom.
3. Cinnamon and Sugar
If you’re looking for the warmness of pumpkin spice, cinnamon and sugar is a good replacement for this most especially if you’re using it as a condiment to ready to eat food. You can use it to coat doughnuts in replacement for the pumpkin spice flavor or the dust over hot chocolate or coffee.
4. Chai Masala Blend
Chai masala is a classic Indian milk tea with a spice blend of cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, fennel and fennel. Chai masala could be an easy substitute for pumpkin spice if you’re trying to achieve the depth of flavors that pumpkin spice brings.
5. Mace with sugar
Mace isn’t commonly seen in grocery stores but when you get a hold of it, it’s definitely worth keeping in your cupboard.
Mace and nutmeg come from the same family of spices. Their tastes are similar which makes it a good substitute for nutmeg and any blend that has nutmeg in it.
Mace with sugar is a nice and warm blend to add to beverages like coffee, lattes and chocolate drinks.
