Low Carb Pumpkin Spice Latte

I LOVE fall. I normally have to be dragged kicking and screaming into fall, because I also LOVE summer. But this year, I feel more than ready for cooler weather and pumpkin-flavored everything.

So I know there are lots of pumpkin spiced lattes out there. But I've never tried them. It might sound weird, but when I started the Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle I gave up on some things, like pumpkin spice lattes, because I just assumed I couldn't make them work on plan. I also wanted to use my THM Super Sweet Blend, because I love it. Seriously, if you don't like Truvia, try sweet blend instead.

So after many batches of taste-testing, here is my favorite version of a  low carb pumpkin spice latte (Trim Healthy Mama S)…or maybe just pumpkin spice coffee because I don't use espresso. Whatever you want to call it, it's yummy! Scroll to the bottom for a printable recipe card. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of strong, hot coffee (when I'm in a rush, I like to use Trader Joe's Instant Coffee)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk or cashew milk, or 3/4 cup heavy cream (for a super heavy S, if you follow Trim Healthy Mama) or 1/2 almond milk and half heavy cream, or almost 3/4 cup almond milk with a splash of heavy cream. As long as your combinations equal 3/4 cup, you're good! ** Special Note** – I look for carageenan-free heavy cream at Trader Joe's, or carrageenan-free Califia Farms unsweetened almond milk from Target or Kroger. 
• 2-3 Tablespoons canned pumpkin, depending on how pumpkin-y you like your coffee
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, OR make your own (far superior) pumpkin spice mix (recipe below)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Trim Healthy Mama Sweet Blend (more to taste if you have a sweet tooth); Paleo people could start with 1 tsp of honey and add from there for a sweeter taste.
• 1 dash of pure vanilla extract

1. Heat heavy cream or almond milk, canned pumpkin, and vanilla in a saucepan and simmer. Please make sure you stir it well!

2. Pour pumpkin mixture, pumpkin spice, sweet blend, and coffee very carefully into a blender and blend it very carefully. I'm saying to do it very carefully because I do not want to be the cause of exploding blenders. You may want to let it cool a little before you blend, and it helps to put a folded towel over the lid and blend it on low. But beware that hot liquids can come exploding out of blenders and burn you! So don't let that happen.

Enjoy! You can add some whipped cream on top, with a sprinkle of nutmeg if you want something extra fancy. I like mine plain (especially because I did the heavy cream version this morning and didn't want to make it an impossibly heavy S by adding more whipped cream to the top!). Another option is to add 2 teaspoons of vanilla whey protein powder for some extra protein. If you add the protein powder, make add it to the blender before you blend it up.

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