Fall means one thing: pumpkin spice. Before you drop six bucks on one cup of coffee, you might want to check out all the other ways you can spice up your fall without spending big (Star) bucks. Why limit yourself to one drink when you could be eating, drinking and even wearing pumpkin spice? Break out your fall favorites without breaking your budget.
Whether you are on a budget or just looking for a new DIY project, you are in for a treat. Your kitchen is your nearest Starbucks. Take five minutes of your time to create your own Starbucks pumpkin spice syrup. This recipe makes one cup of syrup, which makes about eight pumpkin spice lattes. That saves you a little over $45. Not only does this save you money on gas and the latte itself, it allows you to add your own personal taste in by trying different kinds of coffee or amounts of syrup. All in all you get your favorite fall drink while saving a latte.
To start off you will need:
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3/4 cup water
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3/4 cup sugar
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2 tsp pumpkin spice extract, (at Walmart for $2.50)
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1 tsp vanilla extract
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1/4 cup canned pumpkin puree, (maybe add a little more to taste)
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A dash of cinnamon
Directions:
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Add water and sugar in a pan over med-high heat. Add pumpkin puree. Mix until hot and sugar is fully dissolved.
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Add both extracts and cinnamon. Stir together until fully combined. Let mixture cool a bit before pouring into a container. Store in the refrigerator.
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To make Latte: Brew a double shot of espresso. In a large glass add 2-3 tbsp of pumpkin spice syrup with espresso. Add ice and cold milk. Stir and enjoy with whipped cream on top with a swirl of caramel syrup.
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Store in the refrigerator for no more than a month.
Since you are already saving money by not going to Starbucks, keep that going by making your own pumpkin spice macarons. These delectable little treats cost around $4 per macaron. This simple recipe uses common ingredients that you probably already have in your house and makes twenty macarons. Simple math shows savings of around $80! These sweet treats are macar-on point.
For the macarons:
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1 cup powdered sugar
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¾ cups almond flour
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½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
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½ teaspoons ground turmeric
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½ teaspoons ground all-spice
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2 whole egg whites
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¼ cups granulated sugar
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1 drop orange food coloring paste
For the pumpkin cream cheese filling:
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¼ cups fresh or canned pumpkin puree
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¼ cups cream cheese, softened
Directions:
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Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Put a master template under the parchment paper or draw about twelve 1 1/2-inch circles in rows on the paper, about one inch apart. Set sheets aside.
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Process powdered sugar, almond flour and all the spices in a food processor until finely ground. Sift the mixture through a sieve. If there are more than 2 tablespoons of large chunks left in the sieve, grind them and sift again. Set the mixture aside.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer fitter with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium speed until frothy. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
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Sift the almond flour mixture over the egg whites. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the almond flour mixture into the egg whites until the ingredients are just combined. Add food coloring to tint the batter. Continue to fold the mixture until it has loosened and falls in a ribbon from the spatula.
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Fit a pastry bag with a 1/2-inch round tip, and fill the bag with the batter. Using the template as a guide, pipe circles onto the parchment papers.
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Tap the bottom of each sheet on the work surface to release trapped air bubbles. Let the cookies stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This allows the cookies to develop their crusts.
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Preheat oven to 300 F. Bake the macaroons for 10 to 12 minutes, until set but not browned. Transfer the baking sheets to wire racks and let the macaroons to cool completely on the pans. Once cooled, gently lift half of the cookies from the parchment paper and turn them upside down.
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To prepare filling, combine cream cheese and pumpkin puree, and mix thoroughly.
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Spoon or pipe a teaspoon of filling onto each of the upside-down cookies. Top with the remaining cookies.
If you can’t get enough pumpkin spice by eating it, why not wear it too? The perfect way to keep your lips looking and tasting great in the season of dry and cracked lips: pumpkin spice lip balm. In stores a pumpkin spice lip balm costs anywhere from $3-6. This recipe makes around nine lip balms for a total savings of around $27-54. Pucker up at the pumpkin patch with a pumpkin spice DIY you will fall in love with. If smelling and tasting great aren’t enough, try adding some dye for the perfect seasonal lip tint. This recipe is the balm.
Ingredients:
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8g beeswax
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10g coconut oil
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6g cocoa butter
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16g pumpkin seed oil
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2g vitamin E oil
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4 drops cinnamon essential oil
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2 drops clove essential oil
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2 blobs benzoin essential oil
Directions:
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Combine the beeswax, coconut oil, cocoa butter, pumpkin oil and vitamin E oil in a double boiler and melt.
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Once melted, remove the oil mixture from the heat and stir in the essential oils. Quickly pour the melted mixture into lip balm tubes, and let set up before using.
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This recipe will fill eight or nine 4.5g lip balm tubes.
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If you don’t have pumpkin oil you can use sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil or any other carrier oil that absorbs at an average speed and doesn’t have an overwhelming scent or flavor.
If you don’t already smell like pumpkin spice from all the baking that you have been doing, try this vanilla bean pumpkin spice sugar scrub that is sure to leave your skin soft, as well a infused with the subtle scent of pumpkin spice. No matter where you have bean, you will still smell great at the end of the day. A typical jar of pumpkin spice sugar scrub costs around $19. This recipe uses common household ingredients and should cost little to nothing to make.
For an 8-oz container of sugar scrub, simply mix together:
- 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup of coconut oil
- 2 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tsp. of vanilla extract
Your diet and beauty favorites are now decked out in pumpkin spice. Why not your wardrobe, too? Since you have saved yourself around $200 by creating your own fall favorites, you can now treat yourself to a new outfit. Embrace the fall weather with cute sweaters, skinny jeans and boots. Add your favorite fall colors, and you are ready to take on your day. Break out this pumpkin spice outfit, and you are sure to make all the other girls look Ugg-ly.
Whether you spend your fall days in Starbucks or recreate it in your own kitchen, embrace the pumpkin spice. Enjoy the fall weather, with the beautiful colors and even more beautiful outfits. Spend hours on Pinterest looking up seasonal treats and fall puns, because it is “too cold to go outside.” Spice up your whole life, and enjoy the season of family, friends and giving thanks.