Please bear with me while I explain how I discovered this incredibly delicious gluten-free, dairy-free, pumpkin spiced coconut latte. My husband recently lost 40 pounds by dieting and exercise. He was not a big man, but he had, through the years, put on some weight. Part of how he started his diet was by eating my gluten-free, top 8 free, allergen-free food. Believe it or not, throughout the years, although I cook all the time (and I do mean ALL the time), he had taken to some habits of eating outside of our home a lot, and eating mostly the foods that he could not get in our home, such as burgers, fries, and pizza. He added running to his regimin and the pounds flew off. I started browsing ‘skinny’ blogs for ideas on how to help him (and us) enjoy his food even more and I found Nancy Fox’s blog “Skinny Kitchen”. Imagine my delight when I opened my email and found a recipe for a Skinny Pumpkin Latte mix. Not only would this “1 Weight Watchers point” recipe satisfy my husband, it would satisfy me as well. I haven’t had a latte in 5 years after discovering a soy intolerance after a trip to Spain (I had also discovered a slight dairy allergy years before). I made this recipe for Pumpkin Spiced Latte Mix at first with rice milk, but it was missing a bit of depth. Making it with Coconut Milk (we use SO Delicious) makes it, well, amazingly complex and pretty darn near close to a latte with dairy. It has 45 calories per 1/2 cup serving. Thank you, Nancy for giving your approval for me to riff on your recipe.
Pumpkin Spiced Coconut Milk Latte Mix for a Crowd (keeps in fridge for 5 days)
(inspired by and approved by Nancy Fox of The Skinny Kitchen – her recipe here)
You will need:
Canned pumpkin or homemade roasted pumpkin
Coconut Milk (We use SO DELICIOUS)
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Sweetener: sugar, agave, or other
Gluten-free Vanilla
Fresh Brewed Coffee
8 Tablespoons pumpkin
½ Gallon Coconut Milk
¼ Cup Sugar or 1/3 Cup Agave Nectar
8 tsp Vanilla
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (alternatively you can use a bit of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg)
Wisk ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan, heat until just steaming.
Place in a large eight cup Ball Mason jar and seal to give to your Halloween Hostess.
To serve:
Place ½ cup milk in a coffee mug
Pour coffee to fill mug
Stir
Top with pumpkin pie spice or your favorite allergen-free whipped cream or both!
Single Recipe:
½ Cup Coconut Milk
1 ½ tsp of sugar
½ tsp gluten-free vanilla
¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 Cup Coffee
Warm up everything but the coffee in a heavy bottomed pan on the stove until smoking (not boiling) – pour into a coffee mug and top with coffee. Serve topped with a bit of pumpkin pie spice mix and/or some allergen-free whipped topping.
OTHER USES:
Pumpkin Coconut Smoothie – Add some So Delicious coconut yogurt and a banana and whip away in a blender
Base for Coconut Ice Cream – add more sugar and follow manufacturers instructions on your ice cream maker
Add as the “Milk” part of the ingredient for Pumpkin Pie
Add gelatin to make a pudding.
Put in Tea for a nice pumpkin Chai.
Freeze in popcicle shaped tupperware for coconut – pumpkin-pops
Thanks to Nancy Fox at Skinny Kitchen for allowing me to riff on her very delicious recipe!
