Just about everyone loves indulging in pumpkin pie with their families around the Thanksgiving dinner table, and even more people love the flavor of pumpkin spice throughout the fall season. Each year, Starbucks releases their line of pumpkin spice-flavored drinks to everyone’s delight. The only problem is, it’s only available for a limited time! 

In today’s article, we’ll share a little bit about the history of pumpkin and America's obsession with all things pumpkin flavored–we’ll also discuss how to make your own Starbucks pumpkin sauce so you can enjoy your favorite pumpkin spice flavored drinks year round. Lastly, we’ll mention how you can have the best sugar-free pumpkin spice syrup, without any of the calories or guilt!

Where Did Pumpkin Flavor Come From?

You might think that pumpkin pie is a relatively recent invention. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth–pumpkins have been cultivated by Native Americans for thousands of years. When the first European colonists arrived, pumpkins were one of the first new foods they were introduced to. As the years went by, the pumpkin became an integral part of the settler’s diet. 

Around the 1670’s, we begin to see occurrences of pumpkin pie-esque recipes being traded around in handwritten notes, with the first mention of spice additions like cinnamon being mentioned in the recipes, as well. Of course, Americans' obsession with pumpkin spice hadn’t yet begun to explode in popularity. Prior to the invention of canning and mass packaging, making a pumpkin pie was a laborious process of cutting, cooking, and mashing the pumpkin to make the puree needed for the pie, and one had to find all the spices necessary. In rural America, this may have been a difficult task. 

The canned food company Libby introduced canned pumpkin puree in 1929; five years later, the world-renowned spice company, McCormicks, produced the world's first pumpkin spice mix. Now, Americans everywhere can easily grab ingredients off the shelf to take home and make their favorite pumpkin pie, hassle-free! Thus, the flavor of pumpkin became well-known and sought after in households across the country.

The Starbucks Recipe

If you want to make your own pumpkin spice syrup for coffee, making Starbucks pumpkin sauce is as easy as, well, pie! Here’s everything you’re going to need:

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 and ¾ cups sweetened condensed milk (about one can)
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 

First, put the sugar and water in a sauce pan and heat on medium while stirring constantly until the mixture becomes a simple syrup. Next, turn the heat down a notch and add all the other ingredients. Keep stirring for a few minutes to make sure it's all thoroughly mixed together–you’ll know it's ready when it starts sticking to the spoon. Even if it seems a little watery, you’ll be keeping this in the fridge and it will thicken up nicely once it cools. Once you learn how to use pumpkin spice syrup, you’ll be able to add it to anything you like. 

Is There a Healthier Option?

Thankfully, you can save yourself the hassle of making the sauce above, as well as saving yourself hundreds of calories, by simply switching over to Skinny Mixes! 

Our sugar-free pumpkin spice syrup is the perfect addition to your morning or afternoon coffee; you can also add it to other things to give them that pumpkin spice kick. Because our syrup has zero calories as well as zero fat, you can enjoy the awesomeness of pumpkin spice flavored everything, all the time! So, what are you waiting for? Try Skinny Mixes’ Sugar-Free Pumpkin Spice Syrup today!