A healthier pumpkin cream cold brew? Yes please!!!

Every year as the season changes to fall, I begin to see all the pumpkin spice drinks everywhere (mostly on social media haha).

The sad part is, I don't usually partake because most of these branded pumpkin spice drinks that are sold in these popular coffee shops are filled with not-so-great ingredients - like a ton of white refined sugar and artificial flavors and colors - and like, virtually no real pumpkin at all.

But this year I decided no more. I wanted to be a part of the trend. So I set off to make my own healthier version of Starbuck's popular pumpkin cream cold brew. Because to be honest, it does look delicious in their pictures.. and I live in south florida where it is extremely hot and this looks so refreshing. However, after a quick peak at their ingredients, I decided I would definitelyyy be making my own version.

So here it is.

If you are looking for a delicious fall pumpkin spice drink that is clean, not processed, and naturally sweetened.. this one's for you.

A healthier pumpkin cream cold brew alternative:

This homemade pumpkin cream cold brew version is:

• paleo
• vegan
• organic if you buy the right ingredients
• refined sugar free (sweetened naturally with maple)
• oil free
• gluten free
• cheaper than buying in a coffee shop, probably.

how to make a healthier pumpkin cream cold brew at home:

If you think making this copy cat healthier pumpkin cream cold brew is hard or impossible to do at home - think again!

It's actually one of the easiest recipes I have on this site. I promise once you see how easy it is to make, you are going to be making this drink at home and skip on the store-bought stuff.

There are two parts to this recipe - the pumpkin cream and the cold brew.

To make the pumpkin cream: 

• Almond milk (or any other plant based milk will work most likely but I haven't tried it) Also, learn how to make your own almond milk at home - all you need is a blender and a nut milk bag - click for step-by-step guide I created here.
• pumpkin puree - you can make your own by roasting a pumpkin and blending it down to a puree or just buy an organic canned pumpkin puree. Make sure you look at ingredients - it should only have pumpkin puree - nothing else!
• maple syrup to sweeten things up - although you can also use agave or honey.
• vanilla extract for flavor enhancing - you can skip if you don't have
• and a teensy weensy bit of pumpkin spice powder - to me pumpkin spice powder is pretty strong so I keep it to 1/8 of a teaspoon. If you really like the flavor, you can always add more but I always recommend starting out with less.

Add all ingredients to a blender, I always use my trusted vitamix, and blend until smooth. There you have it. This is your pumpkin cream!

Ps. If you have a milk frother, you can also froth the pumpkin cream right before adding to your cold brew for max fluffiness. I have been using this manual frother, costs only $20 bucks, and it is THE best frother I have ever used. Better than the battery operated ones! And cheaper than the electric ones.

for the cold brew: 

You can keep things simple and buy premade cold brew or you can brew your fave coffee and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Truth be told, this isn't even coffee in these pictures - it's dandelion root tea. I'm currently breastfeeding and can't drink coffee so I'm drinking this tea which looks, smells, and tastes just like coffee, but without any of the caffeine!!! If you want to learn more about dandelion root tea and it's benefits and how to make it into a coffee - read this article I wrote about it here.

Once you have your cream and cold brew ready to go - grab a cup, add some ice, pour the coffee, and top with the pumpkin cream! That's it. You can top it off with some coconut whipped cream or a dash of cinnamon or pumpkin spice if you'd like.

There you have it - a quick and easy how to make pumpkin cream cold brew at home recipe that is clean and healthy and not filled with nasty ingredients.

Hope you enjoy this drink my friends.

Let me know below if you do.

Want to see more vegan fall recipes?

Easy Layered Banana Cream Pie Jars Recipe

Apple Cinnamon Muffins With Maple Cinnamon Icing

Creamy Blender Cashew Hot Chocolate