No Need To Go To Starbucks When Pumpkin Spice Sauce Is Only 3 Ingredients

When it was born in 2003, the original Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte was made with a pumpkin spice syrup. But in 2015, seemingly in an effort to address the controversy regarding whether there was any actual pumpkin in the latte, Starbucks revamped its recipe and introduced a pumpkin spice sauce to flavor the iconic seasonal drink. The pumpkin sauce differs from the original syrup because it does contain a small amount of pumpkin, and it lacks artificial coloring or flavors. As a result, it's significantly easier to make your own version at home.

While Starbucks has a syrup recipe on its website that features seven ingredients, you can make a quick PSL sauce dupe with just three: pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk!). By whisking together the condensed milk with a few spoonfuls of canned pumpkin and several dashes of pumpkin spice, you can craft a pumpkin sauce to store in the fridge for any time a latte craving hits. And even if you don't have a premade version handy, you may have the ingredients that you need to make pumpkin pie spice in your pantry already.

The obvious use for pumpkin spice sauce is to combine it with espresso and your milk of choice for a homemade Starbucks PSL. Or, if you're feeling crafty, you could whip up some cold foam with it and recreate the chain's Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew or Pumpkin Cream Chai. You can also just pour a bit into a simple cup of coffee or hot chocolate for a boost of pumpkin flavor — but the sauce has other applications, too.

For other drinks, you can blend the sauce with your favorite ice cream for a milkshake with fall flair. Or, combine it with fruits for an autumnal smoothie. You can also incorporate it into cocktails from a Sazerac or old fashioned to a festive hot toddy.

Pumpkin spice sauce is also a great way to upgrade plain yogurt, and you can drizzle it into the batter for baked goods like muffins, cakes, and cookies. A drizzle (or ripple) takes desserts like cheesecake and ice cream to the next level. And don't sleep on using it with morning meals, too — start the day with pancakes or waffles topped with the sauce, or stir it into oatmeal for the easiest fall breakfast ever.