Pumpkin Spice Smoothie & Latte Recipes (& a surprise)

Happy Weekend, my friends. It feels like Fall. For real. Like, I'm wearing socks and a thin sweater... And it's 65 degrees. Gotta admit, a little scared for my trip to Indy for Influence Conference next week... with it's high of 64 and low of 43 (scary for this California wimp!) But I am so excited to whip out my boots, throw on leg warmers, and maybe wear a jacket! As I start slowly packing for the conference, just wanted to stop in this weekend and leave you with a couple things to make you smile. I've had a requests on Twitter & Instagram (@erin_sweetnessitselfblog) for the Pumpkin recipes I've posted this week. I bought a can of pumpkin and made homemade versions of my 2 favorite treats: Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes and Pumpkin Smoothies from Jamba Juice.

Pumpkin Spice Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 cups fat free vanilla frozen yogurt

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

3/4 cup light vanilla soy milk

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups ice

Steps:

Add all ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Divide smoothie among two glasses! Makes 2 16 ounce smoothies or 4 8 oz (1 cup) servings.

Recipe adapted from this source.

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon canned pumpkin

1 cup milk (I used vanilla soy milk - sweeter and lower calorie)

1/2 tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (and a pinch for dusting later)

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

OR pumpkin pie spice instead of using above spices.

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups strong coffee

whipped cream

(I made mine homemade: pour 1/2 cup of very cold half and half into a chilled metal mixing bowl, add a few drops of vanilla extract and blend with a handheld mixer until cream stiffens into desired whipped cream!)

Steps:

Mix together milk, pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg (or the pumpkin pie spice), brown sugar, and vanilla. Pour into a small saucepan and cook over low heat until milk is warm and begins to froth (about 5 minutes.) Remove from heat.

Pour pumpkin mixture into your favorite coffee mug and then add the pumpkin mixture. Stir, add sugar to taste. And top it with a little whipped cream!

Recipe adapted from this source.

Love these because, really - who wants to shell out $5 every time they have a craving? If you view the websites I found the recipes on, they are also lower calorie and sugar!

Winning.

Oh, and if pumpkin everything wasn't enough to make you smile, here's another reason:

The guys wanted to stop in and say hi -