How to Make Pumpkin Pie Spice

I was running out of pumpkin pie spice the other day. So instead of going to the store to grab another jar, I decided it’s about time I make my own blend. Making pumpkin pie spice is so easy and cheap, especially considering that you may already have most of the ingredients you need in your pantry.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• Quick and easy – This pumpkin pie spice recipe requires just 5 ingredients and a flick of your wrist to whip up.
• Save money – It’s usually cheaper to make your own spice mix than buying a store bought jar. Especially if you don’t use a lot of the specialty spice blend and just need small batch for some Fall baking.
• Can be tailored to your taste – One of the advantages of making a homemade spice blend is that you can decide exactly what goes into it, and reduce or omit flavor that doesn’t cut it for you.

Tools you’ll need

No special tools are required if you’re using ground spices to make your pumpkin pie spice blend. If you’re using whole spices, you will need a spice and nut grinder.

Pumpkin pie spice ingredients by brand

So first order of business, I needed to find out what is in pumpkin pie spice, which has never crossed my mind all these years. To aid my little research effort, I looked at pumpkin pie spice ingredients from a few popular brands that you can either get at the store or online.

• McCormick – cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, sulfiting agents
• Simply Organic – cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves
• King Arthur – ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves
• The Spice Hunter – cinnamon, ginger, lemon peel, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, star anise, fennel, black pepper 

There are also many different homemade recipe for pumpkin pie spice out there, and the two prominent ingredients are cinnamon and ginger. The other popular supporting flavors are nutmeg, cloves and allspice. I also saw one recipe that includes mace. But The Spice Hunter’s ingredient list is the most extensive, which combines 9 individual spices. I have been using this specific brand for years, and love it!

Building your flavor profile

In order to help me decide which spices will make it into this blend, I explored all of their flavor profiles. Below are my notes on the spices flavor profile, and why I decide to use it or not use it in my spice blend.

• Cinnamon – sweet and spicy – one of the prominent ingredients that will go into the blend.
• Ground Ginger – sweet, woody, and spicy – one of the prominent ingredients that will go into the blend.
• Nutmeg – warm, sweet and astringent – too sharp, a milder flavor can be achieved using allspice.
• Mace – also comes from the nutmeg tree, but from the outer covering of the nutmeg seed, the aroma is more peppery and not as sweet or sharp as nutmeg – the flavor is more savory to me, so I will omit.
• Cloves – pungent and bittersweet – again this is too sharp, and a milder flavor can be achieved with allspice.
• Allspice – similar to a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, but the aroma is not as sharp as any one of these spices alone – will go into the blend for a milder flavor of nutmeg and cloves.
• Cardamom – strong and aromatic, with a spicy, herbal, citrusy character – this is one of my favorite spices and the hint of citrus really brightens up this very warm spice blend.
• Star Anise – strong licorice aroma – too strong, a milder flavor can be achieved with fennel.
• Fennel – mild licorice aroma – I use a small amount for just a hint of licorice flavor.
• Black pepper – spicy and sharp – too sharp, and I don’t think it will add a lot to the spice blend.
• Lemon peel – bright flavor – I like the bright flavor that lemon peel will add. But it is not a common spice and wasn’t readily available as a bulk spice. You can make your own dried citrus peel, but I feel that this is more work than necessary when you just want to throw together a homemade spice blend. I think the citrus flavor from cardamom will be enough.

Ingredients in my pumpkin pie spice recipe

Finally, I narrowed it down to just 5 ingredients for my homemade pumpkin pie spice blend. All of these spices are widely available in jars or as bulk spices, which is especially useful to get if you don’t normally use something in large quantity.

As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips:

• Cinnamon – main base of this spice blend, no substitution.
• Ginger – second prominent spice, no substitution.
• Allspice – if you look at the flavor profile above, you could potentially replace this with nutmeg and/or clove depending on what you have on hands.
• Cardamom – I know some people love cardamom and some may just be lukewarm about it but I truly think this makes my pumpkin pie spice unique. Freshly ground cardamom is a lot stronger, so you decide whether you want a lot or a little cardamom flavor and adjust it to your taste.
• Fennel – this can be substituted with a pinch of star anise since the flavor profile is similar. And if you’re not a big fan of licorice, you can skip it.

How to make pumpkin pie spice

There is just one simple step – whisk together all ingredients in a bowl or add them to a spice jar, close the lid and shake until thoroughly mixed.

Baker’s tips

• Scaling up – Make as much or as little as you wish. This recipe makes a small batch and yields about 5 teaspoons which is enough to make a couple of pumpkin pies. But you can double, triple, quadruple the recipe as you need to prepare for all your Fall baking.
• Keep it fresh – If you don’t rotate through your baking spices a lot throughout the year, it is best to purchase small amounts to make just enough pumpkin pie spice when you need it to keep the flavor fresh since spices will lose flavor as they sit in your pantry.

Storage

Ground spices are freshest within 3 months of being bottled but they will retain most of their flavors for 2-3 years. So technically, you can store your pumpkin pie spice in an airtight jar for up to 3 years and it will still be good. Just note that the longer you store your spices unused, the weaker their flavor will get.

FAQs

Recipes with pumpkin pie spice

• Pumpkin Pie Shortbread Bars
• Peanut Butter Skull Pumpkin Cookies
• Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Pumpkin Pie Hot Chocolate for Two
• Pumpkin Muffins with Pumpkin Pie Spice Streusel
• Pumpkin Pie with Decorative Crust
• Pumpkin Pie Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Buttermilk Pumpkin Pancakes

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