See that foam in the pumpkin spice latte recipe above? I’ve become obsessed with foam. It started before we moved, when we would go to the coffee shop, and the kids would order almond milk steamers. The baristas would make them tons of foam with the almond milk. I took a sip, and I fell in love.
So then I started asking for extra foam in my lattes, but I guess due to the different almond milk brands, some places couldn’t really get their almond milk to foam. I’m no Alton Brown, but I’m guessing it has to do with the amount of fat (yes?). Because at home I haven’t been getting as much foam with almond milk as I do with canned full-fat coconut milk.
I still haven’t treated myself to one of those foam-maker-thingies though. You know, the ones that look like a stick blender, and sell for like $1 at Ikea (or so I’m told). Instead, I’ve been blending my hot drink, and gettin’ very foamy with it.
But if you’re not used to drinking coconut milk in coffee then you may want to go with almond milk. Maybe yours will be foamier than mine 🙂
Dairy-free Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe
dairy-free!
1 cup organic coffee (I use THIS decaf)
1 cup canned full-fat coconut milk
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- Add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan and bring almost to a simmer, watching carefully so that it doesn’t boil over.
- Pour the hot liquids into a blender with a vent. It MUST have a vent.
- Puree on low speed for 30 seconds.
- Pour into mugs and enjoy.
Makes 1 large or 2 small lattes.
Looking for a coffee-free latte? Try my friend Elana’s. I’ve had one and they’re amazing. HERE’s the recipe.
♥, Kelly
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Kaboom Kitchen says
I’m being clueless…one cup of brewed coffee or one cup of ground coffee (which will be brewed in the coconut milk while it’s cooking)? If the later, then don’t you pour it through a sieve or will the grounds be totally blended/pulsed into the drink from the blender? I don’t have the best blender! 🙂
Kelly says
Kaboom, One cup of brewed coffee. As weak or strong as you want 🙂
Anonymous says
Just a note that my high-end blender (a Blendtec) recommends NOT using hot liquids. I’m guessing both safety and the life of the blender are of concern. Sounds like a great recipe, though!
Donna says
Use a bullet to blend hot drinks.
Kelly says
We know someone who did that, and the hot liquid exploded out. I think it’s safer to use a blender with a vent.
Jan says
I use my Vitamix every morning.
Dorothy says
In this recipe the drinks are already blended and the blender itself is just to create foam/froth.
Why dirty a magic bullet or blender when you don’t have t?
A vibrating wire mini frother will do the same thing and you can get one at IKEA for under 4.00
Ashley says
Score one for Vitamix! You can blend hot liquids. 😉
Esme's Mommy says
I had the same question. Thanks for answering!
Ann Pitre says
Great recipe&great ?s. I wouldn’t have thought about it at all Kaboom until I went to make it. I made the drink with 1c strong organic coffee, 1/2 c steamed coconut milk.or 1/4c coconut milk&1/4 skim as this foams better. 2 tsp. Maple syrup & pumpkin spice. Put Syrup in mug pour in coffee, top off with steamed or foamed coconut milk. Everyone can steam milk in a pot I’m thinking!! I have a coffee maker with an attached cappuccino maker, lucky me! Now sprinkle on the pumpkin pie spice. Thanks for the flavor combo of maple syrup.
Meghan Wyandt says
I cant have coconut 🙁 Is there any alternative to using the coconut milk?
Donna says
Yeah.Almond milk.
Mary says
I wonder how this would taste with almond milk! Going to try it this weekend 🙂
Cooking on Broadway says
Yum! I made this yesterday and put it on Dinner Happy. Thanks for sharing!
Vanessa C. says
Sounds awesome!!!! Going to try it in just a bit. Out of syrup so going to sub honey. For those of you worried about the hot liquid in the blender…try your immersion blender instead. Most of those have a metal blending mechanism that can withstand high temps for blending soups etc…
Ronnda says
I don’t like the taste of coffee, so do you think I could just replace the coffee with water or almond milk? 🙂
Arielle Abel says
Hey! Just FYI- regarding the part that you wrote about some places not being able to foam the milk. I’ve been a barista for. While- it has to do with the technique used to foam the milk. Any almond milk is foam-able 🙂
Christine says
Is there a recipe that uses pumpkin? I want to try this but I like the added health benefits of pumpkin. Plus, it doesn’t seem right to have a pumpkin latte with no pumpkin
Kelly says
I don’t like it with pumpkin, but feel free to add it 🙂
Joyce Pfaffle says
Christine–I had the same thought. I have some organic pumpkin (canned) leftover from making Kelly’s Raw Chai Pumpkin bars and I thought, hey why not put it in this drink? Can’t harm anything and besides that could be a way to creatively learn how to create our own recipes!. I had a thought too that those of us that wonder about whether something would work or not, we can always TRY it! Seems sorta lazy to me for us to ask Kelly to answer all those questions whether this or that would work when she’d probably have to either experiment or guess. She’s already done a lot of work developing the recipe. We could just give it a try and then let everyone know.
Frances says
Why not blend ingredients first?.. so liquids arent hot and you dont need a vent?
Kelly says
I blend it hot to get foam. Blending first, then heating you just won’t have foam 🙂
Angela says
Use a stick blender. I do it all the time and it works great
Michelle Murphy says
You can sub chai tea if you aren’t a coffee drinker, equally delicious imo 🙂