Pumpkin Spice Latte Crock Pot Style!

I found a recipe on a blog: A Year of Slow Cooking for Pumpkin Spice Lattes made in a Crock-Pot.  It is definitely one of my favorite fall/winter time drinks at coffee shops so it caught my attention.  The recipe ingredients looked a little too pricy to make just for my husband and I so I waited until I had a group of friends over to splurge and try it out.  

The recipe was simple enough but as I said, there is an initial investment of purchasing the ingredients that, while they will last you a few batches, are not cheap.  

Ingredients:

2 cups milk 

2 Tbsp canned pumpkin

2 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup brewed espresso or 3/4 cup strong brewed coffee

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

OR 

1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp cloves, 1/8 tsp nutmeg, and a pinch of ground ginger

Garnish with whipped cream (optional)

I also added some cinnamon atop the whipped cream

You just whisk everything together in a Crock Pot and let it simmer for about 2 hours on high.  

These amounts make enough for two people to each have 2 servings in an average size coffee cup. 

 I know that's kind of vague serving size but that is more or less what the original recipe said.  

I used the coffee version rather than the espresso because that can be expensive and I didn't have any espresso on hand- i just added a couple extra scoops to my normal coffee preference.  Also, when I was budgeting for the ingredients I didn't take into account the fact that, because it isn't November, Wal Mart only had one size in the pumpkin.  So I bought over 20oz of pumpkin for 6 Tbsp but I just threw the rest in a Pyrex in the freezer to pull out next time I want to make a batch.  The next time around it will be a lot less expensive because I now have the spices and the pumpkin.

As I said, I had 3 people over so I tripled the recipe because I knew everyone would probably want seconds and that worked out well for us each to have 2 servings with about a 1/2c (measuring cup) remaining.   

               

By the time I remembered to take a picture my whip cream was already droopy, but here is, more or less, how mine turned out.

It was a big hit with the girls and it was just right for the nice cool weather we've been getting. 

Next time I think I will add more spice to the brew just to add a little more flavor.