The Pumpkin Spice Recipes Your Life Needs (2024)

FAQs

What is it about pumpkin spice that consumers love? ›

Smell and Association

Two Krieger School perception researchers say a key to understanding why people love pumpkin spice is the smell of it. Those notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger trigger deeply rooted cozy memories of autumn.

The big boom of pumpkin spice truly came in the 1990s with the launch of the PSL. A little coffee shop named Starbucks launched the PSL, hesitantly, and initiated the pumpkin spice craze. The latte became the talk of the town with customers everywhere patiently awaiting the fall season just for their coveted PSL.

Pumpkin is a squash and doesn't taste like cinnamon and syrup on its own — but it can be delicious. Pumpkin spice blend is usually a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves.

Every year around early September is the unofficial start of “pumpkin season.” You know, the time when brands trot out pumpkin-flavored everything, from desserts to hummus to yogurt to coffee to, I kid you not – pumpkin scented trash bags.

The smell drives men wild with desire, the researchers say. Combine with the scent of lavender and you might have to reach for a bucket of cold water. Hirsch said that the heady combination increased penile blood flow by an average of 40% in participants. When cooking pumpkin pie, consider keeping the seeds.

Colorado is the state most obsessed with pumpkin spice.

In 1675 the first recipe to call for the mix of pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon known today as pumpkin spice was used. The four spices can also be combined with ginger and all spice depending on where you live. A company known to prepackage these spices in a handy shaker started doing so in the late 1930's.

Pumpkin pie spice, also known as pumpkin spice, is an American spice mix commonly used as a flavoring for pumpkin pie, but does not include pumpkin as an ingredient. Pumpkin pie spice is similar to the British and Commonwealth mixed spice.

Pumpkin pie spice is the same as pumpkin spice, just under different labeling. These two are interchangeable and feature the same base ingredients. The ratio of the ingredients may vary slightly from brand to brand.

What Is Pumpkin Spice? Pumpkin spice, originally known as pumpkin pie spice, is typically made with a blend of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and occasionally allspice. It doesn't actually have any pumpkin flavor in it — however, it is used to flavor a pumpkin pie, which is likely how it got its name.

Is pumpkin spice a Halloween thing? ›

Some think that pumpkin spice is so popular because it evokes feelings of nostalgia in people — if you grew up eating pumpkin pie around the holidays or carving pumpkins with your family for Halloween, you will probably associate pumpkins and pumpkin spice with the fall.

But the Starbucks version continues to be a popular choice, with a recipe that makes so many fall lovers giddy with every sip. A Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte is made with milk, their pumpkin spice sauce, brewed espresso, whipped cream and a pumpkin spice topping that consists of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

Made with real (and adorable) pumpkins

Since 2015, PSL's pumpkin sauce includes real puree made from sweet little pumpkins.

Contrary to popular belief, this spice has existed for a while, even being mentioned in Amelia Simmons' 1798 reprint of her cookbook American Cookery. History revealed that similar spices have been around for 3,500 years, with ancient nutmeg residue being found by archaeologists on 3,500 year old ceramic pottery.

Pumpkins are synonymous with holidays that bring people together. During Halloween, it is a common tradition for many to carve scary or silly faces into pumpkins, a tradition rooted in Irish culture to keep away evil. A common dish at Thanksgiving is pumpkin pie, a quick and tasty symbol of unity.

Therefore, people are more likely to associate fall flavors with joyful memories (much like how people enjoy hot chocolate and eggnog at Christmas time). People associate the fall season with ultimate warmth and coziness, with pumpkin flavoring an added bonus to the overall feeling of snugness.

The late 90s would see pumpkin spice finally reach the coffee world with a number of vendors selling flavored beans to great popularity. However, 2003 was the transformative year.

While pumpkin spice is a very well-established flavor profile in many product categories, we are seeing 40% growth in global pumpkin spice flavored products from 2021-2022. Sales of pumpkin spice products in retail totaled more than $802 billion in the year ending July 2023, according to NielsenIQ data.