Iced Vegan Pumpkin Spiced Latte

Even here in Southern California, it's beginning to feel like fall! The nights are slightly chillier; it was cool enough this morning that I pulled my blanket out of the closet for the first time in months (in the summer we sleep with just a top sheet and a duvet cover). While the mornings are cooling off, the days have still been warm, and to combine my love of fall with the reality of the daily temperature, I decided to try my hand at iced vegan pumpkin spiced lattes.

Iced vegan pumpkin spiced latte with a vegan brownie!

I made the iced vegan pumpkin spiced latte yesterday for the first time to accompany my afternoon snack, a vegan brownie (which, honestly, needs some tweaking before I share the recipe!). The first time I made the latte I used this recipe from Calm Mind Busy Body.

I woke up early this morning - around 6am - so I could time my walk with the sunrise. I've never seen the sunrise on the West Coast before...and after today I still haven't! There was complete cloud cover, so what I witnessed was more of a gradual lightening of the sky.

The beautiful "sunrise" ...

When I got home, slightly sweaty and very sleepy, I knew an iced vegan pumpkin spiced latte would pick me right up! You can see my adapted recipe below. It's frosty, frothy, pumpkiny, and has just a touch of added sweetness from agave syrup. The difference in calories between my recipe and Starbucks'?

Starbucks 8oz "short" (non-vegan) Pumpkin Spiced Latte with 2 % milk and no whip: 160 calories

my 8oz Iced Vegan Pumpkin Spiced Latte: 83.6 calories!

That's basically half the calories - and let's be honest, most people don't even know the "short" size exists at Starbucks (it's not listed on the menu) so they would go with the Tall, which has 240 calories. 

This Iced Vegan Pumpkin Spiced Latte recipe (which I prefer!) is less sweet and more pumpkiny than the Starbucks version - but if you want to give it a little more of a sugary kick, feel free to add more agave!

Iced Vegan Pumpkin Spiced Latte

adapted from Calm Mind Busy Body

Ingredients:

10 frozen coconut milk* ice cubes

2/3 cup coconut milk

1 cup black iced coffee

1/3 cup pumpkin puree 

2 tsp agave 

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Garnish with an extra sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice. 

* When I say coconut milk I'm referring to the kind that comes in a carton - it should be with the almond milk/soy milk in the dairy section - not the canned coconut milk that's usually in the Asian foods section.