Craving a pumpkin flavored coffee drink? Make our Starbucks inspired Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino.

When the seasons transition from summer to fall, some items on cafe menus change too. This includes Starbucks. Right at the end of each summer, Starbucks reintroduces the Pumpkin Spice Latte back to their menu.

The popular PSL was first introduced in 2003 as a warm coffee drink. Today, you can order it in an iced form and also as a Frappuccino, Starbucks’ signature line of cold coffee drinks.

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Here, we made our own version of the Pumpkin Spice Coffee Frappuccino.

(Starbucks also has a coffee free version of it called the Pumpkin Spice Crème Frappuccino, which you can also make. Just omit the coffee and replace the coffee ice cubes with regular ice cubes.)

We created our own frappuccino recipe as a less sugary take on the Starbucks drink.

Click here to skip to the recipe.

What is a Frappuccino?

A frappuccino is a cold blended drink made by Starbucks. It’s a trademarked brand that Starbucks owns, so technically you could only have a frappuccino at a Starbucks.

Read More: What is a Frappuccino?

There’s a whole range of frappuccino flavors ranging from chocolate and matcha to chai and the occasional limited edition and seasonal flavors. The base ingredients for all frappuccinos are ice, milk, coffee and coffee frappuccino syrup, which is made with sugar, water, natural flavor, salt, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate and citric acid.

The Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino has a pumpkin spice sauce made with sugar, condensed skim milk, pumpkin puree, fruit and vegetable juice for color, natural flavors, annatto, salt and potassium sorbate and their Pumpkin Spice Topping, which is made with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

We make ours with just a few basic ingredients and you can control the amount of sugar you put in.

Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino Ingredients

1 cup coffee ice cubes
¼ cup coffee (2 shots espresso)
¼ cup milk
2 tbsp pumpkin puree
¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tbsp maple syrup (or more if desired)
Whipped cream

Ice cubes

I used cold brew coffee ice cubes. I made a batch of cold brew coffee concentrate using Stone Street Cold Brew whole beans.

To grind the coffee beans, I use my Hario Skerton grinder. Then I put it in a French press with water for about 14 hours, then pour the concentrate directly into ice cube trays.

You can use any of your favorite coffee beans to make coffee ice cubes. All you need to do is brew the coffee in any method (it doesn’t have to be cold brew), then pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it.

I keep a tray or two of this in the freezer for making homemade frappuccinos, coffee milkshakes and to put in my iced coffees to avoid diluted coffee. When coffee ice cubes melt, you just get more coffee!

Coffee

To make espresso, you need an espresso machine. But if you don’t have an espresso machine at home, the best way to make a highly concentrated, espresso like coffee is with a moka pot. This is what I use for most of my coffee recipes.

And if you don’t have either, you can also make espresso with a French press or Aeropress. Check out our guide to making espresso without an espresso machine.

Like the ice cubes, feel free to use your favorite coffee beans. You may want to consider using a Starbucks coffee bean since this is a Starbucks inspired drink.

Milk

I used oat milk. You can use any type of milk – whole milk, skim milk or your milk alternative of choice.

Pumpkin

I used an organic canned pumpkin from Farmer’s Market. You can always make your own pumpkin puree but I found it more convenient this time to use canned pumpkin.

Pumpkin pie spice

Pumpkin pie spice is a spice blend that’s used to make pumpkin pie. However, it’s also perfect for homemade pumpkin spice lattes. SoI use it for my PSL frappuccinos.

You can purchase pumpkin pie spice online, at your local grocery store or even make it at home. That is, if you already have these 5 ground spices at home.

Simply mix 1 teaspoon ground allspice, 1 teaspoon ground cloves, 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 2 teaspoons ground nutmeg and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon together and you have pumpkin pie spice.

Maple syrup

As mentioned above, frappuccinos from Starbucks are usually very sweet. The sugar comes from the coffee frappuccino syrup, which is unique to Starbucks.

In place of this frappuccino syrup, I use maple syrup. I use 2 tablespoons, but if you feel that you need it to be sweeter, add a little more. You can also use vanilla syrup, as this is also an ingredient found on the pumpkin spice frappuccino ingredients list.

Experiment with the amount of sweeteners, whether maple syrup and or vanilla syrup, to find your preferred ratio. Because I used Reddi wip whipped cream, I feel that the slight sweetness of the cream with just 2 tablespoons of maple syrup was enough sugar, especially when the whipped cream started to mix in with the frappuccino.

Whipped cream

Frappuccinos are known for their generous layer of whipped cream on top. We’ll do the same with ours.

Make your own whipped cream by mixing heavy cream with a mixer on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Add in a teaspoon or two of vanilla syrup to make it sweet like Starbucks’ whipped cream. Or use store bought whipped cream.

Then, just like a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino, sprinkle pumpkin spice on top of the whipped cream.