I Tried Them For You: 5 Popular Pumpkin Spice Creamer Recipes & How They Compare.

If you're anything like me, you're ecstatic that the time for pumpkin spice coffee is here again. But if you're anything like me, you probably don't love how much money it would cost to indulge in how many pumpkin spice lattes you would actually like to drink. 

Fall makes me want to be Martha Stewart and make all the fall treats that pop up on Pinterest. The problem with Pinterest, though, is that there are so many recipes with thousands of repins, but you have no way of knowing if those people actually tried that recipe, or if it's even any good. 

This weekend, I decided to test out five of the most popular pumpkin spice creamers on Pinterest to see how they compared and find out if they were worth your time. My kitchen is sticky, my house smells like fall, and I have a new favorite creamer. 

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Creamer from Crunchy Creamy Sweet This one has been repinned 47,400 times! Obviously I had to try it. 
Pros: Freaking Delicious. 
Cons: It was really, really thick. I ended up adding some extra milk in so I could stir it in my coffee more easily. 
Verdict: 47,400 people were right. This is delicious and exactly what I hoped for when making my own creamer. It actually tastes like real pumpkin, which is a win in my book. Just add a little extra milk if you want the consistency to be more like normal creamer. 
Homemade Coffee Creamer from Sally's Baking Addiction  This one includes maple syrup, which I've never tried in coffee before. I was intrigued!
Pros: Super tasty!
Cons: Very strong maple syrup taste. There's the same amount of syrup as there is pumpkin, and I can definitely taste the syrup more. If you're a maple fan, this may be the pumpkin creamer for you!
Verdict: I liked it, but I wanted more pumpkin flavor. Next time I make it, I'll either use more pumpkin or less syrup. 
Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer from Ricci Alexis This one uses just a few ingredients that you probably have in your pantry already.
Pros: Really Easy! 
Cons: No actual pumpkin. Also, it's half sweetened condensed milk, so it's very calorie and sugar heavy. But it's fall, so #treatyoself. 
Verdict: It's delicious. If you've ever had Vietnamese iced coffee, you know how good sweetened condensed milk and coffee are together. I think I'll try this one again with some real pumpkin next time.
Healthy Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer (Dairy Free!) from The Balanced Berry I decided to throw a vegan one on here, because why not?
Pros: SO DELICIOUS. 
Cons: You can taste the coconut milk. Let's be clear: I did not feel like this was a con, because in some strange universe the pumpkin and the coconut milk somehow mixed together into pure magic once they made it in my coffee. But if you don't like coconut, this one might not be for you. 
Verdict: You need to try this one. I assumed this would be my least favorite (I really love dairy, ha), but I was so wrong. Just be sure to stir it into your coffee well, because it does tend to seperate from the coffee if you leave it sitting too long. 
Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer from Fresh April Flours
Pros: Cheap to make! Instead of using all cream or milk, it's made up of half water, making it cheaper!
Cons: Strong brown sugar taste. It was also a little watery.  It was tasty, but it tasted more like a sugar cookie with a little pumpkin spice thrown in (which, hello, is still delicious) and less like pumpkin creamer. 
Verdict: It wasn't my favorite one. Next time I would definitely use less brown sugar, and maybe add a little more pumpkin to thicken it up a bit. 

The Winner? Healthy Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer (Dairy Free!) from The Balanced Berry. Am I shocked to find out that my favorite DIY pumpkin creamer is actually vegan? Yes, yes I am. But this was so delicious! The fact that I can drink more of it while feeling a little less guilty is just an added bonus. 

Do you have a favorite DIY pumpkin spice creamer recipe? 

Apple Recipes You Need in Your Life.

A few weeks ago, I shared some of my favorite pumpkin recipes, because it's nice to see things from Pinterest that other people have actually tried. 

While pumpkin is my favorite part of fall, I think that apple-flavored foods--specifically, apple-flavored fall desserts--are absolutely delicious. These recipes often get overlooked due to pumpkin spice everything, but trust me, they're just as delicious. 

Layered apple pies from Dashing Dish

These were so easy and so delicious! And actually relatively "healthier" than most fall desserts. 

Apple Braid by Eat, Live, Run

Side note: I made this with pre-made crust instead of making up the dough, and it was still delicious!

Apple pie pull-apart bread by The Comfort of Cooking

SO easy and so delicious! And your house smells incredible while it's cooking!

Rustic chicken with apples and bacon by Seasons and Suppers

Caramel apple cupcakes by The Baker Mama

This is a recipe adapted from a Rachel Ray magazine, and hands down, these are the best cupcakes I've ever made. 

Do you lean more towards apple or pumpkin desserts during the fall?

Pumpkin Recipes You Need in Your Life.

A little tid-bit about my marriage: Somehow, I ended up marrying someone who doesn't like pumpkin. I know, I don't understand it either.

Wait, I take that back. He hates everything pumpkin flavored except pumpkin pie...the one pumpkin thing I cannot stand. It's cold and mushy and ew.

So every fall, I keep my pumpkin flavored things to a minimum. HA. Kidding. I'm not that good of a wife. But I do know that if I don't want Chris to be perpetually hungry until Thanksgiving, we need to have pumpkin things and something else.

Lately, he hasn't been home for dinner much. So for the past two weeks, I've pretty much been surviving off of baked pumpkin goods for every meal. Hello, fall, I love you.

Anyway, we all have Pinterest boards full of things we want to try, and it's such a bummer to waste a night on a recipe that just doesn't turn out good. I've learned that just because something has been pinned 10,000 times doesn't mean that 10,000 people have tried it--sometimes it just means it has a pretty picture.

So I wanted to share some pumpkin goodness that I have actually tried and can attest to its deliciousness. You're welcome.

    Melt-in-your-mouth pumpkin cookies from Parent Pretty

Starbucks pumpkin pound cake from Something Swanky.

Pumpkin pie frappe by Peanut Butter & Peppers.

Creamy pumpkin prosciutto rigatoni by Handle the Heat.

Baked pumpkin cream cheese french toast by Damn Delicious.

Quick pumpkin soup with bacon and parmesan crumbles by Cook the Story.

Pumpkin french toast by Cooking Classy.

P.S. If you're not following me on Pinterest, you really should. Now-December is my time to shine on there. 

P.S.S. These pictures are all from the credited blogs. If you think I'm patient enough to take a picture of something delicious before I dig in, you don't know me. 

Happy pumpkining! 

What's your favorite pumpkin thing to bake?