Pumpkin Pie Spice
Make your own DIY pumpkin pie spice recipe at home — it’s so easy! Besides, you can add more of your favorite seasonings to add cozy flavors, like cloves, ginger, or cinnamon.
I add spices to just about everything in my kitchen. Even my Iced Chai Tea Latte gets a sprinkle or two of pumpkin spice mix.
Ever catch yourself wondering what is pumpkin pie spice made from? There’s not some pumpkin pie plant out there (wouldn’t that be nice, tho!).
So this “spice” is actually a blend. It’s made from a combination of spices, like cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. My other favorite mixed spices are curry and taco seasoning. I love making these myself because I can mix the flavors the way they’re supposed to be mixed. Can you tell I’m opinionated?
Why This Recipe is a Winner
- Making your own spice mixes at home means you’ll never run out and you can adjust the mix to suit your personal tastes
- Using ground spices keeps this recipe easy to make, accessible, and affordable
- Using cinnamon as the foundation spice creates a familiar flavor that we come to expect from any pumpkin pie blend.
What You Need
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are my favorite pumpkin pie spice ingredients:
- Cinnamon — The most common ground cinnamon available is Cassia and it adds a bold flavor that’s perfect for this spice blend.
- Ginger — This spice is spicy, warm, and yet has a sharpness to it that’s distinctive.
- Nutmeg — There’s a nutty flavor to ground nutmeg but it also yields a warm, slightly sweet flavor
- Cloves — Cloves come from flower buds of the evergreen Syzygium aromaticum flower buds This is an evergreen tree in the myrtle family. It’s a reddish-brown spice, with a strong, aromatic flavor. You’ll need ground cloves for this recipe.
- Allspice — This also comes from a plant within the myrtle family. Allspice is made from dried berries and is described as a warm spice with flavors of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg combined. We’ll use ground allspice for this spice blend.
How to Make Pumpkin Pie Spice
Making your own homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice is so easy!
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir together.
- Transfer the mixture to a lidded glass container. It will keep up to a year.
Marly’s Tips
I saved a used spice jar and lid and simply added a new label to it. It’s perfect!
Any time you see a recipe that calls for cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, blah, blah, blah, just substitute a teaspoon or two of your own pumpkin spice mix. You’ll feel so much like Martha Stewart you won’t know what to do with yourself!
Storage Tips
Store homemade pumpkin spice with the rest of your spices. It will keep up to a year, but I find the flavors are better when used within 6 months.
Customizing Your Blend
You can customize your spice mix the following ways:
- Sharper Flavor — Add more ginger and cloves
- Softer, Warmer Flavor — Add more cinnamon
- Sweeter Flavor — Add more nutmeg.
Speaking of flavor, there are two different categories of cinnamon: Cassia and Ceylon.
- Cassia cinnamon is a ground reddish powder with a bold, intense flavor. It’s most often used in baking. Most cinnamon, unless otherwise noted, is Cassia.
- Ceylon cinnamon has a more delicate flavor and is more expensive as a result of its rarity. You might use it for things like puddings or sauces.
For the purpose of this spice mix, I recommend using standard cinnamon (Cassia) because we’ll want the bold flavor it offers.
You can add even more spices to your spice blend, such as: ground cardamom (for a chai flavor), ground mace, and Garam Masala.
What is in Pumpkin Pie Spice?
Pumpkin spice seasoning is actually a blend of several spices, including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice (to name a few).
Recipes Using Pumpkin Spice Blend
If you love adding pumpkin pie flavor to your desserts, these recipes will be your favorite!
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Pumpkin Pie Spice
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground allspice
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and stir together.
- Transfer the mixture to a lidded glass container. It will keep up to a year.
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The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
This post was originally published in 2020 and was updated to include new photos, new text, and an updated recipe in 2021.
I used this to make my pumpkin pie because I was out and I actually like it better than what I buy at the store!
So glad this recipe helped you out. I’m with you – I like this better than storebought pumpkin pie spice too!
This is better than what I bought at the store. The combination of these spices together is the best!
OMG, love reading the spices u have mixed together, I lus, all the other receipts. Going to make this and pumpkin pie for sister house, see is they taste dairy freeeee