I just returned from the Society for Sensory Professionals Conference in Tucson, Arizona. I hope to do a full recap of the conference, which was amazing, but tonight I have fall on the brain. The weather was definitely cooler here in State College, and I heard the Nittany Lions had no trouble defeating their opponent today. So it was the perfect day to try out a recipe that had been bouncing around in my brain for awhile- a slimmed down pumpkin spice latte.

I’ll introduce it with a story. One day back at Land O’Lakes, we had given the panel a milk reference and they all were noting that it was very sweet. I went to the refrigerator to check out the container that it had come from, and I notice that our shopper had inadvertently purchased milk that had been treated with the enzyme lactase. This milk is generally marketed for people that are lactose intolerant, but going back to my Introduction to Food Science days, I knew just why the panel was sensing a sweeter sensation. Different sugars actually elicit different sweetness intensities at a given concentration. Lactose is one of the least sweet. When it is treated with lactase it is broken down into glucose and galactose. Glucose is much sweeter than lactose and galactose is a little sweeter than lactose. I was once again fascinated by food science in action, and actually filed that little tidbit away to remember that you could use lactose treated milk like Lactaid if you wanted to make a beverage like say hot chocolate sweeter while using less sugar.

So the goal for this recipe was to use the least sweetner possible to make a slimmed down pumpkin spice latte. I used the Lactaid trick. I also used agave as a sweetner, as it is mainly fructose, which is another sugar that is very sweet at a low concentration. I also used aromas including cooked milk and vanilla, which should compliment the sweetness. And finally I used a visual trick. People actually find colored beverages sweeter than non-colored beverages, so I added an orange color. For my drink, I also only added just the minimal level of sweetener to make it acceptable. At only 140 calories for 14 oz, feel free to keep adding a tsp of agave syrup (15 calories/ tsp) or any other sweetener until you find the level you like. You will still likely be below the 240 calories in a 12 oz Starbucks version.

• 8 oz 1% lactose treated milk
• 1/8 tsp vanilla
• 1/12 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 6 oz coffee (I used medium roast)
• 2 tsp raw agave syrup (raw had nice maple notes that complimented other flavors, regular would also work, any sweetener would too but benefits of agave noted above)
• 3 drops yellow food coloring
• 1 drop red food coloring

Add vanilla and pumpkin pie spice to milk. Cook milk on the stove top until 165F for about 3-5 minutes until cooked milk flavors develop. This was our standard procedure at Land O’Lakes. I actually just went by aroma. When the lovely aroma developed, I knew I was done. Add syrup and food coloring. Mix with aerolatte milk frother. Seriously, buy one. (Link below) Totally worth it. Pour on top of 6 oz brewed coffee. If you have a Keurig, 6 oz is the smallest cup. A more bitter coffee will likely need more sweetener, so I went with a medium roast.

Enjoy!