Make your own pumpkin spice latte with reduced sugar

It’s fall — and perhaps more importantly, pumpkin spice latte season.

But this sweet treat is often heavy on the sugar.

Kathleen Turner, a registered dietitian at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, said it’s not the healthiest choice.

“If you buy the largest size there can be up to 10 teaspoons of sugar in there,” she told CBC Radio’s All In A Day. “It’s all the sugar that is in the syrup.”

Turner dropped by with a recipe of her own that has the same fall taste without all the sugar.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp pumpkin purée.
• ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice.
• A touch of ground pepper.
• ½ tsp sugar.
• 2 cups warm whole milk.
• 2 tbsp vanilla extract.
• 1 to 2 shots of espresso; or ½ cup to 1/3 cup of coffee.

Instructions:

1. Combine the pumpkin purée and pumpkin pie spice in a small saucepan and warm it up over medium heat. Add the ground pepper while it heats up.
2. Once the blend is nice and warm, stir in the sugar and mix it well.
3. With a whisk, introduce the warmed whole milk and vanilla extract. Be careful not to let the milk boil over.
4. Blend the pumpkin and milk mixture with a blender until it’s fluffy and frothy.
5. Prepare the coffee, or one to two shots of espresso, and pour into a mug.
6. Add the pumpkin mix and season with pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg and cinnamon to taste.