The other day I decided to take a look at the "freshness" date on my pumpkin pie spice... Let's just say that it probably hasn't been fresh for quite some time. I swear I just bought that spice yesterday, but that's not really possible unless yesterday was 2010. ANYWAY.

A comment from a reader prompted me to make my own pumpkin pie spice instead of just going to buy another bottle. A number of people have mentioned that pumpkin pie spice is not available in their area, so hopefully now you can just whip some up yourself.

The recipe below makes about a half cup of pumpkin pie spice, which you can keep in a sealed tight container for about a year. Or, if you want to make a smaller quantity, just follow an approximate ratio of 8:2:2:2:1 (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, clove).

Since I usually just assign a fixed estimated cost to spices of 5 cents per teaspoon or 10 cents for more expensive spices, I'm not going to try to calculate the cost here. I would have to weigh out the spices and most of them were purchased quite a while back and the receipts are long gone. So, this is a tutorial rather than a cost break down :)

How to: Make Pumpkin Pie Spice

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup	ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp	ground ginger
1 Tbsp	ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp	ground allspice
1 tsp	ground cloves

STEP 1: Stir together all of the spices in a bowl until well combined. Store in an air-tight container away from direct sunlight for up to one year.

What should you do with all of that pumpkin pie spice? Make some Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal, Pumpkin Pie Smoothies, Pumpkin Pie Cream Cheese Spread, or Pumpkin Yogurt Parfaits.


Some people don't like clove, so you can leave that out if you'd like. Or, try using half of the amount that is listed (it can be quite strong).