Slow Cooker Pumpkin Latte

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Latte

It is definitely pumpkin season here! We even had a chilly day in Charlotte this past weekend that was just perfect for picking pumpkins and enjoying some hot cider to warm up little hands after the great pumpkin hunt was over.

I love all things pumpkin. I used to have an unhealthy yearning for the pumpkin lattes from Starbucks ... alas, they are not gluten-free and they cost a million bucks. This is a much better alternative and perfect for wooing some friends over on a cool morning for some chitchat.

R at Hodges Farm and Pumpkin Patch

I never, ever thought about making a coffee drink in my crockpot until my awesome friend did this last year for a morning get together. I have been waiting all year to return the favor. At the end of the morning, there was one small cup of pumpkin latte left so I will consider this a successful slow cooker endeavor!

The only hitch in my great plan to make this yummy coffee drink was that we were running super-low on milk and our next milk delivery was not scheduled for 24 hours. I have firmly converted to the never-run-out-to-the-store-for-anything camp so I had to scour my cupboards for an alternative to four or five cups of cold milk... Lo and behold, I found two cans of evaporated milk way, way in the back and they were barely past their expiration date. Problem solved.

Ingredients: 

2 cans of evaporated milk
1 cup 2% milk
2 cups strong coffee - I brewed 4 "servings" over 6 scoops of ground coffee
1/2 can pumpkin pie filling
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6 teaspoons Demerara sugar (optional)
2 cinnamon sticks

Delicious organic coffee from Healthy Home Market

Directions: 

1. Brew strong coffee. I used a new coffee I picked up at the Healthy Home Market here in Charlotte - Breakfast Blend. It was delicious! I ground my whole beans and then used about six large "scoops" of ground coffee to make 4 "servings" of coffee in my coffee pot - it worked out to about 2 cups or so of coffee.

2. Whisk together all the ingredients (except for the cinnamon sticks) in your crockpot. Add the cinnamon sticks. Cook on high for one hour and then turn to low for the second hour.

Cinnamon Sticks

3. Ladle into individual coffee mugs and top with frothed or steamed milk. I like to do 3/4 pumpkin latte, 1/4 steamed milk. If you are feeling fancy, you could even top it with some whipped cream! Enjoy!

A few notes ... The two cans of evaporated milk were about the equivalent of 3 cups. Since evaporated milk is whole fat milk, if your slow cooker gets too hot, you will end up with a film on the top of your latte. Not a big deal, just remove it with a spoon. I imagine if I use a milk with a lower fat content next time, this will not be a problem!

Frothing milk ... Do you need a steamed milk refresher? I have just about gone cold turkey on the pricey coffee drinks now that I have a milk frother. Get one, you won't regret it. Click here to check out my post on frothing milk. 

 A frother suggestion ... This frother below from Sur La Table is a little bit more fancy than the one that I have been using but I might try it out since my last two glass frothers have shattered on my granite counter... Frabosk Milk Frother