Pumpkin Spice Coffee Powder
A dry creamer mix that turns camp coffee into something worth waking up for.
- calories
- 190
- weight
- 1.4 oz
- cal / oz
- 136
- protein
- 3 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 3 min
- total time
- 8 min
- water
- 300 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Drink
- Breakfast
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Backpacking
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Winter / snow
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | whole, not nonfat, the fat is the point |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered coconut cream or non-dairy creamer | 1 tbsp | stands in for heavy cream |
| Maple sugar | 1 tbsp | granulated maple, or brown sugar if you cannot find it |
| Pumpkin pie spice | 1/2 tsp | cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, clove |
| Pumpkin powder | 1 tsp | optional, dehydrated pumpkin ground fine |
| Instant coffee | 1 to 2 tsp | |
| Salt | a pinch |
Method
- Boil about 300 ml of water.
- Dump the packet into your mug or pot. Pour in a splash of hot water first and stir it to a paste.
- Add the rest of the water and stir hard. The milk powder clumps if you flood it all at once.
- Let it sit a minute so the spice hydrates, then drink.
The original is a fridge item: whole milk, heavy cream, and pureed pumpkin whisked together and poured into coffee. None of that travels. This version keeps the same flavors and rebuilds them from powders, so the whole thing weighs under an ounce and a half and does not need a cooler.
The paste step matters more than it sounds. Milk powder hits hot water and seizes into lumps that never dissolve, and you end up chewing your coffee. A little water first, stirred to slurry, and the rest goes in clean. The salt is there to keep the maple from tasting flat.
Packing
Mix each serving at home in a small zip bag or a folded coffee filter twisted shut. Powdered milk cakes up in humidity, so squeeze the air out.
Variations
- Skip the coffee and it is a spiced hot drink for the tent at night.
- Swap the milk powder for cocoa mix and you get a pumpkin spice mocha.
- A spoonful of powdered butter or coconut oil pushes it past 300 calories.
https://dontwastethecrumbs.com/homemade-pumpkin-spice-coffee-creamer