It’s that time of year where we’re inundated with Pumpkin Spice everything – bazillions of products… Trader Joe’s has at least 50 all by themselves.
Everyone has a Pumpkin Spice Latte, a Pumpkin Spice Cereal, a Pumpkin Spice Ground Coffee, Ice Cream, Cookie, Tea, Coffee Creamer… and that doesn’t even begin to account for the Candles, Body Scrubs, Facial Masks…
And I must admit – it’s all totally lost on me.
I LOVE those fall Flavors! What I don’t like is they all feel the same. It’s as if everyone used the same 5 people for their market research. Or, maybe I’m just a curmudgeonly old man. That’s entirely possible, too.
But… I do love those Fall Flavors and bake up a storm this time of year. On Halloween, I made a Pumpkin Cookie to bring over to my sister’s house. The recipe – as many seasonal recipes do – called for “Pumpkin Pie Spice”.
Usually, I just wing it and pull out the spices and eyeball this and that. I’m a rebel.
But for no reason other than I felt like it – I decided to play Mad Scientist and make my own blend, for once, since my next planned cookie was an Apple Oatmeal… And there’s going to be Pumpkin Rolls at Thanksgiving, a pie or two…
I don’t buy a lot of spice blends because I usually have a ridiculous amount of herbs and spices on the shelf, but I begrudgingly admit that they can come in handy. I even made my own herb blend one year for Christmas gifts and – when recipients wanted more – I had to admit I hadn’t written anything down and really didn’t know what I had made! (Do you notice a pattern, here?!?)
This time, I’ve written it down. I’m calling it “Fall Spice Blend” because it’s good for more than just pumpkin…
Fall Spice Blend
- 16 g Cinnamon (2 tbsp)
- 4 g Ginger (2 tsp)
- 2 g Cloves (1 tsp)
- 2 g Mace 1 tsp)
- 2 g Allspice (3/4 tsp)
- 1.5 g Nutmeg (3/4 tsp)
Mix everything and store in an airtight container.
It’s a bit cinnamon-forward, because that’s the first flavor I associate with Fall. Then comes the ginger and cloves, mace and allspice to add a background punch. Nutmeg to pull it all together.
And that’s my Grandmother’s Nutmeg Grater. It was old when I was a baby.
