It is finally the time of the year when we start craving the coziness that only pumpkin spice items can provide! I use A LOT of pumpkin spice both for my personal baking projects and at my coffee shop, so buying those premixed tins for $4.49 is just impractical.
Believe it or not, but what you pay $4.49 for at a grocery store, you can make the equivalent at home for $1.45 or less (if you buy your spices in bulk at Costco!). If you are only planning on baking 1 pumpkin spice baking project, the question inevitably arises: should you make your own pumpkin spice blend, or opt for a premixed version?
Make Your Own
- You have many pumpkin spice baking projects
- You only plan on doing one fall baking project and you have most or all of the spices already at home
Buy the PreMix
- You only plan on doing one fall baking project AND
- You do not have any of the spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, all spice) already
Other reasons to Make your own Pumpkin Spice Mix
- Convenience – if you forgot to grab the pre-made mix when you were at the store, then there is no sweat! You can adjust the ratios of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves to create a blend that perfectly suits your palate. If you prefer a more intense ginger kick or a subtler cinnamon note, DIY is the way to go. Plus, you can experiment with additional spices like cardamom or black pepper for a unique twist.
- Customizable – Pre-ground spices can lose their potency over time, so grinding them yourself can lead to a more vibrant and aromatic spice mix.
As you can see, there is a lot of benefits to making your own spice mix, but ultimately the decision depends on your baking needs! When you consider price/gram, it is clearly more economical to pre mix, but if you only have one pumpkin spice baking project in mind and you have none of the spices at home, you will end up paying $15 – 20 to make your own pumpkin spice mix which is ridiculous!
Pumpkin Spice Substitute
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp cloves
- 1/8 tsp all spice (optional)
Instructions
- Mix all your spices together in a bowl, then add the amount needed to your recipe.