Start Making Pumpkin Spice Lattes With Butter And Taste The Magic

Over the years, the pumpkin spice latte has earned its share of cultural baggage, but the drink remains undefeated. From late August through December, millions line up for the beverage. It's achieved the definition of "basic", but any mockery around it has always been sort of gendered and yucking-other-people's-yum flavored. Taste is subjective, and to many, a warm PSL on a crisp autumn day just hits the spot. Adding butter (especially, browned) makes most things taste better, so why not add it to everyone's favorite seasonal indulgence?

If this sounds strange, remember that we already lived through the great "bulletproof coffee" wave of the mid-2010s. Wellness forums were full of people blending butter and MCT oil into their morning brew, claiming increased energy and fewer jitters. It sounds shocking at first, but it isn't that different from half and half. Fat slows gastric emptying so caffeine hits at a more gradual pace, while MCT oil is rapidly metabolized and turned into energy to create a feeling of satiety. Those mechanisms are well-documented; how far you take the lifestyle is up to you. But the underlying principle of fat changing how coffee feels in the body isn't pseudoscience.

A PSL is an ideal canvas for this trick because butter and pumpkin pie spice already share a familiar flavor profile. When you brown the butter, it tastes like toasted milk solids and caramelized sugar. Those Maillard flavors echo those in pumpkin pie's crust and warmly spiced filling. Fat also carries spice aromas, and the volatile oils in cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg infuse into it and bloom more fully in the beverage for a richer tasting result.

If you do it right, butter won't make a PSL heavy or greasy, but make it taste like the latte equivalent of snuggling under a cashmere blanket and watching the first leaves fall. To get the butter browned, melt unsalted butter and a pinch of the pumpkin spice over medium heat until it turns amber and smells nutty, then carefully remove it from the heat before the milk solids scorch. A tablespoon is enough for one drink, any more and it won't incorporate quite as creamily. High-speed frothing is another crucial step, so pour brown butter into a blender with hot coffee or espresso, pumpkin spice syrup or purée, and whichever heated milk you prefer. 

If you'd rather avoid dairy, ghee works just as well. A splash of MCT oil or coconut oil can also recreate the same luscious texture without the lactose. If you want something even simpler, stir brown butter into store-bought PSL concentrate or add a little to the steamed milk you're already using. The fat will fuse with the spices and sweetener on contact. However, this brown butter hack only really works when it's warm enough to stay liquid; if you add it cold to an iced drink, it will seize into tiny flakes floating in your beverage.

What you're making, in the end, is just another iteration of what has become (to the chagrin of some) an American classic. The PSL has been tinkered with, memed, adored, resented, reclaimed, and ritualized for more than twenty years – adding in browned butter is simply the next turn of the wheel. That's the entire history of culinary development; it's how food evolves.