It’s true that people love to put pumpkin spice in everything – “pumpkin spice and everything nice,” as the saying goes…
Especially if you’re wanting to get into the holiday season, pumpkin spice extract is a wonderful and easy way to add the popular flavor to your bakes and beverages!
It’s bold, convenient, and cost-effective for home baking. Plus, you can save yourself some coin by making your own pumpkin spice lattes with it rather than going to Starbucks (I’ll show you a recipe later in this article).
However, it can be difficult knowing which pumpkin spice extract to get, as there are quite a few of them…
That’s why we’ve created this list for you, ranking our favorite high-quality pumpkin spice extracts that’ll meet your needs and bring out the best flavors!
Let’s jump in and check them out!
What is pumpkin spice extract?
Basically, pumpkin spice extract is a concentrated flavor made from alcohol and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and allspice. The alcohol acts as a solvent, extracting the tasty bits of the other ingredients before being filtered.
The resulting liquid is the pumpkin spice extract, which boasts powerful flavors made for adding to bakes and beverages. You can use it in basically any setting, although pumpkin spice emulsions are technically better for beverages…
Pumpkin spice emulsions are different from the extract because they use water instead of alcohol. Extracts have a lower boiling point, which makes the final taste less intense in bakes since more of it evaporates than when using emulsions – this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, since the flavor in extracts is so powerful anyways (you might not want it to overpower other ingredients).
Emulsions are also clear, which is better for beverages because you’re not adding the amber color of pumpkin spice extract – although you definitely can if that doesn’t bother you!
How to use pumpkin spice extract in baking and cooking
You’re probably still thinking about pumpkin spice lattes – and that’s one of my favorite ways to use pumpkin spice extracts! But, you can use it simply added to your coffee, french toast, ice cream, muffins, cookies, and more!
You can also use it as a substitute to pumpkin spice, which is essentially the same thing in powder form. McCormick (which is a brand we’ll talk about more in just a bit) recommends using 1 tablespoon of pumpkin spice extract for every 1 teaspoon of ground pumpkin spice.
Pumpkin spice emulsion can be substituted for pumpkin spice extract at a 1:1 ratio – just remember, the higher boiling point of emulsion means you’ll taste the flavor more in bakes than with extracts, so adjust as you need!
3 great recipes to use your pumpkin spice extract
Remember, you can use your pumpkin spice extract to add more of that delicious flavor or as a substitute to pumpkin spice emulsion or powder.
Either way, try these out:
- Pumpkin spice mug cake: I love mug cakes, and this pumpkin spice version is absolutely delicious on top of being gluten-free, dairy-free, keto, and paleo-friendly. It’s the perfect snack for binging holiday movies, or enjoying a book while being wrapped in blankets on the couch!
- Keto pumpkin spice latte: OK, this is a good one. Not only do you get a pumpkin spice latte that tastes delicious, but you get a drink that’s keto-friendly and sugar-free! Talk about a good deal! The recipe calls for pumpkin spice, but you can substitute pumpkin spice extract for it using the measurements we talked about earlier.
- Dairy-free pumpkin spice creamer: This is the stuff you want if you love pumpkin spice lattes but just want a quick way to make it without going through the steps in the recipe above or waiting in the (ridiculously) long lines at Starbucks! Plus, it’s dairy free, making it even better for a lot of you with sensitivities! Just substitute the extract the way we talked about!
How to choose the best pumpkin spice extract
Finding the best-of-the best requires a little research, which is why we follow a strict list of criteria that decides which pumpkin spice extract is worthy or not:
- Ingredients: We’re not fans of artificial ingredients and complicated mixes of things that are unnecessary – we just want pure, simple, and delicious ingredients that make the best pumpkin spice extract!
- Consumer feedback: Ever decided not to buy a product because it had bad reviews? Same here. That’s why looking at consumer feedback is super important. It tells us whether or not a product is good from other people’s perspective, but it also shows us if the brand listens to their customers.
- Track record: Reputation is everything, so we’ve made sure that all the brands we suggest today have a clean record that tells us they actually care about their products.
- Price: Everything from low to high, we give you pumpkin spice extracts for any budget!
While this criteria will give you the best products, I’ve also included options for best organic pumpkin extracts, best for keto, etc. to offer a couple more unique options!
With that said, here are the rankings:
#1 Best Overall: McCormick
McCormick’s pumpkin spice extract is one of the more affordable ones on this list, but boy is it good!
It’s extremely well rated, and comes from a brand that’s been around since 1889 and works across 170 countries and territories – you’ve likely seen McCormick at the store, and have likely bought one of their many flavoring products!
The taste is phenomenal, and I love that they list out all the specific spice extractives in their pumpkin spice extract, which is very transparent – especially coming from a massive and popular brand such as McCormick!
You’ll definitely love this stuff!
Ingredients: Alcohol, Water, and Spice Extractives (Including Cinnamon, Ginger, Allspice, Nutmeg).
#2 Best for Ethical: Heilala
Heilala is one of those brands that not only makes really good products, but also feels good to support.
Ethically grown and hand-picked in the Kingdom of Tonga, the vanilla beans used in this pumpkin spice extract bring out a delicious flavor that gets you reaching out to read the ingredients on the bottle. And when you do, you’ll read about a wonderfully made product that has made it into the restaurants of the most renowned chefs around the world all while being committed to community and humanity.
Quick note: it is the most expensive on this list, coming in at $8.80 per fluid ounce.
Ingredients: Vanilla Bean Extractives, Cinnamon Extract, Nutmeg Extract, Ginger Extract, Natural Flavor | Heilala Vanilla Beans ethically grown and hand-picked in the Kingdom of Tonga, Polynesia (South Pacific) providing economic growth to the region
#3 Best Value: OliveNation
So, OliveNation has some really good flavoring products, with this pumpkin spice product being no exception. But, this is technically an emulsion, not an extract, which could slightly change the way you use it…
As we talked about, an emulsion has a higher boiling point, so just keep that in mind when looking at this one!
Either way, the value of OliveNation’s pumpkin spice emulsion is incredible – you get a 16 ounce bottle at $1.62 per fluid ounce! That’s significantly better than any other product on this list – and affordable doesn’t mean low-quality here. OliveNation offers a delicious and high-quality product that does what it needs to very well without breaking the bank!
Ingredients: Water, Propylene Glycol, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Xanthan Gum, Triacetin, Alcohol
#4 Baker’s Favorite: Watkins
Watkins has been around for a really long time – since 1868, to be specific. What’s more impressive is that they’ve been making their products in the same factory for over 152 years, with amazing reviews!
Their pumpkin spice extract is very good – Watkins obviously pays really close attention to making their products great. It’s also one of the more affordable ones on this list, and you can’t get much better than this kosher-certified extract that’ll have you wanting to bake more than ever!
Plus, it’s made right here in the USA!
Ingredients: Propylene glycol, alcohol, natural and artificial flavors.
#5 Trusted Brand: LorAnn
This, like OliveNation’s product, is technically a pumpkin spice emulsion, not an extract. However, don’t let that distract you from the fact that LorAnn is the most trusted brand in the business – they have nearly 26,000 reviews on this product, with an astounding 4.5 out of 5 stars!
That’s crazy.
But more than that, it’s a testament to how much they care about creating a high-quality pumpkin spice product for their customers…and their customers obviously love them.
Hop on the LorAnn train if you’re OK with a pumpkin spice emulsion rather than an extract, I don’t think you’ll have any regrets!
Ingredients: Water, propylene glycol, natural and artificial flavors, xanthan gum, triacetin, alcohol
#6 Best for Keto: Stevia
If you’re looking for a pumpkin spice extract that’ll fit your keto diet needs, look no further. Stevia’s pumpkin spice extract has zero sugar added, and you can use it as a sweetener/sugar alternative that boasts a fall-vibe twist. That gives you a great work-around to a lot of fall-type dishes that are usually full of carbs, because you can add the same flavoring in a keto-friendly way!
Ingredients: Purified Water, Stevia, Pumpkin Spice Extract, Vitamin C Potassium Sorbate (less than 2%)
#7 Honorable Mention: Silver Cloud Flavors
Silver Cloud Flavors, often known as Apex Flavors, has some pretty solid reviews throughout the web. Their pumpkin spice extract is good, with a solid blend of flavors that’ll for sure meet your needs.
However, they don’t have the huge reputation that a lot of these other brands have, and they don’t have a ton of consumer feedback that makes them stand out from the rest of the pack – don’t get me wrong, they have a great pumpkin spice extract, and they have solid scores across their entire product line up…
I recommend considering being a bit of a trailblazer, giving this pumpkin spice extract a try and leaving a review for the world to see!
Ingredients: Ethyl alcohol, propylene glycol, water and natural flavor.
#8 Honorable Mention: Larissa Veronica
So, this is an interesting brand we found. Larissa Veronica isn’t nearly as big as most of these other brands, but they have great reviews wherever I was able to find them.
I like that they have suggestions for how to use their pumpkin spice extract, saying it’s best to use it for ice cream, smoothies, shakes, and sorbets. They also give this great tip: use 1 tablespoon of pumpkin spice extract per quart of ice cream or yogurt, and 1-2 teaspoons for shakes and smoothies in the 16 oz range.
I would definitely recommend giving this brand a try, although it is a bit pricier at $6.36 per fluid ounce…
Ingredients: Natural ethyl alcohol, natural flavors
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