Scooter's Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Copycat

Scooter's Pumpkin Pie Smoothie Copycat

     In college my friend Sarah introduced me to the Scooter's Coffehouse Pumpkin Pie Smoothie. I had never tasted anything that represented fall in a cup so well, I think this was even before I had experienced a Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. My younger sister Elizabeth went to get her yearly Pumpkin Pie Smoothie fix last week and she found out they changed the recipe. Since she used to manage a Scooter's she knew they used to use a family pumpkin pie recipe as the base, now the only use a pumpkin pie flavoring. She told me her life would never be the same when she found this out, not being dramatic at all. he he Elizabeth experimented with a recipe at home and sent me her base recipe, I messed around with it a little and wrote down the recipe to share! Now if you are missing the Pumpkin Pie Smoothie, or if you want to try one for the first time you can make it at home! It's a bonus that this has no refined sugars and can easily be made dairy free if you need it that way.

Ingredients

1/3 cup canned pumpkin 

1/2-1 cup ice

1/2 cup coconut, almond, or whole milk

1 1/2 TBSP maple syrup

1 TBSP cashew or almond butter

3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

optional- dairy free whip cream or whip cream and pumpkin pie spice for sprinkling 

Directions

1) Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend on high for 1 minute or until smooth. If you are using a high speed blender such as Vita-mix you will want to use closer to 1 cup of ice. If using another blender start with 1/2 cup of ice and blend, then add a few ice cubes at a time and blend until it is a creamy and thick texture.

2) Top with whip cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice! 

Enjoy!

Notes: The nut butter helps to add a good texture to the smoothie, you can use a TBSP of vanilla protein powder instead of the nut butter.

You also can add more maple syrup to taste, 1 1/2 TBSP makes for a sweet but not overly sweet smoothie, if you want more of a dessert type smoothie add 2 TBSP.