I’m a Spice Mix Girl! Making and using spice mixes in my recipes and sharing them with you here so that you can do the same makes me happy. The response to my spice mixes has made me even happier: you like them, you REALLY like them! There are links to all of the spice mixes at the bottom of the post, and today, I have a new one to share with you just in time for fall baking and the holidays.
Zippy Autumn is the Latest Spice Mix in the Glover Gardens Portfolio
The latest Glover Gardens spice mix is called Zippy Autumn. It is our permanent replacement for “pumpkin spice”.
As you know, “pumpkin spice” has NOOOOOO pumpkin in it. What’s with that??? There’s a pumpkin spice fever that overcomes even the most rational of people each fall here in the US, resulting in silly things like Pumpkin Spice Bird Seed. I might have ranted about this before…
Zippy Autumn’s Origin
There was a need for a baking spice mix, and I created Zippy Autumn back in the spring. I realized that the blueberry muffins I was making every few weeks to give to my recently-widowed mother-in-law were lacking a little kick. Everything needs a kick here at Glover Gardens—that’s how we roll. And that’s why the family of spice mixes all start with “Zippy”.
“Hmmmm, I wondered, is there a Zippy I can do for baked goods?”
Indeed, there is! That’s the winning combination there in the middle of the picture of those sassy-tasting blueberry muffins ready to bake.
I tried out several variations and finally landed on a combination of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg.
Cardamom is infrequently included in “pumpkin spice”, and allspice and ginger usually are, but I found that the clean and pungent taste of the cardamom negated the need for either allspice or ginger. We are big fans of cardamom here, having learned to sing its praises as a star spice in the upside-down pineapple cake The Grill-Meister makes.
Zippy Autumn is Versatile!
Dear Readers, I always test my spice mixes extensively in recipes before sharing them with you, because I don’t want to let you down. I can happily report that Zippy Autumn was awesome in these recipes:
- blueberry muffins: recipe here
- pumpkin crepes: recipe here
- pumpkin bread pudding: recipe coming soon
Zippy Autumn Spice Mix Ingredients
The ingredients for Zippy Autumn aren’t unexpected, but the way they are combined in this mix is just right for baked goods with that wonderful, cinnamon-plus-a-punch flavor that tastes great all the time, but is especially appreciated in the fall and holiday seasons. There are only four ingredients, and here are recipes for two different-sized batches. A little of this mix goes a long way, so don’t feel like you need to make the big batch. For instance, the blueberry muffin recipe only needs 1¼ teaspoon to get the necessary level of jazziness.
Zippy Autumn Spice Mix Recipe
Ingredients – Small Batch (makes <2 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp. cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. cloves
- 1 tsp. cardamom
- ½ tsp. nutmeg
Ingredients – Medium Batch (makes ⅓ cup)
- ¼ cup cinnamon
- 1 tsp. cloves
- 1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cardamom
- 2 tsp. nutmeg
Instructions
Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container. Use as directed in recipes.
Join Me in the Kitchen
I learned when I was making the Zippy Autumn tonight that I hadn’t done a good job in spice jar rotation. There were several containers of each of the ingredients, all open. That’s wrong! Spices are meant to be used in the order they are procured, and one shouldn’t let them linger on the shelf, where they lose their potency. I checked expiration dates, culled, and combined, to ensure that my spices would get used in the best way to optimize their freshness.
Assembly is so simple.
The Glover Gardens Family of Spice Mixes
The first one was Zippy Southwest, AKA as just plain “Zippy”.
The next was Zippy Cajun, for our love of cajun-creole cooking.
Next came Everything Rub, which is a spicy-sweet rubs that was created for our Spicy-Sweet Honey Chipotle Pork Spareribs and its accompanying barbecue sauce, but we quickly realized that it was good on many, many more dishes.
Glover Gardens “Everything Rub” – Make It Now and Keep It On Hand for … Everything!
Zippy Sicilian came along to quench our fire for yummy, Italian flavors that make foods come alive and sing arias.
Zippy Sicilian: An Amped-Up Italian Spice Mix
Prior to Zippy Autumn, the latest Glover Gardens spice mix was Zippy Coffee Rub, also a winner!
Zippy Coffee Rub, Another Fine-Tuned Glover Gardens Spice Mix
If you try the Zippy Autumn, let me know how you used it! I promise, you will never go back to store-bought non-pumpkin “pumpkin spice”.
© 2024, Glover Gardens
Fabulous post! Can’t wait to try some oif all of these spice mixes ☺️💕
Thank you, Christine! Please come back and share what you did with them so we can learn from you. 😎
Love this! Thanks for sharing
Thank YOU! I hope you try it.