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Trail Bytes October 2026: Pumpkin Pie Latte Recipe & Good Times
October 02, 2026
Hello Chef,

What could be better than kicking off the Fall season with a new twist on pumpkin pie bark? When I came up with the pumpkin pie bark idea for Recipes for Adventure, I wrote, “It goes in like a chip and down like pie.” I snacked on the bark while walking and sometimes rehydrated it into pumpkin pie pudding on my first two 30-day Appalachian Trail hikes.

Adding pumpkin to your trail menu gives you a good boost of vitamin A, along with fiber and minerals like potassium, magnesium, copper, and iron.

Photo: Pumpkin pie bark and rehydrated pie photographed on one of my Grandpa's old aluminum camping plates. When I was a kid, Grandpa served walleye and beans on those plates on our fishing trips to Canada.

For this month’s edition of Trail Bytes, I made a double batch of pumpkin pie bark, then ground it into powder. In powdered form, it rehydrates instantly into pudding. You can also sprinkle it on top of oatmeal, cooked apples, and yogurt.

And for a memorable good time around the campfire, treat your friends and yourself to a pumpkin pie latte.

Pumpkin Pie Bark

(Double Batch)

Ingredients:

  • 2 15-oz. cans pumpkin, unsweetened (850 g)
  • ½ cup pure maple syrup (156 g)
  • 4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • ⅛ tsp. salt

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice:

  • 3 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp. ground ginger
  • ¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp. ground allspice

Procedure:

Stir maple syrup and spices into pumpkin until well combined. There’s no need to use a blender.

Spread pumpkin pie mixture thinly (⅛-inch thick) on silicone dehydrator sheets or trays. I used both flat silicone sheets and silicone trays with raised edges and will write more about dehydrator accessories in the next newsletter. Either type works fine for pumpkin pie bark.

Dehydrate at 135° F (57°C) for approximately 10 hours.

When the bark is mostly dry, flip it over onto a silicone mesh sheet and peel off the silicone tray. Continue drying until the bark is as crispy as possible. It will remain slightly pliable due to the maple syrup.

Tear the pumpkin pie bark into small pieces and place in a blender. Pulse until the bark is reduced to powder. Some bits may remain.

Tip: I have a powerful blender that handles powdering pumpkin pie bark well. If you’re not sure about your blender’s power, let it rest between pulses to avoid overheating the blender.

I store the pumpkin pie powder in a Ziploc bag. It clumps just a little, but with bag storage you can break up any clumps by kneading the bag. For long-term storage, place bag inside a canning jar and seal with an electric jar sealer.

Yield:

This recipe, which uses two 15 oz. cans of pumpkin, yields approximately 1½ cups (200 g) of pumpkin pie powder.

That’s enough to make three servings of pumpkin pie pudding or about 12 pumpkin pie lattes.

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Servings: 1

Ingredients:

  • ⅓ cup pumpkin pie powder (60 g)
  • ¾ cup water (177 ml)

On the Trail:

Stir hot or cold water into pumpkin pie powder. It thickens in seconds.

We also sprinkled it over yogurt. I think it would be quite tasty over vanilla ice cream, too. We’ll be trying that next!

How would you use pumpkin pie powder?

I have plenty of ideas, but I’d like to hear yours. Shoot me a reply with how you might use pumpkin pie powder in a delicious and nutritious breakfast or dessert.

Pumpkin Pie Latte Recipe

Stoke the fire and kick back with a dreamy pumpkin pie latte.

Servings: 1

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp. pumpkin pie powder
  • 1½ Tbsp. whole milk powder
  • ½ Tbsp. instant coffee *
  • 8 oz. boiling water (236 ml)

* We like Nescafe Gold Espresso.

Packing Tips:

It’s easier if you mix all the ingredients together at home than on the trail. Combine them in one bag and then all you need to do is measure out four tablespoons (¼ cup of powder) per serving. For a group, multiply the ingredients for one serving by the number of people.

Procedure:

Place the combined pumpkin, coffee, and milk powders in a cup.

Add a little warm water to the cup and stir. This keeps the powdered milk from clumping, which can happen when you add boiling water straight away.

Lastly, add the boiling water and stir.

Photo: To photograph this amazing brew, I searched the cupboard for my 60-year-old mug that my Grandma bought me at a souvenir shop on the boardwalk, Seaside Heights, New Jersey.

Bringing it Full Circle

Dominique and I continued touring Georgia state parks last month with visits to Amicalola Falls State Park. We hiked the five-mile Hike Inn Trail from the falls to the Len Foote Hike Inn. The friendly staff there serve family-style breakfasts and dinners if you spend the night, but this time we only stopped for lunch and hiked back out.

We returned to the park last week with one of our granddaughters. It’s good to get her started early. She carried the pack up all 750 stairs from the bottom of the falls to the top. Perhaps we have a future thru-hiker in the family.

Amicalola Falls State Park is the gateway to the Appalachian Trail in Georgia. Thru-hikers hike the 8½ mile Approach Trail from the falls to Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the A.T.

Thanks for reading Trail Bytes. I’m looking forward to hearing your ideas on how you might use pumpkin pie powder at home or on the trail. Dominique gave two thumbs up on the pumpkin pie latte, so we hope you’ll give it a brew. We’d also love to hear about your current hiking plans and adventures.

Freundliche Grüsse,

Chef Glenn & Dominique

P.S. Visit the Dehydrating Pumpkin Page on Backpacking Chef to learn how to dehydrate fresh pumpkin as well as canned pumpkin, plus more recipes like pumpkin soup and pumpkin-peanut butter granola clusters.

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