A homemade pumpkin spice recipe to remind us what the season should really taste like

Consider including one additional spice on top of the basic four ingredients. My go-to is cardamom. In a batch of muffins in which I tested the blend, it brought a subtle, piney sweetness to the party. My other twist is granulated orange peel. I was inspired by another old Post story, this one from 1969, which said “pumpkin pie spice is a mingling of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and, often, orange rind.” This was news to me! I loved the idea, but knowing that orange zest would render the idea of a shelf-stable blend moot, I turned to granulated dried orange peel (not pieces or strips). McCormick is one grocery store brand that sells it, and it’s also available through such purveyors as Penzeys and Kalustyan’s. The citrus flavor adds an appreciated brightness and floral delicacy to the mix. Want to try both? Just make the full recipe below, divide it in half, and use half the amount of cardamom for one mini-batch and half the orange peel for the other.