Learn how to make your own homemade holiday spices, including homemade pumpkin pie spice, homemade gingerbread spice, homemade chai spice, and homemade apple pie spice.

fresh cinnamon sticks wrapped in gold ribbon with anise star nearby on a black rack.

Making your own homemade holiday spices is easy. Here I share my spice recipes for pumpkin pie spice, gingerbread spice mix, Chai spice mix, and apple pie spice. Use them to flavor recipes such as my pumpkin smoothie, my apple banana smoothie, and in fact many of my holiday dessert recipes. And how perfect to give these fresh spice mixes in a jar with a festive and personal homemade label!

Why You'll Love Making Homemade Spices

Because it's easy and cost effective! Throw together just enough mix needed per recipe. Or make them in bulk and store.

I provide my three favorite spice mix recipes below, but there is lots of room in each for your own personal customization.

But first, let me tell you a bit of detail about spices, their history and characteristics of the most popular and useful spices to have on hand.

History of Baking Spices

Spices are used in the culinary world all year round, of course, and the holidays just ramp up their importance. And though we all know spices are attractive for scent and flavoring, they are also known for supporting good health and disease-prevention. For instance cayenne pepper is considered a metabolism booster, and cloves are useful as antiseptics. Read more about the benefits of spices in an NIH study here.

So I personally began this year using spices more often, more of them, and in unlikely places, such as five-spice in a latte, and black pepper on cookies!

There are also other spice-like ingredients that deserve a place in your pantry that aren't spices exactly, but certainly make an important flavorful and healthy contribution.

A Few Showcase Spices

Anise Star
A spice close in taste to licorice and actually bears a close resemblance to the spice fennel. Anise can be used as a whole star seed, or ground into powder. It is a strong antioxidant. Anise has anti fungal and anti-candida properties as well.

Allspice
This spice is often confused as a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, but it is actually a spice on its own from a berry of a pimento tree of Jamaica. This fragrant spice is high in vitamin C.

Cardamom
Used as a ground powder or whole seeds, this spice delivers a haunting dusty sweet flavor that enhances recipes with chocolate and cinnamon, and is also a strong antiseptic and powerful immune booster

Cinnamon
This familiar spice has a sweet scent, great for both sweet and savory recipes, and excellent at balancing blood sugars. I actually add 2 teaspoon daily to my morning coffee.

Cloves
With a flavor both sweet and bitter, like cinnamon, this spice is great in both sweet and savory recipes. Healthy wise, this spice is high in antioxidants and great for digestion and anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal power.

Chinese Five-Spice
This spice is actually a collection of anise, cloves, Chinese cinnamon, sichuan pepper and fennel. Normally found in savory Asian recipes, recently this spice is being used to add spicy heat to holiday dessert recipes.

Ginger
Ginger is both an herb and a spice, and has so many well-known healthy benefits - including detox and digestion support. Use it fresh or powdered.

Nutmeg
Earthy, nutty and with a hint of sweetness, this spice is so high in minerals, including magnesium, potassium and zinc. It makes a great home remedy for relaxation and sleep.

Recipes to Use Spices

2-ingredient Sugar Cookies
Cardamom Chocolate Cake
Pumpkin Spice Latte

If you tried this recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

Homemade Holiday Spices

Why You'll Love Making Homemade Spices

History of Baking Spices

A Few Showcase Spices

Recipes to Use Spices

📖 Recipe