Pumpkin Butter

I admit, I tend to over do it every year with pumpkin: pumpkin chai tea, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin funnel cake, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin brownies, pumpkin chocolate, chocolate pumpkin pie, pumpkin pizza, pumpkin pasta, and of course pumpkin butter.  Last week my a dreadful thing happened – my pumpkin butter ran out.  GONE!  This may have been a delight to Eric who suffers through my pumpkin craze annually, but I was craving more.  

It was at this time that I also realized I had never gotten around to carving pumpkins for Halloween.  Therein lies the answer to my conundrum.  So for the first time I can remember, I did not carve a pumpkin, but made pumpkin butter. 

Cut 1 pumpkin in half and remove the seeds.  Ideally a sweet pie pumpkin would be used, however I had a smallish carving pumpkin and decided to try this anyway. 

Cut pumpkin into wedges and place on a rimmed baking sheet.  This is my entire pumpkin on one sheet, which should give you an idea on the size of the pumpkin. Roast at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.  Test with a fork – pumpkin flesh should be very soft.  

Once the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, peel off the pumpkin rind.  I allowed my pumpkin to cool overnight.  This is an easy recipe to break into segments if you do not have the time to make this straight through. 

Add 1 cup of water to pumpkin mixture during the blending process; blend pumpkin until smooth.  I ended up with 4-1/2 cups of pumpkin puree from  my one pumpkin.   

Place pumpkin puree into a large saucepan.  

Add 1-1/4 cup brown sugar,

1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, and stir.  

Bring pumpkin mixture to a boil, reduce to low heat and cover, propping one side of the lid open.  Cook on low heat for 30 minutes or until thickened.  

I boiled my jars to clean them, however I did not do the official preserving canning method for this recipe.  That means the jars of pumpkin butter must be refrigerated and eaten within two weeks. 

This bubble illustrates what happens when the pumpkin butter mixture boils – hot splatters!  Use caution, as it is easy to burn oneself. 

I used my 30 minutes of cooking and thickening to play with Greta who was having a blast tormenting cats with her toys. 

When mixture is thickened, ladle pumpkin butter into jars.  

Cover and allow to cool.  Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks.  I got these 5 jars out of one pumpkin!

One really good pumpkin butter suggestion: almond butter and pumpkin butter sandwiches.  This is what we will be taking for lunches this week. 

1. Cut 1 pumpkin in half and remove the seeds.  Cut pumpkin into wedges and place on a rimmed baking sheet.  This is my entire pumpkin on one sheet, which should give you an idea on the size of the pumpkin. Roast at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.  Test with a fork – pumpkin flesh should be very soft.  

2. Once the pumpkin is cool enough to handle, peel off the pumpkin rind and place in a blender.  Add 1 cup of water to pumpkin mixture during the blending process; blend pumpkin until smooth. 

3. Place pumpkin puree (4-1/2 cups) into a large saucepan.  Add 1-1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, and stir.  Bring pumpkin mixture to a boil, reduce to low heat and cover, propping one side of the lid open.  Cook on low heat for 30 minutes or until thickened. 

4. When mixture is thickened, ladle pumpkin butter into jars.  Cover and allow to cool.  Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks.