How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Butter

    For the last few years I've noticed pumpkin butter at Trader Joe's.  Last year my daughter bought a jar, and I tried it out for the first time.  I've made apple butter for years and so was a bit skeptical about how pumpkin butter would taste.  But it was delicious!  

    This fall I decided to try to make my own, so I bought a sugar pumpkin at the produce stand a few weeks ago.  Last weekend I googled pumpkin butter and picked one off the list.  I chose this one from Oh She Glows because there were a lot of pictures and great explanations. 

    My daughter-in-law said it smelled like pumpkin pie in a jar. We had it on some pancakes the next day, and wow, it was fantastic!

How To Make Homemade Pumpkin Butter

1.  Preparing the sugar pumpkin for roasting:
(1)  Wash it off to remove any dirt.
(2)  Break/slice off the stem.
(3)  Cut the pumpkin in half.
(4)  Scoop out the insides. Put the seeds in a separate bowl.  Scrape out the insides with a spoon and then rinse it.  

(5)  Put some parchment paper on a pan.
(6)  You can rub some oil on the insides of the pumpkin if you like. 
(7)  Put upside down on parchment lined pan.

2. Roast pumpkin at 350 for 45-50 minutes.  The time varies for size so check for doneness, the skin should be wrinkly and easy to remove.

3.  Cool for about 10 minutes.  Use a large spoon to remove the outside skin.

4.  Preparing pumpkin butter - Put the following into a blender or Vitamix:
(1)  Measure into the blender 4 to 4 1/2 cups of roasted pumpkin 
(2)  Add 1/4 cup of apple juice and puree until smooth about 2 minutes in a Vitamix.
(3)  Then add 1 cup of brown sugar, 3-4 T maple syrup, 1 T cinnamon, 1/2 t nutmeg, and process until smooth.

5.  Cook pumpkin puree on stove:
(1)  Put the pumpkin puree into a small saucepan.
(2)  Bring to a boil and then reduce to low and cook for 10 minutes or until the pumpkin butter is as thick as you want it to be.

6.  Remove from heat and stir in 1 t pure vanilla extract.

7.  Cool completely.  

8.  Then stir in 1 t of fresh lemon juice and 1/2 t of salt.

Note:
This pumpkin butter will keep in the refrigerator for 2-4 weeks.  It also freezes nicely.



List of other recipes made with pumpkin on this blog:

Breakfast
Yummy Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes
How to Make Homemade Pumpkin Butter
Rachel Ray's Pumpkin Spice Waffles Made Gluten Free & Dairy Free


Dinner
Thai Chicken & Pumpkin Curry
Gluten Free Fall Pumpkin Curry Soup

Breads & Muffins
Gluten Free Tremendous Pumpkin Muffins
 Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread
Thanksgiving Gluten Free Pumpkin Scones

Desserts
Old Fashioned Gluten Free Pumpkin Cookies
Our Favorite Gluten Free Pumpkin Pie
Perfect Gluten Free Pumpkin Cheesecake