If you’ve been reading this blog for a year or longer, you may know that I’m head over heels for Homemade Pumpkin Butter. Not only is it one of the most popular recipes on the blog, but it’s also a personal favourite. I eagerly make several batches every fall and winter (umm, and apparently during the summer now…). No two batches are ever the same; I love changing it up with different sweeteners and spices depending on my mood. You all seem to love pumpkin butter too – I get so many comments and emails about the recipe!
The original recipe uses canned pumpkin which is great for convenience, but I’ve always wanted to try out the recipe using freshly roasted pumpkin. I just knew it was going to rock my world.
Oh, did it ever.
If you saw my pumpkin roasting tutorial Monday, you may recall this photo of the roasted pumpkin after blending in my Vitamix:
Well, after that photo I had a lightbulb moment. Why not just throw all of the pumpkin butter ingredients straight into the blender and blend it all up?
It turned out to be a great idea to use the blender – no need to whisk in any ingredients. Plus, the blender got it super smooth and silky. I also reduced the amount of juice so it only took 10 minutes to cook down on the stove top as compared to 35-45 minutes in the original recipe. I certainly wasn’t complaining!
My Tip:
The best tip I can give you when making pumpkin butter on the stove-top is to cover the pot with a lid and prop it open with a wooden spoon. The mixture splatters everywhere while simmering and you definitely need a lid to cover it while still allowing steam to escape. You can also make it in a slow cooker if that floats your boat.
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All Natural Pumpkin Butter From Scratch
Yield
3 to 3.5 cups
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Adapted from Homemade Pumpkin Butter.
Ingredients
- 4 – 4.5 cups fresh pumpkin puree (made from ~3.8 pounds sugar pumpkin)
- 1/4 cup sweet apple cider or apple juice, more if needed
- 1 cup Sucanat (or brown sugar, unpacked)
- 3-4 tbsp pure maple syrup, to taste
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice (enhances flavour and helps preserve)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch of fine grain sea salt
Directions
- Roast your sugar pumpkins (see this tutorial). Cool for 10 minutes on pan before handling.
- Add pumpkin flesh (without the skin) in a blender. Add juice and blend until smooth, stopping to push down the pumpkin when necessary. It may take a bit to get it going.
- Add the Sucanat (or brown sugar), maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. Process again until super smooth and no clumps remain.
- Spoon mixture into a medium-sized pot. Cover with lid and prop lid ajar with a wooden spoon. Over medium-high heat, bring mixture to a low boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and cook for about 10 minutes, or until it’s as thick as you want it. Keep the lid ajar throughout the cooking process – you will find it splatters everywhere so be careful! I like to keep the lid propped up on an angle while I stir the mixture so I don’t get splattered. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
- Cool completely, stir in lemon juice and a pinch of salt, and then store in a sealed jar in the fridge. Should keep for 2-4 weeks.
No matter which version you make, one thing is for sure; your house will smell absolutely wonderful throughout the process.
Looking for ways to enjoy pumpkin butter? There are many…
- Swirled into vegan overnight oats or hot oatmeal
- Smoothies (try it in my Pumpkin Pie Smoothie for two!)
- Pumpkin Butter Oat Squares with Candied Pecans
- Spread it on toast for breakfast
- Stacked Pumpkin Butter Pancakes for One
- Swirl it into yogurt or make parfaits
- muffins & quick loaves
- try this Pumpkin Pie Chia Pudding Parfait
- Pumpkin butter latte, anyone?
- Use it as a dip for fresh sliced up apples
- With a spoon!
- Wouldn’t it be great in a pie filling? I’ll have to try this…
- Add it to banana soft serve (or vegan ice cream) for a seasonal twist
Have I convinced you yet?
I’m so glad I stumbled upon this post!! I made both your pumpkin and apple butter recipes last year and they were fabulous! I just opened a can of trader joes pumpkin butter but it’s definatly not as good as homemade. I have got to make this one as soon as my garden pumpkins come in!
YUM!! I’m going to add this to my list of reasons of why I should own a Vitamix!
i made pumpkin butter last night and i loved it :-) we had it on vegan french toast. I love your site. You have made my transition to vegan do-able and I thank you :-)
Aw that’s so great to hear!
My mom and I can’t stop making all of your recipes! Is there any way to make it sugar-free? Maybe use pureed apples instead of apple juice and stevia?
I love the idea of a natural Pumpkin butter. IT is one of the best foods but always loaded with sugar. I”m looking forward to making this recipe!
Just finished making the pumpkin butter this morning. OMG!! It smells wonderful. I’m going to add this to pancakes this morning. Thank you Angela. Love the recipes!!
This pumpkin butter looks AMAZING! I’m so ready for fall so I have an excuse to spread pumpkin butter over everything!
Oh. My. Gosh. This looks delectable. You are gonna turn this vegetarian-wanna-be-vegan into a vegan for sure!! This is what I’m gonna do with my pumpkin before I bake my pumpkin seeds. :-)
Just made this deliciousness this morning!! Out of this world good! I just had a baby and am excited at how good the puréed sugar pumpkin was all by itself! Baby will love it!! Love your blog!
OMG, mind = blown Angela….is it normal to totally want to eat the whole batch right out of the pot? Umm, yes, let’s hope so! Thanks for sharing this DEEEEEELISH treat that tastes a beautiful creamy medley of fall + thanksgiving :)
Glad you love it Amy!!
Angela, I just finished making this pumpkin butter and OMG it’s delicious! I’ve never even tasted it before until this evening and I also haven’t ever cooked with fresh pumpkin before either….I’ve always used the canned. I can honestly say that I won’t be using canned from now on if I can help it. Not only did two small pumpkins yield 4-5 cups (just like your recipe says it should), every step of the process went perfectly smoothly – because I followed your instructions to the T.
My family is going to totally love receiving a small jar for Thanksgiving (I’m making some for everyone) and I’m also going to link to this post on my blog when I write about the awesome pumpkin butter!
Thank you so much for all of your recipes! <3
Love, love, love this! Thank you so kuch for sharing it with us.
It’s spring here in Canberra but I still have garden pumpkins squirrelled away in the pantry.
I cannot wait to put them to good use. :o)
Just wanted to thank you for sharing this recipe. I made it right after it posted and it turned out amazingly delicious! I had never before roasted a pumpkin but I followed your instructions and didn’t run into any issues at all. Now, I’m about to make a huge batch to hand out to family tomorrow at a gathering. <3
I tried this recipe over the weekend and oh my goodness – this is incredible. We’ve put it on toast, mixed it into whipped cream and made chocolate pudding-pumpkin parfaits, and mixed it into oatmeal. I think this stuff would go great on just about everything. Thanks!
Iabsolutely love your blog! Where can i find sugar pumpkins in the summer? I noticed you said you have started making pumpkin butter in the summer. Also, are sugar pumpkins any different from the small pumpkins you can find in the fall -through i just bought some to decorate the outside of my apartment.
thank you!
melinda:)
Hey Melinda, The sugar pumpkins arrived a bit early this year (late august) – they are also called pie pumpkins or pumpkin pie squash. Be sure not to use the mini pumpkin gourds as you aren’t supposed to eat those. Goodluck!
I make pumpkin apple butter with my Mother every year and give jar out to relatives and friends for the holidays. We usually use canned pumpkin and a whole bag of apples but I will have to try it this way – my mouth is just watering looking at the photos.
Hi! I love your blog. I adapted this recipe and used it on my blog. I did credit and link back to you, I just wanted to let you know!
Blessings!
Miranda
Thank you Miranda, I’ll check it out :)
Did you try it in the slow cooker yet? Would it be a similar process to making apple butter in the slow cooker? Thanks! Love your recipes!
I havent tried it yet but I cant see why it would work!
Angela, is there anything that you could recommend using in place of the apple cider/juice?
Stupid question…but can you can this like any jelly or preserve or apple butter? Would it be good?
Hi Tammy, Sadly, it’s not recommended to preserve pumpkin butter. I linked to the article in my original post if you want to check it out.