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 make pumpkin cheese cakes every year . This year I plan on swirling the pumpkin butter on top before baking. Will let you all know how it compares to the cheese cake that I’m known for. :)
Thank you for this. I’m on my third batch. And I’ve learned lots of fun stuff.
1. The little baby pie pumpkins work well too (and easier to come across in my neck of the woods.) You need like 4 of them per batch. And it’s easier to cut those suckers in half, and then remove the stem.
2. Molasses substitute for part of the maple syrup makes it less sweet.
3. Ginger is an awesome addition.
4. The pumpkin smoothies are fantastic, especially if you add some peanut butter to them. It’s become my favorite weekend breakfast (for a non-breakfast person.)
5. You tell people you are making pumpkin butter and they get all jealous and want you to send them some. Be prepared if you are going to talk about it.
And oh, if you’re super pumpkin fan, there’s a recipe for pumpkin gnocchi with apples and sage that is the yum.
Incredible. I just used this as the filling for cinnamon buns. Seriously amazing!! Have you tried canning it?
Just saw the message above about canning. Rats.
This looks amazing! Which do you prefer taste-wise, this pumpkin butter from scratch, or the pumpkin butter using canned pumpkin puree? They both look amazing!
To be honest they are both amazing! You can’t go wrong with either. If I have more time I make it from scratch but the other is good in a pinch.
I love this and have made it many times. This batch didn’t produce the glossy finish I usually get. what can I add or do to improve on that?
Im not sure Lisa, did you make any changes?
Ooooh that looks super rich and creamy. *slurp*
I made two batches of your pumpkin butter and then the third batch I spread on to trays and dehydrated into pumpkin butter leather! Outstanding! Thankss for the great recipe!
omg pumpkin butter leather??? Is this for real…I have to try it! How thin did you spread it and for how long and what temp did you dehydrate (sorry for all the questions hah)
My dehydrater is a very old hand made wooden one with metal tray, no timer, and no temp settings and to turn it on or off you plug or unplug it! LOL! But it works! I cut parchment paper to fit the trays and tried to spread it evenly and ran it over night. It was a bit long cuz the leather cracked and pulled apart but the taste is wonder. I only have pie pumpkins I grew and I pressure cooked them until they were soft scraped the pulp into my kitchen aide blender and then added the rest of the ingredients purreed it up and spread it out. Mine comes out so thick I don’t have to cook it down!
I had to add that I did this with a “cornfield pumpkin” that I grew in my garden. I had to cut it into sections to roast it and it made ~3x’s the amount or so. The puree blended up to about 5-6 cups each time and did this 3 times. I added the recommended amounts of additional ingredients in your recipe and did this in 3 batches essentially. now I have a ton of pumpkin butter (some in the refrigerator, some in the freezer). I did roast the seeds as well and I’m glad to have used the pumpkin. I just wanted to add that you don’t have to use pie or sugar pumpkins. You CAN use the larger carving pumpkins and when everything is pureed anyway, it doesn’t matter if it was stringier than the pie pumpkin. Of course, it was more work to cut it up into pieces and since it was bigger it took longer to process everything. Still tastes excellent, though!
I’m delighted to read that you have frozen some! Its been years, but I made both apple and plum butter this year — I used my crock pot for both — as well as tried my first-ever jar of pectin from fresh apples. All have been delicious. I gave some as gifts but love having a variety of small jars in the freezer. I’m planning to make vegan pumpkin cookies with a pumpkin butter glaze/frosting this month and would like to put a jar or two into the freezer for… Surprise guests? Last minute gifts? Springtime? Ummmmm…will see how long I can make this yummy butter stretch!
Will this spoil if I don’t store it in the refrigerator? I want to send some across county.
Will it be okay?
It should be fine – I would think since most nut butters are fine at room temp for at least a month.
Can this be frozen, or what’s the shelf life I’m having a October wedding and would love to make this for favors need to make them a few months in advance lol.
I’ve heard you can freeze pumpkin butter, but Im not sure for how long it would last. Goodluck!
If I want to can pumpkin butter,…. will it can like applebutter? or do I have to use a pressure cooker? which I have never used before. Please I would love an answer from someone who knows and has done this before.
Hi Genie, Pumpkin Butter is not recommended for canning (I think I might have linked to this in the recpe somewhere) All my best, Angela
I roasted my pumpkin and then blended everything in my vitamin, then decided to “cook” it in my vitamix! I figured if I can make soup in it, I could make pumpkin butter and make less of a mess! It was a success! Thanks Angela for a fun recipe
I was hoping to find a recipe to can pumpkin butter, I grew pumpkins and amazingly the smallest one was over 35lbs. So I have pumpkin coming out my ears and we recently took a trip to the Smoky Mts. and found pumpkin butter at several of the roadside stores, and decided it would be a great way to use some of the pumpkin that I have canned, Do you have any ideas on how to make a larger batch so that the butter can be canned and stored over a longer period of time?
The USDA warns against home canning of pumpkin puree & pumpkin butter. Pumpkin is not acidic enough, nor does the puree or butter contain enough water. Botulism spores are able to survive processing in a home pressure canner, then reproduce anaerobically (without air, in sealed container like a Mason jar). The result is that botulism toxin could develop in home canned pumpkin butter. Instead, it can be frozen in small batches.
I made a batch, but since we are empty nesters, I’m going to freeze some of it and hopefully use it when the kids and grand kids show up over the holidays. Thanks for the recipe!
Hmmm, do you think this would freeze well? I’ve become obsessed in the last few weeks with stocking my freezer and while pumpkins are in season I would love to double up (read: triple, quadruple – haha) on some yummy things for my freezer. :)
I just tried freezing it this weekend and I think it will work just fine. I’ll have to update my post when I know for sure! I think other readers have had success with freezing it (just take a scroll through the comments)
I did read through the comments, but I didn’t find an answer to my question. Would this still taste good without the sugar added (apple juice, sucanat, maple syrup and lemon juice)? I am doing a 21 day sugar detox but would love to try this in the slow cooker!
Is it possible to replace the Sucanat with something else? Say.. coconut nectar sugar? Or will it not come out the same? I really want to try this recipe!
coconut palm sugar, rather..
Hey Valerie, Yes you can sub any dry sugar you prefer :) hope this helps!
Can this be canned?
Great recipe. Can this be canned?