I can’t believe I waited so long to make homemade pumpkin butter! It’s so incredibly delicious that I just had to share the recipe with you. If you’ve never tried it, pumpkin butter is a sweet and flavorful spread made from pumpkin puree, spices, and sugar. Think apple butter, but made with pumpkin instead of apples. Despite its name, there’s no actual butter in it. It’s called “butter” because of its thick, creamy, and spreadable texture. Trust me, you’ll love it on toast, homemade biscuits, swirled into yogurt or oatmeal, or as the perfect topping for pumpkin pancakes.
Key Ingredients
Pumpkin: I highly recommend starting with a pumpkin and roasting it for this pumpkin butter recipe. Look for the smaller baking pumpkins, often pie or sugar pumpkins. If you’d like to use canned pumpkin, you can! I’ve shared tips for canned in the recipe below. To see more tips about roasting pumpkins, see our easy pumpkin puree recipe. Sugar and Maple Syrup: I use sugar in a few ways in this recipe. First, I sprinkle a bit of brown sugar over the pumpkin before roasting it. Second, I simmer the roasted pumpkin with more brown sugar and maple syrup to make the pumpkin butter. The combination makes it so delicious. Vanilla: I love adding a dash of vanilla to the pumpkin mixture for flavor. Spices: My pumpkin butter has the perfect blend of spices (many of which you’d see if you use pumpkin pie spice). I use cinnamon, allspice, ginger, cloves, and a bit of sea salt.
How to Make Pumpkin Butter
Pumpkin butter is easy to make (I promise). You have two options for this recipe:
Start with Puree: For the quickest option, use fresh pumpkin puree or your favorite canned pumpkin puree. This allows you to skip the roasting and add the puree directly to the saucepan with the other pumpkin butter ingredients. Roast a Pumpkin: Begin with a fresh baking pumpkin. Cut it into quarters, scoop out the seeds, and rub the flesh with a bit of oil and brown sugar. The sugar melts and caramelizes in the oven, making the pumpkin extra delicious. You’ll roast the pumpkin until it’s tender, then scoop out the flesh and mash it in a saucepan with the other pumpkin butter ingredients. As a side note, roasting your pumpkin means you can also roast pumpkin seeds!
Once your pumpkin puree is ready, simmer it with other pumpkin butter ingredients for about 40 minutes. As everything simmers, the pumpkin butter thickens and becomes shiny. Blend everything to make it super creamy and smooth. You can taste and then adjust seasonings, but I prefer waiting until it cools since the pumpkin butter’s full flavor develops as it cools. When cooled, you can use it or store it in the fridge (or freezer) for another day. Here are some of my favorite ways to use it:
Layer into overnight oats. Swirl into freshly made oatmeal. Blend into smoothies like this banana smoothie. Spread it onto toast, biscuits, or homemade English muffins. Add to the top of pancakes, waffles, or French toast. Mix into pancake batter. Try swapping the pumpkin puree for pumpkin butter in these pumpkin pancakes. Stir into yogurt and top with walnuts or pecans. Make a pumpkin spice latte. Swap the pumpkin puree called for in our pumpkin spice latte recipe for pumpkin butter. Dollop onto vanilla ice cream.
1/2 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil 1/4 cup (50g) brown sugar, plus 1 tablespoon (12g) for roasting the pumpkin 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (130g) pure maple syrup 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice 1 pinch ground ginger 1 pinch ground cloves 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt 1 tablespoon amaro liqueur, optional 2Rinse and pat dry the pumpkin. Cut the from stem to end, but don’t try to cut through the stem (it’s too hard). When you’ve cut through the pumpkin, just pull each half apart. We do this in two parts. Cut one side from the stem down to the bottom of the pumpkin. Remove the knife, rotate the pumpkin to the opposite side, then do the same. When there is a slit down both halves of the pumpkin, put down the knife and pull the halves apart. They should separate at the stem. Cut the pumpkin into quarters (4 pieces total). 3Scoop out the seeds and most of the stringy bits. Rub the inside of the pumpkin quarters with oil, then place them down, with the flesh facing up onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle over the granulated sugar, then roast until the pumpkin can easily be pierced with a knife in several places and the flesh pulls away from the skin, about 50 minutes. Leave on the counter until the pumpkin is cool enough to handle. 2Use a potato masher to smash the pumpkin and mix the ingredients. Cook, covered with a lid, over low for 40 minutes. The pumpkin butter will look thick and shiny. If it seems thin, uncover and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes to reduce. 3Transfer to a blender and blend until very smooth (see the note below about safely blending hot liquids). Transfer to jars and store in the refrigerator.
