Make homemade pumpkin butter that celebrates all the warm, sweet flavors of fall: cinnamon, apples, and pumpkin.
Fall is a really special time if you live somewhere where the seasons change. You can feel and smell the shift as summer turns into fall on that first chilly morning even before the leaves begin to change.
Suddenly, it’s time to get the sweaters, knits, and boots out. And it just feels right to stock up on all things apple and pumpkin.
Any other time of year, orange is my least favorite color, but I just love it in the fall.
Pumpkin butter is one of my favorite fall treats. I used to buy two big jars at the beginning of September and try to make it last to November before I learned how to make my own.
Since I started gardening, I’ve come to enjoy growing my own pumpkins and learned to cook up those pumpkins into purée and make pumpkin butter.
What Is Pumpkin Butter?
Pumpkin butter is a sweet, thick, pumpkin spread with warm spices. I love this spread because it has a concentrated pumpkin flavor with the sweetness of apples and cinnamon.
It’s the perfect fall seasonal spread for cheeseboards, fall desserts or to add a fall flair to your everyday plain toast or oatmeal.
Simple Ingredients for Homemade Pumpkin Butter
To make pumpkin butter, you will need:
- fresh or canned pumpkin purée (instructions here if you want to make your own)
- apple cider or apple juice
- ground cinnamon
- ground cloves
- ground ginger
- brown sugar
- maple syrup
- apple cider vinegar
- salt
I used homemade pumpkin purée to make this recipe, but if you’re using canned puree, you’ll need 32 ounces or two full cans.
You can also opt to use only brown sugar or only maple syrup as your sweetener if you prefer.
Apple cider vinegar and salt may seem like odd ingredients to add to this recipe, but both help to cut the sweetness of the pumpkin butter and bring out the flavors. Just a little bit is called for in the recipe. We don’t want to overdo either and make this a savory butter!
If you don’t have apple cider vinegar, you can use lemon juice instead or omit the ingredient. I would not try to substitute with a different vinegar.
How to Make Pumpkin Butter
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine pumpkin purée, apple cider, spices, brown sugar, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar.
Add a small pinch of salt.
Stir mixture until sugar is dissolved and all the ingredients are well incorporated.
Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Stir frequently to keep the butter from sticking to the pan.
You’ll see the color of the pumpkin butter change from bright orange to a warm brown as it cooks.
Once it is thick enough to hold its shape mounded on a spoon, turn off the heat and allow to cool.
Transfer to an air-tight container and keep in the fridge for up to one week. You can also freeze pumpkin butter in freezer-safe containers or freezer bags and pull out as needed. Defrost in the refrigerator.
I have not tried canning this recipe, as I don’t know what the acidity level is, so I would recommend freezing extra butter instead.
How to Use Pumpkin Butter
I love having a jar of pumpkin butter in my fridge all fall to use in a number of different ways.
You can spread pumpkin butter on toast, pancakes, waffles, bagels with cream cheese, or scones.
Try a spoonful stirred into vanilla yogurt or on top of ice cream.
Turn plain oatmeal into pumpkin spice oatmeal by adding in pumpkin butter.
Add a spoonful to your morning coffee with milk for easy pumpkin spice latte vibes if you don’t want to go through all the fuss of making your own with espresso!
Serve as a condiment for a cheeseboard or on top of baked brie with pecans or walnuts.
Use as the filling for cinnamon rolls or cakes.
Make pumpkin butter muffins, pancakes, or scones by adding a few scoops of this butter to your recipe.
The concentrated pumpkin flavor really stands out in baked goods, which is why I prefer to use it over plain pumpkin puree.
However you decide to use it, I hope you enjoy your jar of pumpkin butter this season!
Pumpkin Butter
Ingredients
- 4 cups fresh or canned pumpkin puree
- 2/3 cup apple cider
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 cup brown sugar loosely packed
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
- In a saucepan over medium heat, combine pumpkin puree, apple cider, spices, brown sugar, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and a small pinch of salt.
- Stir mixture until sugar is dissolved and all the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Stir frequently to keep the butter from sticking to the pan. Once it is thick enough to hold its shape mounded on a spoon, turn off the heat and allow to cool.
- Transfer to an air-tight container and keep in the fridge for up to one week. You can also freeze pumpkin butter in freezer-safe containers or freezer bags and pull out as needed. Defrost in the refrigerator.