Pumpkin Butter Love

I just made pumpkin butter and the house smells heavenly - a mixture of clove, cinnamon and citrus.  It's exactly how a kitchen should smell on a crisp autumn day!  And I know you are dying to find out how I did it so your house can smell just as divine.

First, you need pumpkin puree.  You can either use pumpkin from a can or make your own.  I chose to make my own.  To do this, cut the pumpkin in half, clean out the middle, wrap it in aluminum foil and bake (with the cut side up) at 325 until soft.  The cooking time varies depending on the size of the pumpkin, but should be around an hour for a small sugar pumpkin.

Once your pumpkins are cooked and cooled enough to handle, scrap out the meat and discard the flesh.  Process the pumpkin meat in a food processor or blender until creamy.  You now have pumpkin puree!  This puree is perfect for soups, pastas and pies, so scoop some into freezer-safe containers and save for a rainy day.

Now it's time to make pumpkin butter!  Pour the remaining puree into your slow cooker.  You're going to need A LOT of puree.  The puree reduces by about half, so if you want 12 half-pint jars you are going to need 6 quarts of puree.  To the puree, add sugar, spices, lemon juice and lemon zest.  The quantities of each depend on your person tastes.  To 4 quarts of puree, I added 3 cups brown sugar, 2 T minced ginger, zest of 1 lemon, juice of 2 lemons, 3 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp clove. 

Place the cover on your slow cooker, leaving room for steam to escape.  I used a couple of dowels, but you could also use spoons or just leave the lid askew.  Set your slow cooker for low and cook until desired consistency is reached, about 10+ hours.  If you have more puree than will fit in your slow cooker, add additional puree as the pumpkin butter cooks down or, alternately, make your pumpkin butter in batches. 

Once the pumpkin butter has reached the desired consistency, ladle into containers (being sure to leave head space), allow to cool to room temperature, and freeze.

It's great on toast, bars or even as a maple syrup substitute on waffles and pancakes (which my kids LOVE)!

Happy Eats!