Pumpkin Butter

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In the fall, when squash and pumpkins are in their prime, make this pumpkin butter your go-to spread and recipe addition.

By
Kelsey Jane Youngman
Photo of Kelsey Youngman
Kelsey Jane Youngman

Kelsey Jane Youngman is a New York–based cook, baker, writer, and editor for Food & Wine with over 7 years of experience in food media. Kelsey has developed recipes, worked in culinary production, starred in cooking videos, and baked cookies for Cookie Monster.

Expertise: recipe development, cooking, baking, food styling.

Experience: Kelsey Jane Youngman has spent her life in kitchens, and began her professional training at the San Francisco Cooking School before moving to New York City to attend the Natural Gourmet Institute. She completed an externship in the Good Housekeeping test kitchen and cooked on the line at several city restaurants before joining Food & Wine's test kitchen editorial team. There, Kelsey has managed the kitchens, tested and developed recipes, written feature stories, worked as a culinary producer on multiple video series, and starred in her own series, "The Best Way," as well as several episodes of "F&W Cooks."

Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines
Updated on September 20, 2023
Tested by
Food & Wine Test Kitchen
Tested by Food & Wine Test Kitchen
Recipes published by Food & Wine are rigorously tested by the culinary professionals at the Dotdash Meredith Food Studios in order to empower home cooks to enjoy being in the kitchen and preparing meals they will love. Our expert culinary team tests and retests each recipe using equipment and ingredients found in home kitchens to ensure that every recipe is delicious and works for cooks at home every single time.
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Pumpkin Butter
Photo: Justin Walker
Active Time:
40 mins
Total Time:
2 hrs
Yield:
Makes 2 1/2 cups

This silky preserve toes the line between sweet and savory: Try it on toast with cream cheese, in whipped cream, mixed into pumpkin pancake batter, or melted into a mixture of sage and brown butter for an autumnal pasta sauce.

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Ingredients

  • 1 (3-pound) sugar pumpkin, stemmed, halved lengthwise, and seeded

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

  • 1/4 cup apple cider

  • 1/3 cup light brown sugar

  • 3 tablespoons honey

  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon grated fresh nutmeg

  • Pinch of ground cloves

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush cut sides of pumpkin halves with oil. Arrange pumpkin halves, cut side down, on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in preheated oven until very tender when pierced with a fork, about 50 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

  2. Scoop flesh from cooled pumpkin; transfer to bowl of a food processor. Discard pumpkin shell. Add apple cider; process until smooth, about 1 minute, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl as needed. Add brown sugar, honey, vinegar, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and cloves; process until smooth, about 20 seconds, stopping to scrape down sides as needed.

  3. Transfer pumpkin mixture to a saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low; cook, stirring occasionally with a rubber spatula to ensure bottom of saucepan does not scorch and sides of saucepan stay clean, until mixture is reduced by one-third and turns slightly darker in color, about 25 minutes. Remove from heat; let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Make Ahead

Store Pumpkin Butter in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 weeks.

Originally appeared: October 2018

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