A quick and easy recipe for making apple pumpkin butter on the stovetop, featuring pumpkin purée, apple cider, and comforting fall spices.
You can go about the start of your pumpkin butter in either one of two ways: open a can or open a pumpkin. If you choose to do the latter, you may be in need of a little how-to.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN PUREE
Here's how you do it:
(1) Snap the stem off of the pumpkin,
(2) cut the pumpkin in half (make sure you are working with a baking pumpkin, not the great big Halloween pumpkins),
(3) remove the seeds,
(4) drizzle with canola oil,
(5) place pumpkin flesh-side down on a baking sheet
(6) bake at 425° until tender when poked with a fork, about 35-40 minutes. Scoop out the flesh, and run it through a food processor and voila! There's your puree.
Here is a little demo for getting into that pumpkin if ya still need a little help:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo8vWb1WA9E
CANNED VERSION
Okay, so here's the deal: I use this apple pumpkin butter recipe for entertaining, so I can't promise you I'm going to be making it from scratch every single time. Nope. Instead, I'll reach for the can of pumpkin purée in the baking aisle of my grocery store, and head home to whip up one seriously easy version of pumpkin butter.
HOW DO YOU MAKE PUMPKIN BUTTER
Initially, I assumed making a pumpkin butter would be a difficult and time-consuming process. However, it was quite the opposite. Pumpkin butter could not possibly be any easier to make, especially if you are using canned pumpkin purée. You simply combine pumpkin purée, sugar, warm and cozy spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves in a saucepan over the stovetop. To make it an apple-flavored pumpkin butter, I added some high-quality apple cider and just a touch of freshly squeezed lemon juice to brighten up the overall flavor profile. Once all of the ingredients are combined, you allow it to simmer over medium-low heat, until the mixture thickens and resembles the consistency of room temperature butter -- hence the name, pumpkin butter. Now that you know how to make it, let's talk about my favorite thing to do with it...besides eat it, obviously.
HOW TO MAKE THE PUMPKIN BUTTER AND COOKIE PLATTER
I love a good cheese platter, but every now and again, when I am hosting a gathering in the fall, I like to shake things up a bit. This apple pumpkin butter and cookie platter does exactly that, and it is a sweet and unexpected treat perfect for autumn gatherings.
To make the platter, I placed my two heaviest items (in this case a cute little jar of pumpkin butter and a decorative bowl full of golden raisins) on each end of a rectangular platter. Then, I purchase cookies with warm, fall or nutty flavors like ginger snaps, almond biscotti, and amaretti cookies, and place them in bunches all around the pumpkin butter and raisins. After getting the cookies in place, I sprinkled broken bits of white chocolate across the cookies to create a visual divide for each bunch. This pumpkin butter platter has it all; flavor, color, texture, and beauty, which is exactly what you want when creating a show-stopping platter for entertaining!
Enjoy this recipe, and happy fall entertaining to all!
A quick and easy recipe for making apple pumpkin butter on the stovetop, featuring pumpkin purée, apple cider, and comforting fall spices.
- 2 cups pure pumpkin purée canned or fresh
- ¾ cup apple cider
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar packed
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- ¾ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
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Combine all of the above ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-low heat, and whisk to combine. Allow the pumpkin butter to simmer, stirring often, for 20-25 minutes, until reduced and thickened.
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Remove from the stovetop and allow to cool. Serve and enjoy.
The final product should yield a consistency of room temperature butter. Makes about 2 ½ cups.
