Tag: snacks

Here is a repost from last year…… pumpkins are coming in and this Pumpkin Butter is a requirement around here! 

Pumpkin Butter is one of those things that, to me, doesn’t sound all that good. But it really is! Its so delicious and sweet. Really sweet. It seems to take more sugar to sweeten pumpkin than it does apples or other fruit.

Here’s how I made Pumpkin Butter today. Its very easy and you can water bath can it as long as you add some lemon juice to the pumpkin butter.  The lemon juice increases the acidity of the butter and you will be able to can it like you would apple butter in pints in a water bath for 15 minutes.

First I roasted the pumpkins and I added some Cushaw pumpkins along with my Sugar Pie pumpkins. Its what I had and the two got along very well.  I cut the pumpkins open, scraped out the seeds and saved them to roast, then put the pumpkins on a cookie sheet in a 350*F oven til they were soft.

Once they were nice and soft, I let them cool, then scooped out the cooked pumpkin. I put all the cooked pumpkin in a slow cooker.

Now, the ratio of sugar to pumpkin is shocking.  I use 1:1 sugar and pumpkin so if I have, for example, 3 cups of cooked pumpkin, I use 3 cups brown sugar. You could use rapidura or sucanat if you like.

For every 3 cups of cooked pumpkin I also add 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and the juice of half a small lemon.

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice

4 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
4 teaspoons ground ginger
3 teaspoons ground allspice
Stir well. Store in a tightly covered container.

Let the pumpkin, sugar and spice mixture cook in the slow cooker for several hours, I normally allow it to cook for 6-8 hours on LOW. This will cook out a lot of the water and make your pumpkin butter thicker and concentrate the flavors.

Now to can the Pumpkin Butter, you’ll need all the trappings of water bath canning:
a large pot with tight fitting lid
jars, kids, rings
jar lifters
ladle or large spoon
canning funnel
plastic knife or small wooden utensil
stove top

Fill the water bath canner about 1/3 of the way with water and bring to a boil.
Allow the pumpkin butter to continue to cook in the slow cooker.
Heat a pan of water and put the jars in and let them get boiling hot.
Heat some more water and add the lids and rings.
Heat yet some more water to add to the water bath canner after the jars have been put in it.

Fill your jars (use pint or half pint) with HOT Pumpkin Butter leaving a 1 inch head space. Pumpkin Butter is thick and gloppy so a funnel is a necessity so your jars won’t get all messy and sticky. Also, you may need to stir around in the pumpkin butter once its in the jar to get the air bubbles out.

Insert a wooden utensil or plastic knife into the pumpkin butter in the jar and get the air bubbles out.
Clean off the rims and edges of the jars.
Add hot lids and rings.
Put the filled jars into the water bath canner water.
When all your jars are in the canner, add more BOILING water to cover the jars.
Bring to a boil, Cover the pot with its lid and start timing.
Allow the canner and water to boil for 15 minutes.

Turn off the heat, remove the jars from the canner using a jar lifter. Place the jars on the counter top on a clean towel. Allow the jars to cool completely before you move them.
Once the jars are cool to the touch you may tighten the rings.
Label and date the jars.