There’s nothing quite like a fresh cup of coffee and a thick slice of toast slathered with pumpkin butter on a crispy, sunny, fall day.
It’s pumpkin season! The coziest, most snuggly -dare I say- tastiest time of the year? It makes me smile just thinking about sinking my teeth into a plush piece of crisp and soft toast with pumpkin-spiced butter melting into all the little nooks and crannies.
What is pumpkin butter?
Pumpkin butter is a spread made with pumpkin, pumpkin spices, sugar, and of course, butter. It’s sweet, rich, and absolutely delicious. Think how life would be if you could take pumpkin pie and just spread it on toast. It’s kind of like that but a bit lighter, less dense, and more spreadable.
Is there butter in pumpkin butter?
Yes! There is butter in this version of pumpkin butter because without butter is it even technically pumpkin butter? That being said, there are versions out there that don’t have butter in them (I’m looking at you Trader Joe’s, more on that below). I suspect that they didn’t put butter in theirs so they could have a shelf-stable, more jam-like product.
Without butter, it’s more of a fruit spread. Both are delicious, but pumpkin butter with actual butter in it is amazing on warm baked goods or toast. The butter melts down into all the nooks and crannies and infuses spiced pumpkin flavor into whatever you spread it on.
Pumpkin butter ingredients
All you need is pumpkin, pumpkin spice, vanilla, and butter:
- puréed pumpkin – get the small 15-ounce can of pure pumpkin. I love Libby’s, which is straight-up pure pumpkin – Dickinson squash pumpkin to be exact.
- pumpkin spice – if you have pumpkin spice in your pantry, perfect! If you don’t, it’s super easy to whip some up. Pumpkin spice is going to add warmth and spiciness to our butter.
- vanilla – just a touch of vanilla is going to bring out the warmth of all the spices and add that baked goods feel.
- butter – it just isn’t pumpkin butter without butter! Use a high-quality butter that you love the taste of. It’s up to you if you use salted or unsalted, but I feel like salted helps emphasize the other flavors. Make sure your butter is at room temp so it’s easy to mix and incorporate with the brown sugar.
- brown sugar – brown sugar is going to give us a caramel sweetness that you don’t get with granulated sugar. But, if you only have granulated sugar at home, that will work too!
How to make pumpkin butter
- Reduce – add pumpkin, pumpkin spice, and a bit of vanilla to a pot or pan. Turn the heat up to medium and stir and cook the pumpkin until it reduces into a thick, and smooth paste. The key is to cook all of the water content out of the pumpkin so you’re left with pure pumpkin flavor. I like to use non-stick and I prefer using a pan because the increased surface area makes it easier to reduce the pumpkin. But using a larger pan means more splattering as the pumpkin is cooking down. The pumpkin will bubble and splatter, so keep that in mind!
- Cool – once the pumpkin is smooth and thick, spread the spiced pumpkin on a plate to help it cool down.
- Whip – Once the pumpkin is completely cool, whip together the brown sugar and butter. You don’t need to make sure it’s creamed, if you see granules of brown sugar in the butter, that’s perfect! Once the butter and sugar are one, mix in the cooled, spiced pumpkin and mix thoroughly.
- Enjoy – Once it’s ready, you can spread it on anything and everything! If you don’t use all of it right away, just spoon it into an airtight jar or container and keep it in the fridge for up to two weeks. Before you use it, you can whip it up to make it super smooth, or you can use it cold from the fridge. For me, there’s something about cold butter on hot toast or hot pancakes. I live for that contrast!
How to use
Spread a thick layer on fresh bread, toast, bagels, french toast, waffles, pancakes, slices of loaf cakes, buns, basically anything you would use butter on. For extra deliciousness, finish with a shower of cinnamon spice.
Homemade pumpkin spice mix
It’s super simple to make homemade pumpkin spice mix and if you do it yourself, you won’t have a whole bottle sitting in your pantry just waiting for fall. For 1 tablespoon of pumpkin spice, mix up: 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, and 1/4 tsp allspice.
Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter
Trader Joe’s is dairy-free and doesn’t have butter in it at all. Instead, it’s kind of a pumpkin spread that’s a tiny bit thick, seasoned with pumpkin spice and sweetened with sugar and honey. Think of it like pumpkin jam. If you’re dairy-free, you can make the butter recipe below by adding the sugar to the pumpkin when you’re cooking it and skipping out on mixing in the butter. Personally, I prefer it when it actually has butter in it because it adds that decadence and luxuriousness that is absolutely necessary for a spread.
If you love pumpkin and pumpkin spice, please check out these other recipes
Pumpkin butter really does bring fall up a level. Why have ordinary toast when you can have pumpkin toast? Try this recipe so you can increase your fall feels by infinity.
xoxo steph
Pumpkin Butter
Sink into a plush piece of toast with pumpkin-spiced butter melting into all the little nooks and crannies.
Serves 24
- 15 oz puréed pumpkin ~1 can
- 1 tbsp pumpkin spice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup butter room temperature (2 sticks)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar light preferred
Add the pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice and vanilla to a non-stick pan and cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, or until smooth, thick, and reduced. The pumpkin will spatter and bubble as the water cooks out, so be sure to stir and keep an eye on it.
When reduced, remove from the heat, and spread the pumpkin out onto a plate to cool.
When the pumpkin is completely cool, cream together the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer until combined. Add the cooled pumpkin puree and mix until completely incorporated.
Enjoy immediately or spoon into a jar or air-tight container and keep in the fridge to use on anything and everything. The pumpkin butter will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition Facts
Pumpkin Butter
Amount Per Serving (1 tbsp)
Calories 85
Calories from Fat 37
% Daily Value*
Fat 4.1g6%
Saturated Fat 2.5g16%
Cholesterol 9mg3%
Sodium 30mg1%
Potassium 166mg5%
Carbohydrates 10.5g4%
Fiber 2.4g10%
Sugar 4.9g5%
Protein 1g2%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.