Homemade Pumpkin Butter {quick & easy}

Make your own quick and easy Homemade Pumpkin Butter Trader Joe’s style! Bright flavor notes from apple juice or cider and a touch of fresh lemon as well as sweetened and spiced just right, our pumpkin butter does not disappoint. Don’t wait until fall to make this quick and easy all-season version to enjoy on biscuits, muffins and scones, etc. Recipe includes paleo and vegan options, a variation for Bourbon Pumpkin Butter and 12 ways to enjoy pumpkin butter. Ready in just 15 minutes!

Make Your Own Pumpkin Butter:
Trader Joe’s Style Homemade Pumpkin Butter

Are you like me? Do you stockpile your favorite pumpkin butter to keep on hand year ‘round? Although I enjoy making my own pumpkin purée and pumpkin butter from scratch, sometimes in a time crunch when a major crave hits it is especially handy to have some prepared pumpkin butter in the pantry, like my favorite by Trader Joe’s, or to make your own quick style Homemade Pumpkin Butter using canned pumpkin purée.

What, an all-season pumpkin butter recipe from canned pumpkin purée? Yes. You can do this. Totally.

If a celebrated and world renowned multi-Michelin-starred chef, such as Chef Daniel Boulud, can embrace canned tuna when he cooks at home, we can all embrace canned pumpkin purée to make a quick and easy style of pumpkin butter when we cook at home, too.

Although the pumpkin butter by Trader Joe’s does not contain apple juice or cider, I enjoyed concocting my own homemade version to include it yet keep with the same bright flavor notes by adding freshly squeezed lemon juice after cooking. Going further, I like to juice fresh Honeycrisp apples when available and add it to this recipe for a truly incredible pumpkin butter.

All pumpkin butters are not the same. In fact, I am not really a fan of super thick and very dark pumpkin butters that are too sweet, overly spiced with too much cinnamon and taste a bit overcooked—almost burnt—where the flavor of pumpkin is entirely lost.

Instead, I prefer a lighter pumpkin butter both in color and texture, spiced just right with ample citrus notes from lemon, that allows the full pumpkin flavor to shine through without getting muddied down. These quality characteristics make an especially sublime Homemade Pumpkin Butter for both eating and baking.

Ingredients list from the label of Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter: Pumpkin, sugar, honey, lemon juice concentrate, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, nutmeg.

So, why am I sharing a Homemade Pumpkin Butter recipe today? Am I crazy?

Well, I have wanted to share a few recipes to celebrate March and April’s Maple Syrup Harvest season due to my love of all things pure maple syrup. And, what better way to do that than with a couple extra-special pumpkin recipes?

Breakfast is hands down the favorite meal at our house and I feel as though I should, and have plans to, add more breakfast recipes here at Wicked Good Kitchen. We go through buckets of pure maple syrup at our house as I use it often in my paleo recipe development and enjoy adding it to my paleo porridge, 3-Minute Coconut Almond Porridge, homemade paleo granola, pancakes and waffles, etc., as well.

Pumpkin lovers rejoice. Below is a list of suggested uses for prepared or Homemade Pumpkin Butter.

12 Ways to Enjoy Pumpkin Butter

As a spread on breakfast cookies, muffins, scones and toast or bagels with cream cheese
As a dip for crackers, graham crackers, pretzels and fresh fruit
As a mix-in for cereal, granola, oatmeal, and Greek yogurt or cottage cheese with nuts
As a mix-in for custards, puddings and for making French toast
As a mix-in for cocktails and smoothies as well as coffee, lattes and hot cocoa
As a spread in sandwiches with any favorite nut butter
As a mix-in for maple syrup or spread to serve with French toast, pancakes or waffles
Swirl into blondies, cheesecake, coffee cake, tea loaf or muffin batters
Layer into trifles for a decadent pumpkin spice dessert
As a filling for Rugelach or Tassies (Christmas cookies) or sandwich between whoopie pies
As a topping over ice cream or frozen yogurt
As a base for chutneys and compotes with chopped apples or pears, dried fruit, onions and nuts to serve atop baked Brie, ham or pork chops or pork roast, or to serve with appetizers and cheese trays, or as a sauce stirred into gnocchi, pasta, rice or root vegetable or potato dishes.

Ingredients

1 (29-ounce) can pumpkin purée or solid pack pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
½ cup (100 grams) packed light brown sugar
1 cup (240 ml) 100% pure apple juice (no sugar added) or apple cider
2 teaspoons fine-quality ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¾ teaspoon freshly grated whole nutmeg
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 teaspoons (10 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

In a large glass heatproof and microwavable safe bowl, combine all ingredients with the exception of the lemon juice. Cover with a loose covering that is microwavable safe such as a sheet of wax paper or paper towel.
Cook on high power for 6 minutes; stir. Cook an additional 6 minutes; stir. Cook for an additional 3 minutes; stir.
Carefully remove hot bowl from microwave using oven mitts for protection. Carefully remove loose cover and stir in lemon juice.
Cool completely. Cover airtight and store in refrigerator.