Homemade Pecan Pumpkin Butter

Homemade Pecan Pumpkin butter with pumpkin puree, brown sugar and pecan flavoring is smooth and delicious slathered atop toasted bread, rolls and bagels. Great stirred into yogurt, oatmeal and smoothies too!

It’s that fall season again and time for everything pumpkin. This easy homemade pecan pumpkin butter let’s you add sweet pumpkin pie flavor to all your seasonal dishes without all the work. A few hours of virtually hands-free cooking makes enough pecan pumpkin butter to flavor all your favorites for weeks. Spread on a piece of toast, slather on biscuits or add a few spoons to your morning oatmeal!

This recipe can easily be made on the stovetop too, so we’ve included those instructions for you!

We added pecan flavoring to make it extra tasty, but it’s still completely delicious without it. You can add real pecans for real pecan flavor. Just toast the pecans and grind them up in a food processor. Instructions are below.

Ingredients Needed

• Pumpkin Puree – the main ingredient and essential for making pumpkin butter, You could make your own using fresh, ripe pumpkin, but frankly the canned variety tastes just as good. Be sure you’re using pumpkin puree and NOT pumpkin pie filling.
• Apple Juice – we love the apple flavor, but orange juice is a great substitute.
• Light or Dark Brown Sugar
• Cloves – traditional fall flavor used in small amounts to compliment other spices.
• Ground Ginger – intensifies the flavor profile and compliments the cinnamon.
• Cinnamon – adds flavor that becomes stronger as it heats. Wait until pumpkin butter is fully cooked before adjusting spices.
• Nutmeg – compliments the other recipe spices. If you don’t like nutmeg, simply omit it.
• Pecan Flavoring – to keep the pumpkin butter smooth we added a few drops to give the butter a nutty pecan taste.

You can substitute pumpkin pie spice for the individual spices if you prefer. We love our Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice recipe or you can use a store-bought blend.

How to Make Pumpkin Butter

Pumpkin Butter is super easy to make either in the slow cooker or stovetop. Simply mix the ingredients together and cook until it’s thickened to a consistency you like.

Slow Cooker Method:

1. Add all of the recipe ingredients to the slow cooker insert. Stir everything to combine. Replace the cover.
2. Set the slow cooker to LOW heat and cooker 2 – 3 hours until thickened. Stir the mixture occasionally while cooking.

Stovetop Method:

1. Add all of the recipe ingredients to a heavy bottomed saucepan. Stir to combine.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil of MEDIUM-HIGH heat, then reduce the temperature to LOW and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes. The pumpkin butter mixture should be thickened at this point. If not thick enough, keep cooking until you get the desired consistency.

Recipe Add-Ins & Substitutions

• Maple Syrup – swirl a tablespoon or two into cooked pumpkin butter.
• Honey – replace all or part of the brown sugar.
• Coconut Sugar – substitute for brown sugar in the recipe.
• Apple Cider Vinegar – add more tang by substituting for all or part of the fruit juice.
• Additional Spices – like allspice, cardamom and star anise.

Pumpkin Butter Uses

• Spread on toast and biscuits
• Add to cornbread batter
• Stir into Steel Cut Oatmeal
• Add to a smoothie
• Swirl into plain yogurt
• Stir into Butternut Squash Soup

How To Use Real Pecans In Pecan Pumpkin Butter

If you want to use real pecans in your Pecan Pumpkin Butter instead of pecan flavoring, it’s simple enough. Adding real pecans will result in a grainy texture (still amazing) rather than the super smooth pumpkin butter using the pecan flavoring.

1. Add 1 cup pecans to a non-stick or cast iron skillet over MED-HIGH heat. Stir occasionally for 5 minutes or until pecans start to darken and become fragrant. BE CAREFUL not to let them burn. OR place pecans on a baking sheet in a 350 F oven for 5 – 8 minutes.
2. Place toasted pecans in a food processor and pulse until ground to a paste consistency. Pecans will not be totally smooth.
3. Add to other recipe ingredients, substituting the toasted pecans for the pecan flavoring, in the slow cooker or saucepan. Cook as directed.

How to Store Pecan Pumpkin Butter

This recipe makes about 4 cups of pumpkin butter. To store your leftovers, let the pumpkin butter cool completely, then transfer it to an airtight container. It will keep fresh in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Freezing is another option. This pumpkin butter can be frozen for up to 2 months.

More Pumpkin Recipes You’ll Love

• Harvest Pumpkin Soup
• Pumpkin Walnut Bread Pudding
• Brown Sugar Pumpkin Cheesecake
• Homemade Pumpkin Cake

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