It's a little bit sweet, a little bit savory, and you're gonna want to slather it over everything in sight. Pumpkin butter is a miraculous fall spread that lends a rich spice to morning goodies.
Most people make their pumpkin butter from the canned stuff, but the folks over at the downtown Tucson brunch spot Nook like to do it from scratch. Either way, it's ridiculously easy.
Nook's head chef Matt Thompson takes any kind of raw fresh pumpkin, peels the skin off and chops it up into little cubes. Then he throws it in the crock pot with sugar, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg for about eight hours. (Make sure to stir every once in awhile so it doesn't burn.) If you want to get crazy, you can throw in a number of ingredients including fresh apples, ginger, maple syrup or honey. No actual butter required ...
Take it out, blend it, done! You've got yourself a rich chunky dip with the flavor of pumpkin pie and the texture of apple sauce. The spread adds a lush cinammony flavor to Nook's griddle cakes, which I have to say are quite addicting. I made some of the butter at home using leftover cooked pumpkin I had in the fridge. I cut the cooking time in half, and slapped it on a loaf of whole grain bread. And if that's not good enough, I hear it makes a killer rye cocktail.
Note: Nook, 1 E. Congress St., will be closed Oct. 31-Nov. 1 so that staff can participate in a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior project.
Nook's pumpkin butter
Makes several jars.
- 5 pounds of pumpkin meat, seeded, peeled and diced
- 1 cup of sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
