Imagine the delicious taste of pumpkin pie filling spread onto your morning toast – that is what this Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter Recipe is. Slightly less sweet than pie, with rich pumpkin spice flavor and a little bit of zing, this will quickly become your favorite breakfast spread.
We love any chance to have pumpkin pie, and this easy slow cooker pumpkin butter tastes just like a bite of some of the best pumpkin pie filling. We love this delicious pumpkin spread on sour cream biscuits, banana bread, or buttermilk muffins because it gives us an excuse to have a nibble of pumpkin pie for breakfast. Fall is the perfect time to make an easy pumpkin recipe.
This homemade pumpkin butter recipe is so easy to make and can be made with or without a slow cooker. It’s technically Bourbon Spiced Pumpkin Butter, but the alcohol cooks off, and you are just left with flavorful, delicious pumpkin butter. (I like the slow cooker method because the house smells like pumpkin pie all day as it cooks – and it’s so easy to make this recipe!)
If you love apple butter, you can also use a very similar method to make apple butter!
Table of Contents
- 🥘 Ingredients in this Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter Recipe
- Can You Use Fresh Pumpkin?
- 🥣 How to Make Pumpkin Butter in a Crockpot
- 🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
- 🍳 What to Serve with Homemade Pumpkin Butter
- 🫙 How to Store It
- ✏️ Helpful Tips to Make Pumpkin Butter in the Slow Cooker
- 🍁 Looking for More Great Fall Recipes?
- Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter Recipe
🥘 Ingredients in this Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter Recipe
- Fresh or Canned Pumpkin Puree – Be sure to use plain pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie filling.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice
- Ground Cinnamon – I like to add a cinnamon stick as well, but this is optional.
- Vanilla Extract
- Bourbon – I like to use Bulleit Bourbon and have also used Woodford Reserve, but you can use your favorite bourbon – whatever you have in the house. You can also use apple juice or apple cider if you do not consume alcohol, though if you choose this method, reduce the amount of honey that you use!
- Honey – You can also use maple syrup or brown sugar to change up the flavor.
- Kosher Salt
Can You Use Fresh Pumpkin?
You can definitely use fresh pumpkin, but I recommend using pumpkin puree, not cubed pumpkin, so all of the pumpkin butter ingredients can really mix together. If you use fresh pumpkin like a sugar pumpkin or, like us, a Tahitian melon, I recommend turning it into homemade pumpkin puree first. Here’s how to make your own fresh pumpkin puree. (Pumpkin puree can also be made in the slow cooker.)
🍽 Equipment Needed
- A Slow Cooker (Crock Pot) or Large Pot
- Mason Jars
- A Rubber Spatula
- Measuring Cups and Measuring Spoons
🥣 How to Make Pumpkin Butter in a Crockpot
Crockpot pumpkin butter is really easy to make – just add all of your ingredients to your slow cooker and mix it all together. Top with cinnamon sticks if you want. (Pictures 1 – 3)
Put the lid on and set the temperature to High. Set a timer for two hours. After two hours, give the butter a stir. It should get a little browner and thicken a little. (Picture 5)
Put the lid back on and set a timer for one more hour, then open the crockpot and stir one more time.
Finally, turn the heat off, but leave the lid on the crockpot and let it sit for one more hour. The residual heat will thicken the butter up and make it so good.
After an hour has passed, stir the butter and transfer to jars. Let cool and store in the refrigerator.
Your crock pot pumpkin butter will keep for about three weeks, or you can freeze it for 3 to 4 months. (Just make sure to leave room in your jars for expansion.)
🙋♀️ Frequently Asked Questions
Of course. If you don’t want to use bourbon, replace it with apple juice or apple cider – just reduce the amount of honey that you use as these will add sugar and the butter will get very sweet.
Unfortunately, no. This recipe has not been tested for canning. There is technically not a safe recipe for canning any kind of pumpkin puree or canning pumpkin butter, no matter what anyone’s grandma tells you. (It is a density issue that causes problems with thermal conductivity – you can can cubed pumpkin, but once puréed, pumpkin butter (and pureed pumpkin) is just too thick for the heat of a home canner to get to the center of the jar to kill all of the bacteria. This has nothing to do with not wanting to listen to regulations; it’s just science. Botulism & foodborne illnesses are scary, and I don’t want to deal with them. Trusted sources: https://nchfp.uga.edu/tips/fall/pumpkins.html, https://www.thespruceeats.com/is-canning-pumpkin-butter-safe-1327453)
🍳 What to Serve with Homemade Pumpkin Butter
There are so many delicious ways to use pumpkin butter. I love pumpkin butter spread onto homemade drop biscuits, banana bread, muffins, or even pancakes. I even like mixing pumpkin butter INTO pancake batter, oatmeal, or overnight oats.
You can even use pumpkin butter to make pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bread, or pumpkin muffins.
🫙 How to Store It
Pumpkin butter will keep in the fridge for about 3 weeks or in the freezer for 3 to 4 months. (If you freeze it, be sure to leave space in the container for it to expand a little, especially if you use glass.)
Remember that it is not shelf-stable, so if you give jars of pumpkin butter as a gift, make sure that it is kept cold.
✏️ Helpful Tips to Make Pumpkin Butter in the Slow Cooker
- Make this pumpkin butter early in the day so that it has plenty of time to cool before you need to put it away.
- You can prepare this easy recipe in advance and store it in the freezer, allowing 24 hours in the refrigerator to defrost.
🍁 Looking for More Great Fall Recipes?
Have You Tried This Recipe?
Please rate it and leave a comment below. I would love to hear what you think!
Slow Cooker Pumpkin Butter
Ingredients
- 1 large can pumpkin puree (29 ounces) or two 15 ounce cans
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup Bourbon or substitute apple cider/juice
- ½ cup honey + 2 tablespoons leave out extra two tbsp of honey if using cider/juice in place of bourbon
Optional
- 1 – 2 cinnamon sticks
Instructions
In a Slow Cooker
- Pumpkin butter is really easy to make – just add all of your ingredients to your slow cooker.1 large can pumpkin puree (29 ounces), 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ⅓ cup Bourbon, ½ cup honey + 2 tablespoons
- Then mix it all together. Top with cinnamon sticks if you want.1 – 2 cinnamon sticks
- Put the lid on and set the temperature to High. Set a timer for two hours.
- After two hours, give the butter a stir. It should get a little more brown and thicken a little.
- Put the lid back on and set a timer for one more hour, then open the crock pot and stir one more time.
- Finally, turn the heat off but leave the lid on the crockpot and let it sit for one more hour. The residual heat will thicken the butter up and make it so good.
- After an hour has passed, stir the butter and transfer to jars. Let cool and store in the refrigerator. It will keep for about three weeks or you can freeze it for 3 to 4 months (just make sure to leave room in your jars for expansion.)
On the Stove
- In a medium sauce pan, combine the pumpkin puree, bourbon, honey, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, and salt.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Cook about 20-30 minutes, stirring often until the pumpkin thickens, but is spreadable. Taste the butter and add more honey if needed to sweeten.
- Remove the pumpkin butter from heat and let it cool – it will thicken as it cools. Spoon it into jars and store it in the refrigerator. It will keep for about three weeks or you can freeze it for 3 to 4 months (just make sure to leave room in your jars for expansion.)
Video
Notes
- If you don’t want to use bourbon, replace it with apple juice or apple cider – just reduce the amount of honey that you use as these will add sugar and the butter will get very sweet.
- Make pumpkin butter early in the day so that it has plenty of time to cool before you need to put it away.
- You can prepare this pumpkin butter in advance and store it in the freezer, allowing 24 hours in the refrigerator to defrost.
Special Equipment Needeed
- measuring spoons
- measuring cups
Nutrition
Nutrition information is approximate and is automatically calculated, so should only be used as a guide.
