Pumpkin Butter

ByKate Freebairn Modified: December 17, 2025

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If you’ve ever wished for pumpkin pie in a jar, you’ll absolutely adore this pumpkin butter. It’s a cross between a fruit butter and a whipped butter, combining the lovely seasonal flavors of pumpkin and spices with luxurious rich butter. My family can’t stop spreading it onto toasted sourdough bread and I’m betting you’ll want this pumpkin butter on everything too!

A jar of pumpkin butter being held by a hand. There is a wooden spoon in the top of the jar.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Gorgeous Fall Flavors - If you get excited every year when pumpkin spice latte season rolls around, you’re going to be so happy you found this recipe. You get bold pumpkin flavor but also a lovely tang from the apple juice that makes it hard to stop eating this with a spoon!

Easy to customize - I add the spices separately here so you can adjust the amounts to your taste or leave something out if you don’t like it. But if you have ready-made pumpkin pie spice, you can use that too. And if you’d like to make your own, here’s my homemade pumpkin pie spice blend.

Big Crowd Pleaser - A bunch of people who generally don’t like pumpkin have totally fallen in love with this delicious spread! My kids sometimes say they don’t like pumpkin, but this aced the taste test with the whole family.

A horizontal image of two slices of sourdough bread spread with pumpkin butter.

Ingredients

Pumpkin Puree - I usually make my own pumpkin puree which you’re welcome to do, but I’ve now been able to find canned pumpkin puree where I live and it’s a great easy shortcut. Whichever works for you! Just make sure you’re not using pumpkin pie filling, which is already sweetened.
Maple Syrup - I always recommend using real maple syrup, not pancake syrup or maple flavored syrup for the authentic maple taste.
Apple cider or unsweetened/natural apple juice - both cider or juice will work, just make sure not to buy a juice with added sugar
Brown sugar - I like the flavor of brown sugar here, but you can substitute with another sugar if you like. Light or dark is fine.
Spices - cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves.
Salt - just to perk up the flavors and make sure the pumpkin butter isn’t too sweet
Butter - I always use salted butter, but unsalted will work as well. You’ll want it to be room temperature so it’s easy to whisk into the pumpkin mixture.

Overview

Making pumpkin butter is quite similar to making apple butter.

Put the pumpkin puree, maple syrup, apple cider, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and salt into a small heavy based saucepan. Bring the pumpkin mixture to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. If the mixture bubbles too much or starts to catch on the bottom of the pan, turn down the heat.

A small saucepan containing pumpkin butter, brown sugar and spices ready to make pumpkin butter.

As the pumpkin mixture cooks, it will thicken and darken slightly. Continue cooking until you like the consistency, about 20 minutes. The spices will taste fairly strong if you try it at this point since you haven’t whisked in the butter yet.

While the pumpkin mixture is still hot, cut the softened butter into rough chunks. Add the chunks to the pumpkin mixture one or two at a time, whisking after each addition, until the pumpkin butter is smooth and spreadable. Taste and add more maple syrup if you want it sweeter, or another pinch of salt if you like things a bit more savory, especially if you used unsalted butter.

Adding cubes of butter to pumpkin butter with a whisk.

Transfer to clean, sterilised jars and store in the refrigerator.

Kate's Recipe Tips

Don’t forget to take your butter out of the fridge as softened room temperature butter will whisk up best for a nice smooth pumpkin butter.
You don’t have to sit by the stove, but keep an eye on the pumpkin butter and stir as it cooks so it doesn’t burn or stick. You want it to bubble but not too intensely or you’ll want to lower the heat.

A full jar of pumpkin butter with no lid sitting on a white surface.

How To Use/What To Eat With

We’ve been eating this pumpkin butter in my house just spread onto toasted sourdough bread, but there are so many great ways to eat it.

Double down on the delicious pumpkin flavor by serving it with sourdough discard pumpkin spice bread or sourdough pumpkin muffins.
It’s also fantastic on sourdough pumpkin bagels or plain sourdough bagels.
Pumpkin butter makes an excellent topping for any kind of waffle, whether it’s sourdough discard, banana, or of course sourdough pumpkin waffles.
A jar of pumpkin butter makes an excellent gift, especially with an accompanying loaf of sourdough bread!

A jar of pumpkin butter with a wooden spoon inside. The pumpkin butter has been spread onto slices of sourdough bread and displayed on a white counter top in front of a sage green dish towel.

How To Store and Freeze

This pumpkin butter will keep in the fridge for several weeks. It’s spreadable straight from the fridge, but I like to let it warm up to room temperature for the best flavor.

It can be frozen for up to 3 months. I freeze in small portions so we only need to thaw what we need and none goes to waste.

Frequently Asked Questions

I’m used to a pumpkin butter recipe without actual butter, do I have to whisk in the butter at the end?

You can definitely leave out the butter and it’s still delicious! If you do, I recommend going a little lighter on the spices as the amounts listed work with the butter included.

Do I need a food processor or a mixer?

If you use a whole pumpkin and make your own pumpkin puree, you’ll need a food processor or blender to puree it. But if you use canned pumpkin, no blending necessary!

I don’t have ground cloves/nutmeg/ginger, can I still make this recipe?

Absolutely! I love the depth of flavor from using all three spices alongside the cinnamon, but the pumpkin butter will still be good if you don’t have all of them. Feel free to experiment with the spices you like best.