sprinklefingers

i sound like a broken record, but you really should make some pumpkin butter. i do realize i’ve only been talking about pumpkins & apples lately, but i can’t really help it. i’m up to my eyeballs in fall flavors and i kind of love it.

that said, i came up with yet another delicious use for pumpkin butter. this time - pancakes. yes i’ve said in the past that you can simply mix pumpkin butter into your pancake batter to make magical pumpkin pancakes, but this time i worked out a recipe that is pumpkin butter specific. perfect.

before we get all into the food i want to tell you that i used this recipe as a chance to teach my 3 year old kid how to separate egg whites from yolks. a few weeks ago he finally mastered cracking eggs (two-handed only. we’re working on the one-handed crack currently,) but the whole separating thing was very tough for him - as a result i laughed until i cried and made the mother of all omelets with the cracked (but not separated) eggs.

it was only after we used around a dozen eggs (and ate the omelet) that i thought to have him crack the eggs into a bowl and then reach in with his hands to (gentle!) ease out the yolks. now he’s an egg separating fool. or he just likes to get messy. it’s a toss up.

so, yes. you need to separate eggs in this recipe and then whip the whites until stiff. as the final step of preparing the batter you fold in the egg whites. the result? a light, fluffy almost lacey pumpkin pancake. seriously good.

light-as-air pumpkin butter pancakes
serves 4

you need:

• 1 1/4 cup AP flour
• 3 T vanilla sugar
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 cup 2% milk (or whole, but NOT skim)
• 1/3 cup heavy cream (or 1/2 & 1/2)
• 3/4 cup homemade pumpkin butter (or a flavorful store-bought version)
• 4 large eggs - whites separated from yolks
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 2 t vanilla extract

to make the pancakes:

1. in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. in another bowl, whisk together the milk, heavy cream, pumpkin butter, egg yolks, melted butter and vanilla.
3. in another bowl (or using an electric mixer (hand held OR stand)) whip the egg whites until they are very white and somewhat stiff.
4. pour the milk mixture into the dry mixture and stir until almost combined.
5. fold in the egg whites and mix just until everything comes together.
6. set the batter aside while you heat your griddle to 375 or medium-high heat.
7. coat your griddle with a generous slather of butter and then ladle out the batter - about 1/3 cup or more per pancake - making sure you pour it directly into the center of the puddle you’ve started so you’ll end up with round ‘cakes.
8. let pancakes cook until bubbly - then lift up an edge and make sure they are golden brown. if not, don’t flip - let go a bit longer. these pancakes are much more delicious if they are completely cooked and not at all gooey on the inside.
9. set the cooked pancakes on a cooling rack in a warm oven until serving time.

we like these, like most things, with sausage.

…i’m 100% crazy for pumpkin butter.

last night i mixed it into waffles (breakfast for dinner!)
today i mixed it into my baked oatmeal.
tonight i’m enjoying it smeared on a thick slice of pumpkin bread.

it’s almost all i think about right now. [almost.] so i thought i’d share…

pumpkin butter waffles
makes 12 belgian waffles

you need:

• belgian waffle iron
• 2 cups AP flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 t kosher salt
• 1 T sugar
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cup whole milk
• 4 oz butter, melted
• 1/3 cup pumpkin butter (homemade or best quality)

to make the waffles:

1. preheat your waffle iron to a medium setting.
2. combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
3. combine the eggs, vanilla, milk, butter and pumpkin butter in a separate mixing bowl and whisk together completely.
4. add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix to combine thoroughly.
5. ladle 1/3 cup of the batter into each of the wells of your waffle iron.
6. cook for 5 minutes, then lift the lid to check the waffles. they should be crisp enough, but not burned (or even getting close to burning.)
7. keep waffles warm in a 200 degree oven while you use up the rest of the batter.

these waffles have the prettiest color. and they smell so good. and they taste even better.

serve with scrambled eggs seasoned with a few pinches of herbs de provence and thick-cut bacon. (at least this is how we like to serve them.) yum!

to make them even more delicious: heat 4 parts maple syrup to 1 part pumpkin butter in a small sauce pan. after buttering the waffles, pour this over top. swoon!

freezing leftover waffles: after your waffles have cooled completely, layer them gently in zip top freezer bags. find a flat place in the freezer and stow the bag there. once they are frozen solid they can be wedged in between all the other things you have shoved in your magical freezing device.

you can thaw/reheat the waffles either by toasting them in your toaster (no need to thaw first!) or by gently thawing/reheating them in a 300 degree oven for about 8 minutes.

no photo.
i’m sorry. i was so busy eating i forgot.

i’m from ohio, remember?

moving to portland, oregon from a place like geneva, ohio is not unlike moving to a completely foreign country. a foreign country where people wouldn’t dream of using paper plates and where there’s a natural food store on nearly every corner (on every corner where there isn’t a starbucks, that is…which isn’t as true now as it was back in the NINTEEN NINTIES when i moved here.).

one of my clearest memories of my first days in portland: my discovery of carrot juice. in bottles. sold in the supermarket. WHAT?

i had one sip and was hooked. i drank gallons of carrot juice. i simply could not get enough. until one day i was sitting in a meeting and while taking notes (or, most likely, writing a grocery list,) i noticed that my palms were bright orange. i’m sure the change in hue happened gradually, but at that moment it was literally like one minute they were white-girl-flesh colored and the next minute they were bright orange.

to say that i shrieked would be exaggerating. to say that i brought an abrupt end to the meeting would be more accurate. what’s most alarming is that the carrot juice wasn’t the first thing i thought of as an explanation of what was up with my hands. instead i went running for my cubicle in order to call my doctor, certain i had a mystery orange-skin disease. that’s when someone yelled out, “hey, wait. haven’t you been drinking gallons of carrot juice? that stuff can turn you orange.”

i stopped worrying and started drinking water. it took 2 weeks for the orange to fade.

for my sake i hope that pumpkin doesn’t have the same effect. because i’ve been eating a ton of pumpkin butter.

orange palms await! look at these ideas for using up pumpkin butter:

pumpkin butter uses!

• stir into vanilla yogurt
• gently warm and spoon over ice cream
• stir into your morning oatmeal
• gently warm and pour over pancakes or waffles
• add a bit to your pancake or waffle batter (or muffins, for that matter!)
• spread on buttered toast
• spread on buttered biscuits
• take a graham cracker. spread on cream cheese, top with pumpkin butter
• mix into homemade ice cream base
• mix into smoothies
• make tiny tarts: using pie dough or sugar cookie dough, make tiny tarts using tiny tart molds. spoon in pumpkin butter and bake at 375 until crust is golden. top with homemade whipped cream.
• mix with goat cheese (to taste) and spread on toasted crusty bread
• take 1 stick of room temperature SALTED butter. mix in 6 tablespoons of pumpkin butter. blend completely. serve with muffins, toast, pumpkin bread, etc.
• get creative: stir pumpkin butter into coconut curry. use as a glaze on baked chicken. what can you come up with?

i can hardly believe it. it’s october! pumpkins are everywhere!

in honor of this great time of year, i’m here today to dazzle you with a pumpkin butter recipe. not too difficult and perfect for wowing your friends with your ability to turn an actual pumpkin into something edible. magic!

before we start, a word on canned pumpkin: i use the stuff. all the time. for pies, quick breads, ice cream. but when making pumpkin butter i really, really love the flavor and texture of home-roasted pumpkin. and, never fear! it’s about one thousand times easier to do than you could ever imagine. i promise.

so, that said, listed first you’ll find instructions for roasting whole pumpkins at home. following those gritty details you’ll find a recipe for pumpkin butter using said home-roasted pumpkin.

homemade pumpkin puree

you need:

• 4 pie pumpkins (sometimes called sugar pie pumpkins)
• 1 T neutral cooking oil

make the puree:

1. preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. rub two rimmed sheet tray with the cooking oil.
3. cut each pumpkin in half cross-wise.
4. dig out all the seeds & stringy bits.
5. place pumpkin halves cut side down on the prepared sheet trays.
6. roast for one hour.
7. remove pumpkins from oven and let cool slightly.
8. carefully pull the skins away from the pumpkin flesh and scoop flesh into a large bowl.
9. refrigerate pumpkin or use immediately to make pumpkin butter (read on!).
   
   

next up we have pumpkin butter!
what’s weird (for me) about pumpkin butter is that i want it to taste exactly like pumpkin pie filling. but it doesn’t and it shouldn’t. pumpkin pie filling is creamy and not nearly as gourdy as pumpkin butter. sure, they should both be smooth. and a bit spicy. but pumpkin butter is not a pie. so, there. there! you’re not a pie!

the following recipe for pumpkin butter is not overly sweet. if you follow the recipe exactly you’ll end up with a butter that is smooth and most definitely tastes like a pumpkin. if you like things a bit sweeter, you’ll want to add more sugar. just keep in mind what your end use will be…if it’s something that’s already sweet (topping for ice cream? stirred into vanilla yogurt?) then perhaps this less-sweet pumpkin butter is for you.

another note: this pumpkin butter is prepared in your slowcooker. the slowcooking route is perfect because the whole ordeal is mostly hands-off. the first 4 hours of the cooking time you’ll keep the lid on the cooker. the last 4 hours the lid will come off…or will simply be left ajar.

very pumpkiny pumpkin butter
makes 4 or so quarts

you need:

• flesh from above-mentioned roasted pumpkins
• 1.5 cups water
• 2 vanilla beans, pods scraped
• 2 t cinnamon
• 1/2 of a whole nutmeg, freshly grated
• 3 cups sugar

to make the pumpkin butter:

1. mix all ingredients in the crock of your slowcooker. include the vanilla bean seeds and pod. do you best to completely incorporate the water.
2. place the lid on the slowcooker and cook for 4 hours on low.
3. after 4 hours, open the cooker and stir pumpkin mixture very, very well.
4. place lid on top of slowcooker without actually closing it completely (you want steam to escape.)
5. turn cooker up to high and cook for 4 more hours, stirring occasionally.
6. after 4 hours the pumpkin butter should be darker in color and quite glossy. there should be little to no water pooling at the top of the mixture. if you see that your pumpkin butter is not passing these simple visual tests, then keep cooking until it does.
7. once your pumpkin butter has finished cooking, you’ll want to smooth it out using your immersion blender. if you have an immersion blender you can simply leave the butter in the crock and whirl away. no immersion blender? simply take the butter for a spin (in batches) in your blender.

i’ll admit that this recipe yields a ton of pumpkin butter - especially considering that you should NOT can it. i divided mine into smaller freezer containers and froze some of it. then i ate a lot of it. then i gave some away. honestly, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you go through it. ESPECIALLY if you eat it.

i’ll be back tomorrow with some of my favorite ways to use pumpkin butter. all involve eating it.