Pumpkin Butter, Fresh from the Garden
Courtney, our Garden Educator at Harding Elementary shared a special recipe with us for homemade Pumpkin Butter, a delicious, lightly spiced spread. Courtney served it to her students on nasturtium leaves with apple slices and nasturtium petals—talk about creative garden-to-table snacks!
At first, the children were super skeptical, but soon enough, it was double thumbs-up and even second helpings from the kindergarten class! The best part? Courtney didn’t make it too sweet—just enough to bring out the natural flavors without making it taste like pumpkin pie.
Courtney shared her recipe, so you can try it at home!
Pumpkin Butter Recipe:
- Cut open a pumpkin and remove seeds and stringy flesh (save seeds for roasting).
- Roast at 375 degrees until flesh is soft (this varies depending on the thickness of the flesh, but is about 40-50 minutes for a large pumpkin)
- Remove from oven and let cool enough to scoop the flesh from the skin. Add to food processor with enough liquid (I used apple cider) so it thins down to the consistency of applesauce.
- Pour into a large saucepan and add spices of your choosing. I like cinnamon, a little bit of cloves, and a tiny bit of nutmeg. I added a little bit of maple syrup and salt.
- Cook on lowest heat for another 30 minutes or so (color will darken a bit).
- Serve hot or cold. Can be eaten like apple sauce, used as a dip (it’s great with apples), or spread on toast!
Note: For a 15 lb of pumpkin, Courtney used around a 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1 Tb of cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 2 tsp salt, and maybe 20 oz of apple cider/juice (unsweetened). It made a ton.
We hope you try it yourself and let us know how it turns out!
Josh was born and raised in Santa Barbara, where his passion and curiosity for the environment began and has continued to grow. During his undergraduate studies, Josh pursued this interest at the University of California at Santa Cruz, receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies.
Melissa Dodos developed her passion for creative reuse as a mother of four and elementary educator over the past 25 years. She loves to inspire creativity by connecting people with resources and ideas.
Veronica grew up in San Diego and spent four years in San Luis Obispo studying Animal Science at Cal Poly. As an undergrad she learned lots about livestock, agriculture, and wildlife.
Stephanie began her journey as an educator over twenty years ago working as a preschool teacher in Washington state for a cooperative preschool program affiliated with Whatcom Community College. She loved observing the wonder and curiosity of the children and bringing them out into nature to explore the natural world. She continued her love for learning and got her teaching license and then her Montessori certification and worked as an elementary teacher in Tribal, Public, and Montessori schools. She collaborated to create a school garden and her students loved it so much that it became a special place where they could garden, read, explore, play, and it provided a safe sanctuary for students to calm down and reset when they were having difficult moments.
Morgan’s mermaid soul is always seeking adventure—swimming a relay across the Santa Barbara Channel and taking the first photo of a newborn orca off Anacapa Island being standout experiences close to home.
Lindsay Johnson
