Crock-Pot Pumpkin Butter - Tastes Like Pie!

One of the things that always bothers me about the Halloween season is what a waste it is to just throw away every single part of those pumpkins.  The end result of the attempted mitigation of my guilt was this pumpkin butter.  It uses pumpkin guts instead of cubed pumpkin, and everything is tossed in the slow-cooker.

We went to my parent's house for supper last night, and when we got back the whole house smelled of pumpkin pie.  It was amazing.  

Crock-Pot Pumpkin Butter

• 1 medium pumpkin's guts (About 2 Cups)

• 1/4 cup butter or hard margarine

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/4 cup apple juice

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp ginger

• 1/4 tsp cloves

Separate the pumpkin seeds from the guts.  It's easiest to do if you soak it all in a bowl of water, as the seeds (or most of them!) will simply float to the top.  A few stubborn seeds refused to unstick themselves from the guts, and I left them in.  One or two seeds won't make a huge difference.

In your slow-cooker, combine all the ingredients.  Set on low for 8 hours.  I opened it up to stir around after about 2 hours, just to make sure the butter is all mixed in with the pumpkin.

Now, once it's done, there is a very important step.  Take the lid off, and breathe in.  This smells so much like pumpkin pie, and it tastes like pumpkin pie.  Which is a Gods send, really.  Sean hates pie crust, and now we can just have what is basically pumpkin pie on toast!  Or English Muffins.  Or mixed with cream cheese and whipped cream for an amazing dip...I could go on.

Here, have another picture of it.  I couldn't decide which I liked best.

Who else loves vintage Tupperware?  I thought the orange suited rather well here.  :)  Happy Halloween and Blessed Samhain, everyone!

Stacy