Fall is the best time for pumpkin recipes, I think it’s my favorite ingredient. I’m showing how simple it is to make your own fresh pumpkin puree. It’s really easier than you think, and then you’ve got it ready to go for some fall time recipes!
Recipe for Pumpkin Puree:
- a Pumpkin – but needs to be a “sugar” pumpkin or “pie” pumpkin
- spoon, knife
- pan
- blender or masher
- 1/4 cup water
- This recipe makes about 2 cups of pumpkin puree
First you’ll want to scoop out all the seeds, but save then as we’ll roast them along with the pumpkin. Then slice up the pumpkin into 2-3 inch wedges. Cut off any of the stringy parts, just slice them off with a knife.
Place them onto a pan, skin side down. You can season them if you want with salt and pepper, but I just left mine plain. I also washed the pumpkin’s seeds and added them to the pan as well, then coated the seeds with lots of salt.
Place your pan into a pre-heated 350 degree oven. I let them cook for about 20 minutes, then checked them for doneness using my fork, but mine needed about another 10 minutes. While you’re checking your pumpkin, stir around your seeds too.
Once the pumpkin is out of the oven and cooled, scoop the flesh with a spoon and place into your blender. If you don’t have a blender that will puree these well enough, you can use a potato masher, but it may not get very smooth.
I added about 1/4 cup of water to my blender, along with the pumpkin, just to help it all mix around better. You can add a little more if you need it, if your pumpkin is sticking to the sides of the blender and not getting pureed.
Now it’s ready for use in all kinds of yummy recipes, pumpkin pie, cookies, cake, rolls, pasta! What are some of your favorite pumpkin recipes?
- a Pumpkin - needs to be a "sugar" pumpkin or "pie" pumpkin
- 1/4 cup water
-
First you'll want to scoop out all the seeds, but save then as we'll roast them along with the pumpkin. Then slice up the pumpkin into 2-3 inch wedges. Cut off any of the stringy parts, just slice them off with a knife.
-
Place them onto a pan, skin side down. You can season them if you want with salt and pepper, but I just left mine plain. I also washed the pumpkin's seeds and added them to the pan as well, then coated the seeds with lots of salt.
-
Place your pan into a pre-heated 350 degree oven. I let them cook for about 20 minutes, then checked them for doneness using my fork, but mine needed about another 10 minutes. While you're checking your pumpkin, stir around your seeds too.
-
Once the pumpkin is out of the oven and cooled, scoop the flesh with a spoon and place into your blender. If you don't have a blender that will puree these well enough, you can use a potato masher, but it may not get very smooth.
-
I added about 1/4 cup of water to my blender, along with the pumpkin, just to help it all mix around better. You can add a little more if you need it, if your pumpkin is sticking to the sides of the blender and not getting pureed.
-
Now it's ready for use in all kinds of yummy recipes, pumpkin pie, cookies, cake, rolls, pasta!
I tried baking one of my tiny miniature pumpkins along with my reg to compare and found out that the mini pumpkin is super sweet!(~^__^~)
I am going to pick some from my garden and make a loaf of super sweet pumpkin bread!
I assume you can freeze this pumpkin puree? That’s such a great recipe, since canned pumpkin has been so expensive this last year!
Throw a little bit in your pancake batter. Sprinkle with a little cinnamon. DELICIOUS!!!
Shana – The sugar or pie pumpkins are just a little bit sweeter. You can use both, but I like to use the pie pumpkins. Someone in the comments did mention that the larger pumpkins are more watery, so you’d need to use less water if you have those on hand to cook with.
I love pumpkin loaf. We make it from October – December and then switch to a cranberry white chocolate loaf…delish!
Marie you gotta link to some recipes now! Although I see a bunch in the comments :) Allison that bread is my favorite and my best mmm mmm
My neighbor makes these pumpkin loaves with chocolate chips in them that are divine. Reminds me of zucchini bread, but with chocolate chips- heaven!
This is such a simple way of getting the puree. I usually cook it down which can take all day. Thanks for the tip. Duh! Why didn’t I think of that!
YUM!! we are big pumpkin fans here also…even though it is spring at the moment I still cant get enough!! I love it roasted, chopped and coolled and popped into a salad…. I love pumpkin bread and of course pumpkin scones rock!!
Gorgeous post!!
I hate to say it, but this looks too ambitious for me…. looks good though!
Oh and I saw somewhere else that she just cut her pie pumpkin in half and cleaned it out. Then on a foil lined pan, put the halves open side down and cook for 1 hour at 350. Turn over the pumpkins to cool and once cool puree. It worked perfectly when I tried. When I did the big pumpkin this way it needed longer.
I’ve used both kinds of pumpkins in puree – the small pie pumpkins and big jack-o-lanturn ones. The pie pumpkin is smoother and the big ones are more watery. We have always froze the puree in batches and it lasts for a year in a good freezer. In Canada our thanksgiving is before Halloween so we used to cook up all our halloween pumpkins to freeze for the year.
If you are using puree from big pumpkins you might want to reduce the liquid in your recipe. And if you are freezing it then freeze a bit more than needed for a recipe since you can drain off some of the water when it thaws.
I just opened my RSS reader and this was the first thing I saw… and my whole mouth filled with saliva! Thanks for the recipe!
Yummy yummy pumpkin. I do love pumpkin chocolate chip bread or cookies. My mom makes a delicious pumpkin cake roll with cream cheese filling. I really should get that recipe from her.
This was the simplest, easiest-to-follow homemade pumpkin puree recipe I’ve seen – So, THANK YOU! Now, I actually feel like it might be worth my time and effort to fix my own from the leftover pumpkins at the house! My favorite has got to be pumpkin chocolate chip bread… there’s just something right about the chocolate and pumpkin combo… pretty close to the beloved peanut butter.
how would I know if my Halloween pumpkins are pie or sugar pumpkins?? My mother in law and sister in law said it didn’t matter what type of pumpkin it was.
What a great idea! I’ve always been too daunted to attempt my own pumpkin recipes, but it doesn’t sound too bad. Where did you get your baking mat? I notice it in a bunch of your cooking posts and have decided I need to get one too!
Last year I made these little pumpkin minicakes, kind of like a mix between a pumpkin pie and a snickerdoodle. Pumperdoodle, perhaps? They’re REALLY good.
Here’s the recipe:
http://melissaesplin.com/home/2008/10/delicious-pumpkin-minicakes-or-pumperdoodles/
I love my Streusel-Filled Pumpkin Roll! Maybe I’ll try it with fresh pumpkin next week! You’ve inspired me!
Here’s my recipe:
http://grshortstop.blogspot.com/2009/11/streusel-filled-pumpkin-roll.html
Beautiful photographs!
Mulit-Tasking Mommy – Great idea to make a big batch from Halloween pumpkins and freeze the puree! Then it’s ready anytime of the year!! Who says pumpkin pie only has to be in November?!
Mmmm….pumpkin!
When we had all of our pumpkins, around Halloween, I roasted all of the pumpkin at once. I used some of it in pumpkin muffins, pumpkin tarts, pumpkin sheet cake and pumpkin pancakes. Then, I froze the rest. I’m happy to share any of the recipes with anyone! circleoflifeblog at gmail dot com.
I was actually thinking of pulling some of it out of the freezer this week to make something!