It might be easier to go buy a jar of peanut, almond or sunflower butter at the market, but how about making something unique, nut-free and delicious with your child like Pumpkin Seed Butter!?

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I’m way into fruit, nut and seed butters. Peanut butter, almond butter, sunflower butter, apple butter, pumpkin butter….I love ’em all. With HalloWEEn just days away, there seems to be pumpkin seeds everywhere you look in my kitchen. It got me to thinking_ why not pumpkin seed butter? I don’t know of anyone who sells it, so why not make it?

This is an awesome recipe for getting your kids involved in cooking. My little ones had a blast making it with me. After I toasted and cooled the seeds, we put them in the food processor and watched the seeds change shape and texture several times. Every time we took the top off, the aroma of toasted pumpkin seeds filled the kitchen. The kids were totally fascinated by it and loved tasting it.

Pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of manganese, magnesium, iron and protein, which makes this butter perfect on a sandwich or even served as a dip with celery or apples. Plus, if your kids have nut allergies or attend a nut free school, a good peanut butter alternative like this one is a great spread to add to your lunch time ingredient arsenal.

At this time of year when the weather is getting cool and you’re looking for more fun activities to do inside, this is one that will stimulate all of your kids senses — especially their taste buds!

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Pumpkin Seed Butter

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Author: Catherine McCord
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients  

  • 3 Cups Hulled Pumpkin Seeds (aka Pepitas)

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Place the pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
  • Allow the pumpkin seeds to cool.
  • Place the seeds in a food processor and puree for 5-6 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides with a spatula (you need to puree the mixture so it eventually becomes smooth- you don’t need to add any additional oil).
  • Serve on bread with honey, or celery or apple slices.
  • * This pumpkin butter can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.
Did you make this recipe?Mention @Weelicious or tag #weelicious!

About the Author

Catherine is a mama of three. A Kentucky girl living in California. Here’s what I know: all kids can be great eaters and mealtime must be easy. I create simple, healthy recipes the whole family will love.

Comments

  1. I just heat at 170 for 20 minutes or so. The higher the heat the more likely you are to oxidize the oils. Oxidized fats are no good! Not sure exactly when that happens but 350 sounds high.

  2. Hi there, this pumpkin seed butter recipe is delish!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂 I know this post is a couple of years old, but now there is a raw food version that you can buy in natural food stores by a company called “Rejuvenative Foods”. I just came across their pumpkin seed butter page here http://www.rejuvenative.com/products/Pumpkin-Seed-Butter.html . Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

  3. I bet kids will go crazy over this pumpkin seed butter, combine it with anything, it’s delicious!

  4. I just made this. I think I roasted the seeds a little too much, but it still wonderfully. At first I didn’t think it would ever come together, at least without overheating the food processor, but all of the sudden it was rich and creamy and delicious!

  5. I wouldn’t use a blender because things like butters tend to just get stuck below the blades and it doesn’t blend well. You could try going old school and using a mortar and pestle plus lots of arm strength!

  6. […] Pumpkin seed butter (great recipe on how to make it homemade click here) and apple […]

  7. Made this today and after about 1/2hr my food processor died. 🙁 Maybe not something to try on a cheapy food processor!

  8. Addendum: I did have a go at making pumpkin seed butter from raw dehulled green pumpkin seeds yesterday. It took over two hours in a food processor to get the butter to the right consistency….what you might call a labour of love. I had to rest my processor frequently to guard against overheating. I didn’t want to burn out my faithful RobotChef which has lasted me over 25 years and is no longer available at a sensible price. Commercial butter machines would no doubt do the job much more quickly. They use a combination of beating and high pressure. The raw pumpkin seed butter does taste nice, but obviously without the pleasant aroma of toasted seeds. Using toasted seeds and nuts I usually allow for around 30 minutes for processing.

  9. […] Pumpkin seed butter, from weelicious (here) […]

  10. I made this and it turned out very crumbly…I didn’t want to waste it so I made some of your oatmeal on-the-go bars (which my 22 month old loves) and added the crumbly stuff to the batter. They came out amazing.

  11. I feel powerful! I read the manual installation of the pool skimmer with terms that did not know English and I did well! 😀

  12. This came out really dry for me also. I decided to add some vegetable oil. I ended up adding between 2 and 3 tbsps of oil and now it is great. I just added a little bit at a time and worked it in with a spoon.

    Thanks for this great idea !!

  13. thanks. No TJ’s here in Belgium. I miss it!
    I have painstakingly hulled them and toasted them up. pureeing them now but its still pretty dry. i hope this turns into butter soon.

  14. I buy hulled seeds from Trader Joe’s. You can buy them already shelled which makes it a lot easier.

  15. Thanks for sharing your knowledge in this article.
    However, I think I don’t quite follow, could you elaborate a bit?

    Thanks

  16. bobs red mill has a very thorough cleaning process and they donate the forst 5 pounds of seeds run through their machines, just to be certain. My nut allergic son never had a problem with their seeds. You can always rinse or soak if you cant find or are nervous to try them. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EDG4TE/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=nutritiousfoods-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B000EDG4TE&adid=0916WX74ERMN49TYDD6T&&ref-refURL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.beyondprenatals.com%2F

  17. I would love to make this but I can’t seem to find any seeds (or dried fruit for that matter) that are not processed on equipment with peanuts. I have a severely peanut allergic child and can’t do anything that has a cross contamination risk. Does anyone know of a brand that is not made on the same equipment?

  18. I tried to make this, but it came out really dry. Perhaps I toasted the seeds too long? It seemed to need some moisture. It was still tasty, just rather crumbly.

  19. Perfect timing! We are carving some pumpkins tonight and I would love to try some pumpkin seed butter. Thanks!

  20. I don’t have kids but I love reading your blog! It’s such fun to see the healthy twists you put on simple kid-friendly foods…I think your kids probably eat better than most adults!

    Thanks for the pumpkin butter recipe. I never knew seed butter was so simple to make!

  21. Our local organic grocery store carries a few different brands of ready made pumpkin seed butter, but the one we’ve bought is by “Nuts to You”. Making it yourself is defininitely fun though!

  22. What a great idea! We love nut butters, and pumpkin seeds. Will definitely be making this!

  23. Empty them into the sink with about 3 inch of water the seeds will float to the top and the Pumpkin goo to the bottom. then just take a skimmer and get the seeds out!

  24. Do you have any tips for removing the pumpkin goo and strands from the seeds? I always end up throwing out the seeds since I don’t have a simple way to clean them.

  25. This came at the perfect time! We just got 3 pumpkins for us from our field trip yesterday and 1 extra one a friend wants us to puree for pies when I do ours. 🙂 I was wondering what to do with all those seeds! Thank you!!

  26. I’m really looking forward to making this! My husband loves pumpkin seeds too- it’ll be a treat for all of us!

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