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!?
PinI’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!
Pumpkin Seed Butter
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.
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.
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!
I bet kids will go crazy over this pumpkin seed butter, combine it with anything, it’s delicious!
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!
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!