Pumpkin Puree + a Pumpkin Recipe Round Up

Last year I think I made pumpkin everything! As I scan through my folder of recipes there is a huge section labeled pumpkin something or other. Pumpkin cookies, macaroni, soup, butter—you name it! I thought I would round them all up into one post so that you can easily find them! PLUS: bonus instructions on how to make your own pumpkin puree from scratch—it’s so easy!

I just made a HUGE batch of puree and I think I’ll be putting it to good use with many of these recipes in the coming days. First up this weekend—pumpkin mac! Looking forward to having this one again!

Side note: In the past I’ve made pumpkin puree with sugar pie pumpkins—I thought that was what you had to do! But yesterday I picked up a Cinderella pumpkin at the farm stand and it is amazing! It is so much creamier than the sugar pie pumpkins, and I got it for 49 cents per pound! It will definitely be my go to pumpkin for baking now.

And before we get into the recipes, here’s a quick run through of how to make your puree:

Pumpkin Puree
Slice pumpkins in half along the equator (horizontally) to avoid having to cut through the stem. Use an ice cream scoop to scoop out all of the seeds and stringy membranes. Place them cut side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast them in the oven at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, until fork tender. Allow to cool until you can handle them. Scoop out the flesh and place in the food processor. Process for several minutes until smooth, stopping periodically to scrape down the sides. You can add a few splashes of water if you need to, but I find that if I let it run long enough it smoothes out.

^^^ Turning the bag over the top of a cup helps to keep it stable while filling—otherwise it can be a big mess!

I like to portion my pumpkin puree out into 2 cup amounts, about 1 pound—this is about the size of a can of puree. I put mine into zip top bags and flatten them, pressing the air out for compact storage. This way I can always break the frozen brick with my hands if I need just a small amount, without having to thaw the whole thing!

Pumpkin Mac and Cheese