Roasted Pecan Pumpkin Butter

Roasted Pecan Pumpkin Butter.

September 11, 2012

Before we venture any further in to this relationship, I should probably know how you like your toast.

So you know, when we have our sleepover and I’m up at five in the morning because I’m secretly 85 years old, I can make you breakfast. Oh and clearly, our friendship is going well since this would be our second sleepover – don’t you remember at our first I made you a quinoa skillet? I do. But that’s what else happens when you’re secretly 85… you have a lot to remember.

Toast was a pretty big point of contention in my house growing up. My mom likes her toast – or what my dad refers to as “warm bread” – barely toasted whatsoever. Like not even golden. So there isn’t much crunch, so you can see just a few streaks of brown on the piece of white bread (because my mom flat out refuses to eat wheat bread EVER), and so the texture is freakishly similar to a piece of well, actual untoasted bread.

I take after my dad and we like our toast TOASTED. I mean, really toasted. Like toasted to the point right before it burns. Super crunchy, super crumbly, super golden. Sometimes it even ends up coming out dark, dark brown (read: black and burnt), and he still eats it. Dry! I usually have to use the butter-knife-scrape-into-the-sink trick because I’m not that adventurous. I sort of like to be able to swallow my toast. You know? But I am a fan of dry toast if it’s done correctly. Which is so weird, since bread isn’t my drug of choice. I just love the crunch crunch crunch.

Toast is even better when it’s insanely thick-sliced multigrain or super seedy or talonica or sourdough. I don’t really do thin slices of bread and if I do? They must be topped with something mouth-watering. Like brown butter, avocado, melted gruyere or… this pecan butter.

Contrary to the confusion of the name, what we have here is actually pecan butter with a pumpkin flare. Not a pumpkin butter with pecans. But my mind was blank and my words were lacking and my brain was just… not there. This happens often. And before you go getting all nervous and sweaty-palmed on me and swearing that “it’s only mid-September!”, I promise I’m not getting too slutty with the pumpkin quite yet. I mean, what do you think I am? It’s only the beginning of our reconciliation and I’m bound and determined to takes thing slow. That’s why I simply made some new slightly spiced nut butter (I sort of flip over making my own) so we can eeeeeease back into this.

And when I say ease back into this I really mean devour it in three days then run full speed ahead.

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Roasted Pecan Pumpkin Butter

Yield: about 1 1/3 cups

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes (to roast pecans)

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

1 pound (16 ounces) unsalted pecans
3 tablespoons pumpkin puree (or you can try pumpkin butter!)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
1-2 teaspoons flavorless oil (like grapeseed/canola), if needed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Spread the pecans out on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes. Once roasted, add pecans to a food processor and blend and pulse, scraping down the sides of the processor until the butter comes together - about 5-6 minutes. Add in pumpkin, spices, syrup and salt, pureeing and blending more until your desired consistency is reached. If needed, stream in oil 1 teaspoon at a time to bring the butter together and smooth it out a bit.

Taste and season more if needed (this will depend on your pecans, your syrup, etc), then place in a seal-tight container or jar to serve. Store in the fridge if this butter will not be consumed within 1-2 weeks.