For the Love of Pumpkin

Yes, it is that time again. It's the best time of the year, Fall. The leaves are changing. There is a chill in the air (I don't know why I'm mentioning this, because it is not a part of Fall that I am particularly found of). It is time for tea, soup and pumpkin.

Last year, wait wow, I honestly can't believe it. It was two years ago. That makes me smile. Well, two years ago, when Steve and I were both living in Columbia. About this time, he went home to visit his family. He come back to Columbia with the most delicious pumpkin dessert in the world. Ok, I may be exaggerating, but it was delicious! 

So when I started getting low on cookies, I knew it was time for a pumpkin dessert and that dessert quickly came to mind. 

The biggest downfall with this dessert is it uses Muirhead Pecan Pumpkin Butter (which can be found at Williams-Sonoma or online). Now don't get me wrong this stuff is delicious, it's just hard to find & expensive. So I thought to myself, lets get resourceful & just make it myself. & that I did. 





Here's the a pumpkin butter recipe from Confections of a Foodie Bride (How appropriate, didn't realize that!)

• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
• Zest of 1/2 orange
• 3 Tbsp orange juice
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 15 oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon*
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg*
• 1/4 tsp allspice*
• 1/8 tsp cloves*
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger*
• 1/4 tsp salt
• * can replace with 2 tsp of pumpkin spice

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spread pecans on a baking sheet and roast for 7 minutes, until browned and fragrant
3. Run the pecans through the food processor until finely ground - they'll start to take on a pasty consistency (pecan butter!) Now this is where I had issues... no food processor (hopefully something we can register for... do people register for that?) So instead, I attempted to chop the pecans as finely as possible

4. In a 2-qt sauce pan over medium heat, combine the citrus zests and juices and dark brown sugar. Stir until warmed. Add pumpkin, nuts, and spices and reduce heat to low, simmering for 20 I also added in some maple syrup, another blog recommended doing that
5. Turn heat down to low, simmering for 20-30 minutes, until thickened and the color darkens
6. Stir and taste for seasoning and sweetness occasionally, adding additional spices as necessary.
7. The pumpkin butter will keep 2-3 weeks in the fridge.


Now to be honest, I can't say how successful this was. For one, I have little to no memory of how delicious Muirhead's was & I also don't know what it would taste like if I had a food processor. 


So now that we've got our pumpkin butter, we get to make the Pumpkin Bars! 

Recipe:
Bottom/Crust:

• 1 box of yellow cake mix (reserve one cup) 
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 egg

Pumpkin Filling:

• 1 jar of Muirhead Pumpkin butter or 13 oz of homemade pumpkin butter
• 2 eggs
• 1/8 cup of milk

Crumble topping:

• 1 cup reserved yellow cake mix
• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

Ready for the oven!

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix together the yellow cake mix, melted butter and 1 egg, press mixture to bottom of 9 x 13 pan
3. Mix together the pumpkin butter, eggs and milk, pour on top
4. Sprinkle 1/2 c- cup of pecans on top (Optional)
5. Mix together reserved yellow cake mix, butter and cinnamon- sprinkle on top
6. Bake for 30-35 min.

Now, I halved this recipe, therefore, I had plenty of remaining pumpkin butter, so I put it in an old PB Jar to save for morning toast!