Trader Joe pumpkin butter

A new discovery for me. Just picked up a jar yesterday. It's delicious--like a fluid mouthful of pumpkin pie. Just had a couple of tsp. stirred into a cup of lowfat plain yogurt, and it was incredible. High in Vitamin A, too.

[jeffyglenn]

A friend turned me on to putting a spoonful of the TJ's Pumpkin Butter on vanilla ice cream. It is really really good that way. Droolin'...

[goodhealthgourmet]

have you tried it this season? i bought a jar last month and it was really much too thin & runny for my taste - not at all like i remember it.

[melisky]

I had this experience last year. I really liked the pumpkin butter the first few years and then last year, I couldn't stand it -- too sweet and runny. Have not bought it this year.

[Woof Woof Woof]

What aisle is the Pumpkin Butter in?

[goodhealthgourmet]

same aisle as the fruit preserves, jams, nut butters, etc.

[goodhealthgourmet]

i'm glad it's not just me! it was like super-sweet, very runny honey with a hint of lemon & pumpkin. such a bummer.

[alkapal]

they *changed* it? why do they mess with a good thing, tried and true? why, oh why?!

[goodhealthgourmet]

believe me, i was NOT happy! i suspect it has to do with the pumpkin shortage this year. they probably added a greater proportion of the "filler ingredients" (honey & lemon juice) to stretch their pumpkin supply. boo.

[alkapal]

but i noticed that they had plenty of cans of the pumpkin itself just a few days ago.

[goodhealthgourmet]

they have plenty now, but there was a lot of pre-Thanksgiving talk about the shortage, and how the cans arrived on the shelves rather late this year and supplies were smaller than usual. it's just a theory, but they may have been conserving/rationing it. or if their suppliers were charging a premium for the pumpkin due to the shortage, it may have been cheaper for them to increase the other ingredients.

[alkapal]

stirred into hot oatmeal (i fix mine up with a little butter and milk, and raisins. if you add brown sugar, you'll have a pumpkin pie flavor). delicious!

i taste tested it at a tj's with whipped cream cheese on hot sourdough toast. yippee!

oh, found my thread from last year about it -- has lots of suggestions for you. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/452977

i stocked up last year, but they always carried it on the shelf through this entire year. makes a nice addition to a little food gift basket.

[libgirl2]

I wish I lived closer to TJs as I adore this stuff. Yummy! I eat it with a spoon.

[Jacey]

You can also mix it into some cottage cheese, add a little pumpkin pie spice and splenda. Delicious.

[goodhealthgourmet]

really? Splenda in addition to the pumpkin butter? i think the stuff is too sweet as it is...which is why i like to mix it into unsweetened things like cottage cheese, yogurt, and oatmeal.

[nemo]

Use as the filling for pre-baked tassie shells, dollop of whipped cream. Or even easier, use the mini fillo shells from the freezer section -- no baking required.

My wife has had me looking for this stuff for weeks--every TJ's I've visited (at least 6 tries now) has been out of it, with no clear info on when they would have more.

Among other things we've been hoping to try it as a spread on sandwiches for our insanely picky 3-year-old, especially since they've banned peanut butter at his preschool.

So, can anyone suggest similar products sold somewhere besides TJ's?

I have a love/hate relationship w/TJ's since they consistantly stock interesting items, and then abruptly discontinue them.
Maybe they have limited inventory on certain items due to a special buy-out deal which is passed on to the TJ consumer, but it's frustrating nevertheless.
As for the pumkin butter, how about recycling some Halloween jack-o-lanterns?

[rworange]

The pumpkin butter is seasonal. I wish this thread had been around when I bought a jar a while back. I really didn't like it. Don't remember why. Maybe because it didn't live up to the raves. I think I threw the jar out eventually because I couldn't stand the thought of spreading it on more bread. Maybe it has cloves in it? I hate cloves. Anyone know if there are cloves in it?

[goodhealthgourmet]

no cloves...but it's *extremely* sweet. maybe that was the problem?

they banned peanut butter? why on earth?

Serious peanut allergies.

[Kari]

Our school has the same no peanut butter, in case someone has an allergy. They don't serve it, but I think in our school you can brown bag it.

Williams-Sonoma sells a pumpkin butter this time of year. Just bought some the other day. It does have pecans in it though, but they are very, very finely chopped. On the top of the jar is a leaflet with a bunch of recipes. I made one with sweet potatoes and apples, then you combine honey, pumpkin butter and OJ and pour over and bake. It was very good.

Don't know what kind of pumpkin pie you eat, but the TJ pumpkin butter in this area tastes closer to an apple butter than a Libby's can pumpkin pie, IMO. It's delicious on and on many things, including in bbq sauce.

I'm curious to hear what you else you can do with pumpkin butter (other than mixing in yogurt or using as a bbq sauce ingredient, as suggested). I can only think of perhaps slathering it on a hunk of warm bread....
Maybe as a filling for jam button cookies?

I think it would be great warm on vanilla ice cream or on pancakes/waffles, or spread on a muffin.

Toast some good raisin/cin bread or pecan bread, then slather on some pumpkin butter, thin sliced red onion, a thin slice of prosciutto or ham, thin slice of havarti, under the broiler.

Also good with peanut butter in a PB&J.

In addition to others' uses posted (great ideas by the way) and the bbq sauce I already mentioned, you can use it in cake and vegetable bread recipes in place of some of the sugar and liquid. And, it's nice with a little cream cheese on zuccini bread. It makes a nice gravy (with the meat juices and other spices) for both pork and beef. That's all I've cooked up with it so far, but I'm sure there are more uses. I really like the flavor.

I've found several uses for TJ's Pumpkin butter. One of my favorites is to make pumpkin mustard. It uses
regular salad mustard,dry mustard powder,sugar,Pumpkin
Ale,and TJ's Pumpkin butter.
Also,my wife makes a wonderful dip made from cream cheese,Cool-Whip,pumpkin butter,and pumpkin pie spice.
Wonderful on ginger snap cookies or even bagels!.

[LuisasCatering]

Pumpkin Vinaigrette (I do this all to taste):

TJ's pumpkin butter
apple cider vinegar & neutral oil
kosher salt & freshly cracked pepper

[Jacey]

It's great mixed with cottage cheese or ricotta.