Trader Joe's pumpkin butter. GOOD!

[alkapal]

Not pumpkin pie, but pretty darn close in a jar: Trader Joe's pumpkin butter. Tasting station served it this way: blend with small container of whipped cream cheese (they used "light"), spread on hot sourdough toast and sprinkle with cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice). Quite good. So run on out to TJ's for that pumpkin fix!

and NO extra ingredients you don't want, like the evil ubiquitous vegetable gums, destroyers of all that is right and good in food.

[clairetraas]

I was at Trader Joe's not too long ago and fell in love with the pumpkin butter too. I'm trying to lose weight & be healthy so I've been gravitating toward foods that have a LOT of flavor for the calories, and this pumpkin butter is just right. It's a bit sweet on its own, but I've been mixing 4 oz of pumpkin butter with 6 oz. reduced fat cream cheese for a pumpkin cheesecake dip that's 1 point per serving. My favorite is dipping pieces of fruit in it....bananas, granny smith apple slices, etc. The jar says you can use it in poultry marinades, so I'm going to try to see about making some pumpkin & ginger glazed chicken thighs one of these days.

[coll]

Just stocked up the other day, and also got a couple of jars of something I hadn't seen before, Cranberry Apple Butter. If nothing else, both are great for breakfast in oatmeal and also yogurt (as stated many times above).

[DoctorQuality]

glad i stocked up and bought out my store. it's great on so much. today i took the advice from one of these replies and mixed it with some mascarpone and warmed up in oatmeal. it was lacking a little something so i poured in a little maple syrup and was in heaven. great stuff.

[bananie]

Try this recipe if you can't find it at TJ's:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-...

[thursday]

One of my favorite uses for pumpkin butter is to melt a good size portion of Camembert or very good Brie (high cream content--not the stiffer stuff you might use in sandwiches). Make a small well in the center and fill with pumpkin butter--a fantastic quick hors d'oeuvres to spread on bread or crackers! Apricot jam works nicely in this as well.

[mollyomormon]

That sounds fantastic! thanks for the idea!

[JeffW]

This post definitely got to me. Just in from Trader Joe's, with 2 jars of the pumpkin butter in tow. Much more reasonably priced than the Pumpkin butter that is sold at Williams Sonoma---although I have enjoyed that product too.
Cheers,
Jeff

[Karen_Schaffer]

Check your local Wiliiams Sonoma stores for clearance sales on the pumpkin butter and other Thanksgiving items. We found it at ours marked down to $1.99/jar! I had some in oatmeal this morning -- yum.

[Karen_Schaffer]

Hmm, it's pleasant, but I find the honey and lemon juice flavors distracting. Guess I'm a traditionalist who wants my pumpkin butter to taste like a spreadable pumpkin pie.

[brendastarlet]

I tried it with oatmeal yesterday and it was great!

I also baked some whole wheat muffins this afternoon and substituted it for applesauce. Also very nice (the other ingredients hold down the sweetness.)

[alkapal]

karen s, i don't recall honey or lemon in ingredients or flavor.

[Karen_Schaffer]

Could they have different formulations in different parts of the country? Possible, but seems unlikely. The list of ingredients on my jar are: pumpkin, sugar, honey, lemon juice concentrate, spices.

[mollyomormon]

I actually buy this stuff jars at a time when it's in season because I don't want to look like the freak who is buying 30 jars at once but also want enough for the whole year. I love a tiny spoonful of this stuff mixed with Fage. My brother also just emailed me two recipes from Williams Sonoma (a yellow pumpkin cake and a pumpkin dip) that use pumpkin butter that I can't wait to try.

[Querencia]

Molly-O: A good strategy with any TJ product that you really like as many tend to vanish. Some are seasonal but others just disappear and may or may not come back. I've learned to pounce when I see Peach Sauce as it's wonderful on ice cream or waffles or anything, very peachy. Frozen flounder filet stuffed with crabmeat comes and then always goes, rapidly. Right now I'm stockpiling frozen black raspberries as I've never seen them before and don't expect them to last.

[PlatypusJ]

I love it in Fage too!!!

[Emme]

In addition to using it in oatmeal, it's a great addition to pancake and waffle batters, and add in candied chopped nuts if desired too. You can also just make cinnamon sugar pancakes/waffles, then top after with salted butter and pumpkin butter.

Another use is for crepe or blintz fillings... Mix w/ a little ricotta or mascarpone to thin.

Toast brioche with Roasted peppers, grilled eggplant, pumpkin butter fetta, and optional avocado, greens

Fettucine tossed with pumpkin butter and cream, pine nuts, sundried tomato, spinach

Add to curry w/ Coconut and Tofu

Adapt this recipe http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/dat...

[runi]

Toast, pumpkin butter and grate some parmesan on top. If I had access to a toaster oven right now, I think it would have been even better to broil it for a minute or two.

[yankeefan]

At the suggestion of the store staff, used the pumpkin butter in place of veg oil in the TJs pumpkin bread mix. Incredible.. pumpkin overkill. remarkable.

[Emme]

This works so well... AND it reduces the fat content.

[CurlieGlamourGirlie]

I agree. I took a jar, added a few eggs and some cream and put it in a graham cracker crust, resulting in a delicious, light pumpkin pie.

[brendastarlet]

It's awfully sweet on its own. I tried it on a muffin and it was overload. But I think putting in a pumpkin pie is a fine idea.

[alkapal]

at tasting station, the cream cheese was used to cut the sweetness.
hmmm, just thought about blending with real butter for muffins! (like a resto in florida that blends pineapple juice with butter. subtle. good!!!)

[LAWoman]

try mixing the TJ's pumpkin butter in hot oatmeal

[Amuse Bouches]

Oatmeal with the pumpkin butter and cream cheese is excellent.

[brendastarlet]

What a great suggestion.

[mrpotato]

Hey alkapal, that is the first i've heard of mixing pineapple juice with butter. Could you tell me how much juice for a stick of butter? And typically what would you use this with? Thanks!

[alkapal]

Hey Mr. Potato! I have never made it.

this link is to the resto Lunch on Limoges, in Dade City, Florida, which serves it. No recipe is given, and in fact, the site says, "no" the owner "will not give out his recipe".
http://www.lunchonlimoges.com/lunchon...

The mini-muffins it is served on (last time i was there) were like a zucchini with a hint of cinnamon. Some old review said the muffins were made with a fruit in season.

To make it should be simple.
Just play around with half a stick of softened butter, and add in a little juice at a time -- start with a tablespoon. It is really to taste. The better the butter (i like "lurpak" i can get at Harris Teeter), the more delicious it will be. The muffins need to be warm from the oven, of course. Yummy! Let us know your success, please!

[Antilope]

My wife makes something similar:

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

**Graham Cracker Crust**
1-1/4 cups crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup granulated sugar
6 Tbsp softened butter

Mix well and press into bottom and sides of a 9" pie pan.

**Pumpkin Cheesecake filling**
1 8oz pk of cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup canned Libby's Easy Pumpkin Mix (not solid pack)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 cups cool whip

Whipped cream for topping

Combine cream cheese, pumpkin mix and sugar. Mix well until smooth.
Fold the cool whip into the pumpkin mixture until well incorporated.
Spoon into prepared 9" graham cracker crust and spread to fill.
Refrigerate at least 2-hours prior to serving.
Serve with whipped cream topping.