Freezer Safe Pumpkin Pecan Butter

I developed this recipe after falling in love with Muirhead's Pumpkin Pecan Butter at Williams-Sonoma. My version is less costly and every bit as delicious. It would be wonderful spread on toast, warm baguettes, on pancakes, waffles, ice cream, in baked apples or to flavor oatmeal.

1-2 Pie Pumpkins (Will need 4 Cups Pumpkin Puree)
1 Orange
1 Lemon
3 Cups Light Brown Sugar
¾ Cup Dark Karo Syrup
1 Tbsp. Butter
3 Tsp. Good Cinnamon
1 ½ Tsp. Salt
½ Tsp. Ground Allspice
½ Tsp. Ground Ginger
½ Tsp. Ground Cloves
1/3 Cup Pecans, toasted and finely chopped
2 Tsp. Vanilla
7 Half Pint Wide Mouth canning jars

Set oven at 350 degrees Wash, dry, and cut the tops off of the pie pumpkins. Scoop out the seeds with a grapefruit spoon and reserve for roasted pumpkin seeds if desired. Replace the lids cutting back the woody tops as much as possible. Place both pumpkins on a foil lined baking sheet (with sides) and bake in oven for 1 hour or until they are fork tender. *This method keeps the pumpkin from getting to watery.

While Pumpkins are cooling, remove ½ of the zest off the lemon and orange using a microplane grater or sharp knife; avoid removing the white pith as it has a bitter flavor.
Set the zest in a large sauce pan and juice both the lemon and the orange. Reserve 3 Tbsp. from each and pour over the zest.

Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, allspice, ginger, cloves, and pecans to the sauce pot.

As soon as pumpkins are cool enough to handle, scoop all of the pumpkin out of the shell and into a large bowl. Reserve 4 cups of pumpkin for this recipe and reserve the remaining pumpkin in 1 cup portions to be frozen for later use.

Add pumpkin to the sauce pot, and mix well. Slowly bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and begin to simmer till mixture reaches desired consistency. If it seems a little too thick for your taste, add some boiling water slowly to thin the pumpkin butter.

Add vanilla and adjust seasonings/ingredients to taste.

Ladle in to hot (heat in the dish washer) wide mouth canning jars, running a non metallic instrument around the side of the jars to remove air bubbles. Allow 1 inch of head room for mixture to expand in the freezer. Screw on lids, and allow jars to cool on the counter for 3o minutes. Label your jars, if giving as gifts be sure to specify food safety instructions below.

Place the still warm jars on a dish towel, pot holders, trivets in the refrigerator, unless you feel like playing Russian roulette with a bunch of glass jars that can shatter if place directly on the cold shelf. Refrigerate 24 hours before placing in the freezer.

This recipe will yield apx. 7 half pint jars full of Pecan Pumpkin Butter. It will store in the freezer for a year, but I do not recommend keeping it for more than a month in the refrigerator. For this reason I highly suggest using the smaller jars unless you plan on eating this like soup.

If you are giving this as a gift please specify the storage instructions on the label. Unless of course the gift is for someone you do not like that much. Honestly, please be sure to do this, you would not want to unsuspectingly make anyone sick.

*Please note that Pumpkin or any type of Squash is not safe for home canning unless using the freezer method.
http://foodsafety.psu.edu/Foodprese...n/resources.htm