Answer: Yes you can!

This post combines two of my all-time favorite topics: FALL and saving $$$!

It is no secret that I get an inordinate amount of joy out of saving money. For proof, check out my many other posts that involve squeezing the most out of your dollar.

So naturally, if I can get double duty out of my pumpkins, you better believe I’m going to do it. Thus, every year I leave my jack-o-lantern pumpkins uncarved, and then at the end of the season, cook them up for use in baked goods! Read on for the how-to’s!

Going to the Pumpkin Patch

Our annual family trip to the pumpkin patch (or the “pumpkin pie patch”, as my middle son calls it) is one of the highlights of the year. The farm we go to has an assortment of animals (a donkey, pigs, lots of chickens, guinea fowl), a huge sandbox/play area for kids, a hay-bale maze, and a sunflower patch. They also have a corn maze and hay rides, but our kids are still little enough that the free activities keep them plenty entertained. 😉

Plus, the pumpkins are grown on site, so you have the option to go out into the patch yourself, or choose from ones that have already been picked.

Tips & Tricks

Here’s how to pick the perfect pumpkins to serve both as your fall decor, and the key ingredient in your favorite pumpkiny recipes:

• Depending on how much baking you do, and how much you like pumpkin-flavored items, 1-3 medium sized pumpkins should provide enough puree to get you through until next pumpkin season. You will be surprised how much puree you get out of each pumpkin!
• Leave the pumpkins uncarved! An intact pumpkin, with a good stem and without any serious spots or bruises, is basically an airtight system that will stay fresh for months. However, once cut into, they need to be used almost immediately (or refrigerated until cooked).
• Don’t leave them out in freezing weather. Freezing and thawing will rupture the cells in the pumpkins and start the decomposition process. So if you have freezing nights in the forecast, keep the pumpkins as inside decorations, or make sure to bring them in overnight.
• Choose pumpkins that will fit in your oven, when cut in half. (But I have to confess that I broke my own rule this year. I just wanted to get the biggest pumpkin I could find at the pumpkin patch. Sometimes you just gotta go big.)
• The puree you will get from these pumpkins is fantastic in baked goods such as pumpkin bread, pancakes, muffins, even cheesecake. However, it will not perform as well in recipes in which pumpkin makes up a large percentage of the volume, or in which texture is an issue, such as pumpkin pie or pureed pumpkin soup.

How to Turn Regular Pumpkins Into Puree

When fall is over, or you’re just ready to move on with life (ie., to put out Christmas decorations!), here’s how to turn those big beauties into puree:

Roast

• Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease a baking sheet well (or two baking sheets, depending on how many pumpkins you are roasting).
• Cut the pumpkin(s) in half. To make this easier, I often cut out the stem first.
• Scoop out the seeds (which you can save and roast as well!) and stringy insides. As tedious as it may be, I recommend doing a thorough job, as the slimy texture of those insides will likely show up in your puree if you don’t get them all out.
• Place the pumpkin halves facing down, so the skin side is up, on the baking sheet. Roast the pumpkins until tender. It should be easily shredded/fluffed with a fork. This takes around an hour, depending on the size of the pumpkin.

Process

• Once they have cooled enough to be handled, use a spoon to scrape the “meat” out and into a food processor.
• Process the pumpkin until uniformly smooth.
• Jack-o-lantern type pumpkins generally have more water content than pie pumpkins. If yours seems watery, or you are concerned about this in whatever recipes you intend to use it, use a fine mesh strainer to extract some of the excess moisture. Simply place the puree in the strainer and lightly press with a spoon. Let it sit for a few minutes (over a bowl or in the sink).

Freeze

• Freeze the puree in 1 cup increments. Recipes generally call for 1 cup of pumpkin puree, or a 15oz can, which is roughly equivalent to two cups.
• I like to put mine in sandwich baggies, and freeze them flat, so they will lay nicely on top of each other. Then I gather those together into a freezer gallon baggie.
• Be sure to label the bags with the contents, volume, and date!

Now you know how to use regular pumpkins for baking, and get double duty out of your fall decor!

For more fall inspiration, check out my Sweet Potato Hash recipe!