Homemade pumpkin purée leaves canned pumpkin in its dust! It’s creamy, sweet, and bright orange, and just what you need for all your Thanksgiving baking. It also makes an underrated-but overly appreciated- gift for friends and family members. Bring them a jar of homemade pumpkin purée and watch their eyes light up. Just don’t give them too much information, lest they realize how easy this gift was to prepare. 
To make pumpkin purée, you need to get yourself some pumpkins (obviously…). My first choice is a pumpkin hybrid called butterkin. Sorry to be obnoxious, but you might not be able to get them where you live since I think they were a western Mass farming accident gone right, but still. If you see them, BUY THEM ALL. Otherwise, some of my favorites are: butternut squash, red kuri squash, buttercup squash, or good old sugar pumpkins.
Preheat your oven to 350, and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Chop your squash of choice in half, and nestle the halves onto the pan facedown. FYI: I fit two butterkins on this pan and ended up with about 4 cups of puree at the end. 
Stick them in the oven for 35-55 minutes (depending on how big/thick your squash variety is), or until they are completely soft and wrinkly. 
Flip them over to cool, and scoop out the seeds. 
Use a spoon to scoop the soft, sweet, creamy pumpkin flesh out of the skin, and drop it right into your blender/food processor. Alternately, you could pile it into a big bowl and mash it all up with a potato masher. Both ways are wonderful; using a food processor just gets it extra silky.
At this point, you’re ready to bake! Jar it up and hoard it all to yourself or give it to a friend who loves baking. 
Speaking of which, here are a few ideas to get you started with your freshly made pumpkin purée.
Whole Wheat Butternut Spice Cake
Tell me: what’s your favorite fall food to bake (or eat!!) with pumpkin purée?