Blogger Baking Bonanza

I just can’t stop with these ‘B’ words! Here’s one more….

WE MADE….

Butternut Squash Pecan Muffins!!

After seeing Erica bake with butternut squash, my taste buds were itching! SO I picked up a can of butternut squash puree from TJ’s and searched the internet for a recipe! When Caroline and I were thinking about what to do together I suggested that we bake these glorious sounding muffs!

**For those of you that are new, Caroline and I officially met at the Healthy Living Summit this past August and we go to the same school! We also coincidentally live about 2 blocks from each other and have a class together. Small world blogworld, huh?

We sure made a big ol’ mess…in the 1970s kitch

Recipe adapted from Simple Daily Recipes.

Dry Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup rolled oats (ground in a Magic Bullet)
• 1/2 cup turbinado sugar (substitute for brown sugar)
• 1/2 cup rolled oats–whole
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup pecan pieces
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup raisins

Wet Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup butternut squash puree
• 2 TBSP ground flax with 4 TBPS water (substitute for egg)
• 1/2 cup applesauce (or oil)
• 1/4 cup water

1) The first step was to rehydrate the raisins and craisins by soaking them in warm water and popping them in the microwave for 1 min.

2) Grind 1 cup of rolled oats (I used the Magic Bullet or you can use a food processor) until it is a flour-like consistency.

3) Mix the dry ingredients together with the rehydrated fruit

2) Mix the wet ingredients together

*We used flax+water instead of eggs to make it vegan

3) Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients

4) Mix well

5) Dollop into muffin pan

They were super soft and moist in the middle, which surprised me because we used flax instead of eggs, applesauce instead of oil, and whole wheat flour. They didn’t have the funky taste that whole wheat baked goods sometimes have, which was great. I think we took them out a couple minutes early too because they were quite soft in the middle...but that was the BEST part.

Lookin’ pretty on my leafy plate

These muffins were so d-d-delicious! The flavors just screamed FALL. I can’t wait to get my hands on another can of butternut squash puree to bake with. What an excellent way to sneak in veggies for non-veggie lovers i.e. your children, your spouse, etc. The recipe is easy to follow and you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry already! SO? What are you waiting for!?

***Edited to add:

• You can also add 1 cup of shredded carrots into the recipe!
• I tried it with 2 eggs as the original recipe calls for and they were bigger and fluffier as a result

Tagged as: Butternut Squash, Dried Cranberries, Flax, Muffins, Raisins