Squash Muffins Made Easy

Squashes in all shapes and sizes and colors grace our Harvest Boxes in the fall and winter.

They can be intimidating. They can pile up. Many folks look at a squash and think, "soup".

I look at squash and think, "baking".

I have four children; two of whom are teenagers, one of whom is a 15 year old boy whose favorite phrase is, "anything to eat?".

As I write this, we are rounding the first half of the school year heading towards Christmas. Some people count down the days, I count down the number of school lunches still need to be made. How many school lunches do I have to make sure they can make to bring until I don't have to think about that for awhile? I can't wait for a break....but until then, lunches will be made and a baked good is a must. I usually wake up thinking about baking. I run the Rolodex in my brain of what I should make. Cookies, muffins, cake...what have a got on hand?

Today as I scrolled my thoughts I landed on the kobacha squash I had roasted the other day. Bingo.

This particular squash does have an edible skin but this time I was only interested in the flesh, the rest will go to the worm compost. I pop the squash as a whole in the oven at 350 on a cookie sheet and bake until an inserted knife goes in nice and easy. I let it cool then separate out the seeds and the cooked flesh.

My squash wasn't as smooth as I wanted so I softened it a touch more in a pot on the stove with a bit of water and butter. Then I plopped the heated up squash into my blender and pureed until I was satisfied with the consistency.

Ok, enough talking already. I know you came for the recipe so let's get to it.

Here's the goods:

- 1/2 cup melted butter (I put it in a small pot and melt on the stove until melted)

- add 3/4 cup organic granulated sugar to the pot

- add 2 eggs

- add 1 cup pureed squash

In a medium sized bowl combine:

- 2 cups of flour (I did 1 cup organic all purpose, 1 cup Red Fife)

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1 tsp baking powder

- 1 tsp cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp ground ginger

- 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry and mix until fully combined then add 3/4 - 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Scoop out into prepared muffin tray.

Bake at 350 until an inserted knife comes out clean (or in my case, until you smell them baking and remember you've got something in the oven!) About 20 minutes give or take.

These babies turned out better than I expected. Moist and fluffy, my kids were pleased.

This recipe made 14 large muffins.

So, if you've got some squash waiting for attention, give this recipe a try! You'll be glad you did!