Butternut Squash Banana Muffins (Printable)
Tender muffins featuring roasted butternut squash and mashed bananas for natural sweetness.
# What You'll Need:
→ Produce
01 - 1 cup butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
02 - 2 large ripe bananas, mashed
→ Wet Ingredients
03 - 2 large eggs
04 - 1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
05 - 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
06 - 1 tsp vanilla extract
→ Dry Ingredients
07 - 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (half whole wheat flour may be substituted)
08 - 1 tsp baking soda
09 - 1/2 tsp baking powder
10 - 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
11 - 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
12 - 1/4 tsp salt
→ Optional Add-ins
13 - 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
14 - 1/3 cup chocolate chips or raisins
# Directions:
01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
02 - Steam or roast the cubed butternut squash until fork-tender, approximately 15 minutes if steaming or 25 minutes if roasting. Let cool completely, then mash to yield 1 cup of purée.
03 - In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, maple syrup, mashed bananas, butternut squash purée, and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.
04 - In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until evenly distributed.
05 - Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients. Stir gently with a spatula until just combined, being careful not to overmix.
06 - Gently fold in chopped nuts, chocolate chips, or raisins if desired, distributing evenly throughout the batter.
07 - Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full.
08 - Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
09 - Let the muffins rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
# Expert Advice:
01 -
- The squash and banana together create a natural sweetness that lets you cut way back on added sugar without feeling deprived.
- These freeze beautifully, so you can make a batch on Sunday and have breakfast sorted for the entire week.
- The batter comes together in one bowl with no fancy equipment, which means less cleanup and more time to actually enjoy your morning.
02 -
- Overmixing the batter activates the gluten in the flour and turns your tender muffins into something closer to hockey pucks, so stop stirring while there are still a few small lumps.
- Letting the cooked squash cool before adding it to the wet ingredients prevents the eggs from partially cooking and creating weird texture spots.
03 -
- Roast the squash instead of steaming it if you have the time, because the caramelized edges add a depth of flavor that steaming simply cannot match.
- Use the ripest bananas you can find, even ones you have frozen and thawed, since the freezing process breaks down cell walls and makes them even sweeter and easier to mash.