Butternut Squash Bread

Fall has arrived! The weather is turning cooler and our minds have turned to meals inspired by this great new season. Jim has requested several cold weather delights recently, one of which was winter squash.

We’ve been frequenting the farmers market throughout the summer, and have eagerly awaited each Saturday morning visit. Unfortunately, October is the last month that our market is open, so we’re trying to ‘pack it in’ as much as possible in these sad few remaining weeks. Two weeks ago, we purchased a large butternut squash and an acorn squash as part of our massive farmers market haul. The acorn squash was consumed that weekend, but the butternut stuck around for a while—that’s the great thing about winter squashes: they have a long shelf life and don’t need to be used immediately.

I used the larger part of the butternut squash as a side to dinner last Saturday night, but I was left with the lower, bulbous portion. I pondered all week on the issue of where I could employ this leftover squash; I had a full week of dinners already planned, none of which would accommodate a squash side dish. Finally, last night I decided on the perfect application: a butternut squash quick bread (in the style of a zucchini or pumpkin bread.) My starting point was a recipe for zucchini bread from this book, with many alternations (some accidental, some intentional) made in order to come to this final product.

I threw this together in my last few minutes before Jim arrived home from work, so he was welcomed home to the smell of cinnamon and the promise of a tasty breakfast treat for tomorrow (treats like these are dessert to me and breakfast to him). Verdict: delicious, sweet—but not too sweet. It’s especially great with a smear of cream cheese.

As an extra note: if you have more grated squash than will be used in the bread, try topping a green salad with it—we did that last night after I made the bread and it was delightful!

Butternut Squash Bread

Ingredients:
DRY:
1 2/3 c whole-wheat pastry flour
1/3 c oat bran
1 ½ t baking powder
1 t baking soda
¼ t salt
2 t ground cinnamon
1 t ginger

WET:
¾ c buttermilk
½ c packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
2 T vanilla extract
1 t coconut extract
1 generous packed cup of grated butternut squash (probably close to 1 ¼ c)
handful of dark raisins (maybe ¼ c)

Method:
Mix dry ingredients in large bowl with fork (the wet ingredients will be added to this bowl later, so pick a bowl big enough to accommodate the finished batter). Mix the wet ingredients, through the extracts, in a smaller bowl, whisking to beat eggs and to ensure that everything is well combined. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients, stir a few times to moisten. Add squash and raisins, and fold in until everything is combined. Spray a 8 x 4 loaf pan with cooking spray, pour in the batter and bake at 350 until a wooden skewer (or toothpick) comes out clean (I think it took mine about 50 minutes, but I admit that I wasn’t paying much attention to the time—it’s done when it’s done).

Let cool in pan for 15 minutes, then release onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely before cutting.

Happy Autumn!!