Feeding the Family: Butternut Squash Muffins

I'm always looking for a way to get more vegetables (or any vegetables for that matter) into my 2 1/2 yr old. So, I was elated to find another veggie muffin recipe in the September 2011 issue of Parenting Magazine and just had to give it a try. The original recipe was a bit bland so I've changed a few things to make them more flavorful. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
7 oz. of peeled, seeded and roughly chopped butternut squash (about 1/2 a medium sized squash)
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup dried cranberries (aka Craisins)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners.
2. In a food processor, finely chop the butternut squash. Add sugar and eggs and whiz to combine.
3. Add salt, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and oil and whiz until combined.
4. Stir in Craisins with a wooden spoon- reserving a few for the top of each muffin if you wish.
5. Evenly distribute the batter among the muffin cups and top with remaining Craisins.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a wooden skewer or knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

For more fruit and vegetable muffin/bread recipes check out some of our older posts under the heading "Feeding the Family" and "Recipes".