Butternut Squash & Oatmeal Muffins

If you recall, the 'rough sketch' plan of my weekend included baking a mystery dessert. It was Pumpkin Delight. And it didn't happen.

The story goes: it was a dark and stormy Saturday (afternoon), and it was really cold. Really cold, people. Really. I stood in front of my pantry and faced the facts. I was not leaving the warmth of my abode for ingredients. If I wanted to bake, I was going to bake with the goods at hand.




So I adapted the food network's recipe for butternut squash muffins. And, it was a success. A surprising and totally uplifting success. It meant that I wouldn't have to leave my apartment for lunch. Or dinner. You think I'm kidding? Well, I'm not. I ate those muffins like it was no one's business. Now, with no further ado, the how-to...

Butternut Squash & Oatmeal Muffins

1 medium butternut squash; peeled & cubed
1.5 cups rice flour (wheat flour will work fine too, if you're not going gluten-free)
1.5 cups rolled oats
1.5 cups raw brown sugar (other sugars would work too)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon (you could also add nutmeg or allspice for taste)
6 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer whipped with 3 tablespoons water (or 4 eggs)
.5 cup oil (whatever you prefer; olive, canola, grape-seed, coconut, etc.)

- Prepare the squash: steam squash & puree in a food processor or blender (this ended up making about 3 cups- but I didn't actually measure it)
- Whip together Ener-G egg replacer and water is a small bowl
- Combine squash puree, Ener-G (or 4 eggs), and the oil in a large mixing bowl
- In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon, stir this dry mixture into the wet ingredients in the large mixing bowl.
- Do not over mix, the muffin batter should be gooey, but not runny. If the batter is too runny add more flour and oats in (equal parts). It should "drop" of a spoon, not "drip".
- Either line a muffin pan with paper cups or spray the pan with oil/ and powder with flour. Fill cups with muffin batter. Try not to make a mess like I did.
- Stick them suckers in a pre-heated oven at 350 and wait. (I was very, very bad and did not time my cooking... I think it was about 15 minutes.) Before removing pans from the oven test the center muffin with a tooth-pick or fork. If it comes out clean then these babies are done! Let cool. Devour.

* On Sunday the BF and I took a few muffins and added softened tofu cream cheese to their tops. Scrumptious! There are more complicated recipes out there for cream cheese topping (like the food network one) with citrus and vanilla, and other junk. But I'm into simplification. If you wanted your topping a little sweeter, whip the cream cheese with a little sugar or honey. Enjoy!!!

Photo via Cooking Love Central