Healthy Butternut Squash Muffins

I recognize that I've only been posting muffin recipes lately. I think it's because I always forget to take a picture of regular food before I scarf it down. I'm not going to eat a dozen muffins at one sitting -- at least on most days.

These muffins are so incredibly good and a healthy alternative to the store-bought, calorie-laden version. The original recipe is actually for a pumpkin muffin, but butternut squash is what we had in the house. Muffins freeze really well so they're a great healthy snack/breakfast to have on hand.

If you're looking to reduce the sugar for kids or yourself, view the notes at the bottom. We make the reduced sugar and salt version for our 8-month-old and she loves them.

Butternut Squash Muffins

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-grain pastry flour (can substitute all-purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt*
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar*
3 tablespoons maple syrup or unsulphered molasses*
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup pureed butternut squash
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup low fat buttermilk

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, maple syrup, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the squash and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined.

Fill the prepared muffin pan using a 1/4 measuring cup. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 15 minutes.

*Reduce-Sugar/Salt Substitutes: 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 2 T of maple syrup, 1/4 tsp of salt
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