Butternut Squash

I started haunting our local apple seller at the beginning of September. You might think I was itching to get my hands on some early season apples, but what I was actually looking for was Butternut Squash.

Butternut Squash is a Winter squash commonly available during the Fall months. Winter squash differs from Summer squash in that it must be cooked before eating. Butternut is high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, manganese, magnesium and potassium, and it's low in calories. It has a sweet, nutty flavor and can be used in place of Pumpkin in most recipes. And, like Pumpkin, the seeds can be roasted and eaten as a nutritional snack.

My family and I are big fans of Butternut. We eat it just out of the oven, with butter and a drizzle of honey. Butternut Squash soup and bread make a lovely Autumn meal, and a friend has even made oven baked fries with Butternut squash. It was such a fantastic growing season here in South Central Minnesota that we've been able to buy 5 - 10 pound squash for $1.99 each. That's a lot of squash! And, it freezes well, so we've been stocking up.

I made Butternut Squash Bread Sunday night. My family loved it, the neighbors loved it, and a friend ordered a batch after sampling it. I used my Pumpkin Bread recipe, substituting the squash for the pumpkin and brown sugar for white. It turned out lighter, moister and more buttery than the Pumpkin Bread. The recipe follows -


Butternut Squash Bread
Ingredients:

• 1 cup vegetable oil


• 2 cups Brown sugar


• 2 cups of cooked, mashed Butternut squash


• 4 eggs (slightly scrambled)


• 3 1/2 cups flour


• 1 tsp baking soda


• 2 tsp baking powder


• 2 tsp salt


• 3 tsp Apple Pie spice


• 1/3 cup water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large mixing bowl, mix sugar, oil, eggs and squash. Slowly stir in remaining ingredients. Add water and stir well. Pour batter into loaf pans (this recipe is enough for 3 standard size loaves). Bake for at least an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the top of the loaf comes out clean.

Feel free to experiment with chocolate chips, nuts or your favorite glaze to dress this up.