buckets of butternut, part 1

Well folks, you certainly delivered when I asked for uses for my glut of butternut squash. I hope I don't a)disappoint anyone with the things I decided to make, and b)bore you to tears with squash post after squash post after squash post.


Let's begin, shall we?

You must realize by now that I'm a fan of the muffin. Unsurprisingly, my first thought (seconded by several of you) was to muffinize the squash. After doing some searching, I found two equally-tempting recipes and obviously, I was forced to try them both and have a muffin match of sorts.


(my most moist mini-loaf)

This first recipe appealed to me primarily because of the gorgeous crumb topping (originally sans cinnamon, but of course I fixed that). Take a gander for yourself. While the cream cheese innards sounded good, I had none on hand and couldn't justify a trip to the grocery store for cheese alone.


Regardless of the lack of filling, this is a stellar muffin. Although the slightly crunchy crumb topping was indeed glorious, the real kicker for me was the cloves. Yes, they overpowered the cinnamon (which hurt my feelings for a hot second), but their aroma is just so soothing, blissful, and sigh-inducing that I quickly forgot.

Because this was the superior muffin recipe in my battle of the butternut, I'm submitting it to Jeanne of Cook Sister! for the 20th installment of the Waiter, There's Something in My... event. Luckily for me, the theme this month is gourds, so these will fit right in.

Butternut Squash Muffins with Crumbs and Cloves
(based on these)

Muffins:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup butternut squash puree
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray, grease, or line your muffin tin.

To make the crumb topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter, then pinch the mixture (go on, get in there with your fingers!) until pea-size clumps are formed. Set aside.

For the muffins, mix together the flour, cloves, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, combine the eggs, oil, squash, sugar, and vanilla. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.
Fill the muffin tins 3/4 full. Sprinkle each cup generously with topping.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean from the muffin. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely. Makes 12 muffins and two mini loaves.