Butternut Squash Go Get You Some Honey Wheat Oat Muffins (And Why I Love Trader Joe's)

It's that time of year again.  When pumpkins are carved, pies are made and butternut squash isn't so ridiculously expensive.  There is much rejoicing!!  

I will share with you my secret to buying butternut squash as long as you try these muffins out.  Most stores sell butternut squash by the pound.  They are not on sale the entire fall season, so you have to keep checking the ads each week to find out where it is cheapest.  One time I ended up buying $9.00 of butternut squash because I did not realize how big the squash I was purchasing was.  Grocery stores do not tend to keep very many scales around so you can know how much your produce weighs anymore.  (When I was a kid and walked up a hill two miles in the snow to get to the grocery store there were two scales on every produce aisle.  Now you have to walk in circles trying to find one).  Stores like Aldi and Trader Joe's (who are owned by the same company) do not use scales for their produce, they sell their food on a per unit basis.  At first I was skeptical about this because I thought they were getting more money from you than what the item was actually worth.  However, after a few shopping experiences at other stores I realized this is not the case.  Last fall I discovered that Trader Joe's sells butternut squash all season long for $1.99 per one unit of squash.  This means you could get a 2 pound squash for $1.99 or in my case, get a 4-5 pound squash for $1.99.  How exciting is that!!

On Tuesday of this week my husband let me go to the store by myself without my daughter, which is a rare treat.  When I got to the produce area the butternut squash was calling out my name.  Seriously, food tends to do that to you at Trader Joe's.  So, I bought two ginormous squash.  For $4.00 I bought enough squash to make Hearty Chicken Stew With Butternut Squash and Quinoa Remix.  Two dozen of the below muffin and next week I will use the remaining cup and a 1/4 to add to my Not Tomato Sauce recipe.  Everyone wins!!

You have heard me talk about what a picky eater my now two and five month old daughter was when she began eating solid foods.  I scoured the internet to find toddler appealing recipes that were covertly full of nutrients, but didn't taste like the back of a recently used fly swatter.  The first time I made  these Winter Squash Oatmeal Muffins they were a bit hit, not only with my then 1 year old, but my husband as well.  In my quest to make them as healthy as possible I made quite a few changes over the following months.  I switched up the regular vegetable/canola oil for coconut oil, substituted honey for brown sugar and used whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour.  After making all of these changes and adjusting the honey ratio, they were still a definite crowd pleaser. 

With Blueberries

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups winter squash, cooked and mashed
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 Cup of honey
• 3/4 cup oats (I used instant oats)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 TBSP cinnamon
• 1 TBSP ginger
• 1/4 TBSP of nutmeg
• 3/4 Cup of frozen or fresh blueberries (optional)

Directions:

1.  Combine eggs, squash, vanilla, honey, coconut oil, baking powder, baking soda and spices.  Use beaters to get squash blended well with other ingredients. 

*Note*If you don't have butternut squash you can also used pumpkin or mashed sweet potato.  

*Note*I roast my squash by cutting them in half.  Putting them in a sprayed Pyrex dish and cook on 400 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour.  The seeds scoop out easily and then you can scrape the delicious squash out without trying to use a peeler.  Viola!

2.  Add flour and oats.  I used a fork to mix these together.

3.  If desired, fold in blueberries or any other type of fruit, nut, or even dark chocolate chips would be lovely.  

4.  Spray your muffin baking tins (even if I use liners I spray the insides of those).  Use a ice cream scoop to measure out even muffins. 

5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 min or until a toothpick comes out clean.

WILDCARD PAIRING:  I served these tonight instead of traditional bread with my Hearty Chicken Stew With Butternut Squash and Quinoa Remix.  I wasn't sure at first how the combination would work out, but much to my taste bud's surprise it was a wonderful combination of sweet and spicy. 

My crazy daughter who eventually ate her dinner and loved every bite of it.