spiced butternut squash bread
Oh my goodness, you guys, I’m terrible. It’s been way too long.
I’d love to have some amazing reason for ignoring you, like “I was injured in the woods and then a mama bear took me in and adopted me as her own and nursed me back to health” or “a world-renowned magazine saw my photographs and wanted me to take pictures for a huge spread! Forever!” or “I suddenly developed a musical talent and have been on tour with an assortment of my favourite bands for the past month.”
Instead, I’m going to be honest {ugh, honesty is so boring} and tell you that I'm negligent. That’s about as far as it goes, excuse-wise. So if it suits you, maybe we could just stick with one of the original stories – I’m a fan of the first one, it just seems much more exciting than the truth.
Luckily I’ve taken the time to bake a few things, you know, just to keep the energy levels up. A girl’s gotta eat, right? A nice thick slice of this super-moist, flavourful loaf is just the thing to enjoy mid-afternoon with a big mug of tea. In fact, even miss Molly liked it enough to hop up on the counter and scarf down half of the loaf. I still can’t decide if I’m mad at her for it, or flattered. She’s never done anything like that before, so clearly it’s some delicious stuff.
Maybe she’s vying to become my official recipe tester.
Spiced Butternut Squash Bread
Makes 1 large loaf
Ingredients:
¾ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup oat bran
1/3 cup flaxseeds, plus 1 teaspoon, separated
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ cups butternut squash puree
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons grape seed oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coarse sugar, to finish
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and grease a standard-sized loaf pan; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk flours, oat bran, 1/3 cup flaxseeds, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. In another bowl, whisk squash, sugar, yogurt, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir just until combined. Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle the coarse sugar and remaining flax over top of the batter and then bake in the preheated oven for 50-60 minutes, or until the top of the loaf is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre of the loaf comes out clean.
4. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes and then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.