Butternut Squash Bread

Such a nice crumb, don't you think?

This past fall, I put up quite a bit of butternut squash. I cubed it and froze it, but I also roasted it and then pureed it. I froze a couple cups of the puree and had been wondering what to do with it. Soup just seems so... ordinary. 

So I made bread. This recipe is great because it's sweet, but also got a tang to it. From the orange juice. Much like my mother's pumpkin pie made with orange juice. Mmmmm. An unexpected citrusy punch. 

Start off with the pretty stuff - sugars, zest, and puree.

Mix that up, then add the oil, vanilla, juice and eggs.

Such a pretty fall color. A nice bit of October in February!

Then the drys go in, and we're ready to load the pan. Pay no attention to the melted marshmallow goo. It was an experiment. It failed miserably. Do NOT add marshmallow goo to this bread. If you're patient, you will see why. It was an epic fail. 

Here's the pretty plain bread. With all the nibbly fingers around, it didn't last long!

Butternut Squash Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Adapted from My Baking Addiction

1 c. butternut squash puree
2 eggs
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/4 c. orange juice (the juice from one orange)

1 tsp vanilla

Zest of 1 orange
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine puree, sugars, and zest in a large bowl. Add oil, juice, vanilla and eggs, stir well until smooth. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg. Dump dry ingredients in to the wet and whisk until just incorporated. Do not over mix. 

Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Feel free to add nuts, chocolate chips, or coconut to this bread - do not add marshmallows. Bad things happen. 

But if you peel off the burnt stuff, the bread underneath tastes just like the plain kind.

Experiment = Fail