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Butternut Squash Bread is full of autumnal flavors that only get more complex with time. This moist and delicious quick bread may just become your new favorite fall treat.
If you happened to catch my post last week for Apple Cinnamon Muffins, you may remember me coming up empty handed in my search for canned pumpkin puree. Well, many of you came to my rescue and a couple of you even emailed offering to ship me cans. Thanks for having your girl’s back!
However, several of you emailed me to say that Aldi shelves were pretty stocked with pumpkin puree. I’m not a regular Aldi shopper, but my friend Erin is and she just so happened upon a pumpkin jackpot at Aldi this past weekend and graciously dropped 6 cans onto my front porch.
If you can’t find it in your area, Aldi just might be the place to go to score a few cans. In the meantime, I think you should whip up this Butternut Squash Bread. It’s light, sweet and perfect for fall!
THE PERFECT BUTTERNUT SQUASH BREAD RECIPE
I have issues with perfection. I am always searching for it: the perfect recipe, the perfect pair of shoes, the perfect arch in my brows.
Obviously perfection is relative and varies from person to person, but for me, the search is endless and sometimes exhausting.
Rarely do I claim that a recipe is perfection. Why? Well, because I am always tweaking and fiddling with things to make them…well, closer to my version of perfect.
However, this recipe for Butternut Squash Bread may just define perfection for me (at least in my warped sense of the word).
The combination of flavors and the texture of this bread is truly amazing, and it only seems to get better over time. It’s delicious on day one, but by day two it transforms into a lovely moist bread full of rich, autumnal flavors.
It is very similar to my favorite Pumpkin Bread but with a slightly lighter texture.
I love this Butternut Squash Bread paired with a cup of hot chai or a London fog for breakfast or with a smear of butter for a late night snack.
HOW TO MAKE BUTTERNUT SQUASH BREAD
Remember the Butternut Squash Puree from earlier this week? I told you that you’d want to save some for making some Butternut Squash Bread!
To make this bread, start by grabbing your puree, either freshly made or thawed from the freezer if you made some ahead of time.
Whisk together the squash puree with eggs, oil, water, and both white and brown sugars.
(Psst! Ever wondered about the differences between the types of sugar? My handy guide lays it all out!)
Separately, whisk together the dry ingredients, including cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Stir the dry ingredients into the squash mixture, pour it into your loaf pan, and bake.
Pretty simple, right?? Like most quick bread recipes, this one is pretty straightforward, making it easy to whip up by yourself or great to make with kids.
SUGGESTED MIX-INS FOR THIS BREAD
Butternut Squash Bread is amazing as-is, but you can also get creative and make this recipe your own if you’d like.
You can try adding semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or even some dried cranberries to the batter before baking.
You could even mix up some cinnamon-sugar and sprinkle it on top of the batter before you bake the bread to give the bread a bit of a crunchy topping, similar to what I do with Dominique Ansel’s Banana Bread.
Whether you make it as written or decide to toss in some mix-ins, I know you’ll love this bread as much as we do!
Butternut Squash Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butternut squash puree
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour one 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together the butternut squash puree, eggs, oil, water and sugars until thoroughly combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the butternut squash mixture. Combine just until incorporated; do not over mix. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Butternut Squash Puree
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter; diced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Slice the butternut squash in half lengthwise; scoop out and toss the seeds. Place the halves flesh-side-up on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Sprinkle the diced butter and brown sugar evenly on both halves.
- Roast for 45-60 minutes or until the butternut squash can easily be pierced with a knife.
- A liquid mixture of butter and brown sugar will form in the wells of the squash, make sure you include this deliciousness with the puree.
- Remove squash from the oven; allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Scoop out the flesh and liquid and place into your food processor or blender.
- Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; pulse until you reach a creamy consistency.
- If you are serving this delicious puree as a simple side dish, adjust the seasoning to your taste and toss in a couple more tablespoons of unsalted butter. If you are using it for Butternut Squash Bread, leave the puree as written.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This was my first baking attempt and I loved it! Thanks so much.
Unika-
That’s great to hear! I’m happy you enjoyed the recipe. Have a wonderful day and thank you for following MBA!
-Jamie
Hi,
I came across your recipe while doing a search for butternut squash bread. I’ve been bitten by a baking bug. I made some modifications…no white sugar, added 1/2 c pumpkin, 1/2 c homemade apple sauce, no white flour – used 3/4 c almond flour, 1 c brown rice flour, and 1/4 flax meal. OMG these are delicious. I shared them with a friend today who thinks French fries are vegetables and they were a hit. Thank you so much for sharing your baking passion and wonderful recipies!
hi! thank you so much for sharing this recipe!! =) I was wondering how long the bread will last for?
Christine,
Probably no more than 4 days refrigerated.
– Jamie
Me again. Yesterday I added 1 chopped apple and dehydrated organic dandelions leaves to the batter. Came out beautifully and everyone at worked enjoyed it so much. As always I prefer whole wheat flour or other healthier alternatives, only used slightly less than I cup of sugar and used olive oil instead of vegetable oil Today I made another one, this time a handful of bittersweet chocolate chips and some fresh chopped up dandelion leaves. Just came out of the oven and looks terrific. Will let you know what my colleagues think of it! Thank you so much again. I love how versatile this recipe is.
I doubled the recipe using one cup each purรฉed pumpkin and butternut squash. I also used full fat Greek yogurt instead of oil, only because the yogurt wa about to run out of date. Next time, I may reduce the sugar. This turned out quite tasty and quite sweet. I’m just curious as to if you’ve done so, and if so, what’s your recommendation? Thank you for such a wonderful recipe! It will be on-file in my recipe box from now on!
Thank you so much. This was very good! Wasn’t sure whether I would like this type of bread so I halved the recipe. Used whole wheat instead of all purpose flour. Used olive oil instead of vegetable oil and only 1/2 cup of sugar in total. Total baking time was about 30 minutes. Turned out moist and fantastic. Better than carrot cake in my humble opinion. Thanks!
Saemma-
I’m so happy that you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for stopping in to share your experience. Have a great day and happy holidays!
-Jamie
I am not normally a fan of squash but we got a ton of it with our CSA that we needed to use up so started googling ideas and came across this, I love this recipe so easy to do and so yummy. Made a loaf yesterday that is gone. About to make another. The only thing I changed yesterday was using apple sauce instead of oil and today I am going to try throwing in some walnuts. Thank you for this.
Samantha-
That’s awesome! I’m so happy that you enjoyed the recipe! Have a wonderful day!
Jamie
We added julienned yellow squash to one loaf, poblano and serrano to the 2nd. Wow! Thanks for the recipe..
Shelby-
Yum, the peppers and yellow squash are such a good idea! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
-Jamie
The flavour was great and smelled divine while cooking, but it didn’t rise at all, and even after an hour and fifteen minutes, the centre still looked uncooked. I’ve never had that problem before and wonder about too much moisture in the recipe – maybe the water could be omitted? Did anyone else encounter that issue?
Sarah, it almost sounds like your baking soda was old, or that the oven didn’t get hot enough. Do you have a separate oven thermometer? My oven runs 10 degrees hotter than the display says, and that can really change the outcome of a baked good if you’re not aware of it.
– Jamie
I tried this bread last week and it was wonderful. I have been following your blog for last 2-3 years and have tried different recipes from here. But never posted anything here. But this bread was so good! I just wanted to thank you :-)
Mausumi
Mausumi-
I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks so much for reporting back!
-Jamie