Browned Butter [NOT] Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin. It’s the star of the fall season. From coffee to cereal and everything in between, if you look around, you’ll see something with “PUMPKIN” on the label. But I am here to advocate for another star for the season, something whose flavor is far superior to pumpkin and who often plays a key role in the canned pumpkin many people use for their pies and other desserts. I’m talking about the butternut squash. With it’s elongated shape and natural sweetness, this squash is the one you should be dedicating your fall treats to! Really, hear me out!

The first reason I’m Team Butternut is the fact that it’s SO much easier to cut, breakdown and cook it vs. a pumpkin, including clean up! A simple cut down the middle and a scoop of the tiny bit of seeds and pulp and boom, you’re done! Also, let’s talk about flavor. There’s nothing wrong with pumpkin, but butternut has a natural sweetness that brings out the best in flavors like sage and browned butter and amp up the sweetness naturally in desserts, like this one I’m bringing you all today! Now, both pumpkin and butternut squash have TONS of health benefits and if you’re team Pumpkin, you can use it to make this recipe, you may just need to increase the sugar to account for the loss of sweetness. Since we’re focused on butternut squash here, I am going to focus on those health benefits today!

This bread starts with a whole butternut squash that is cut in half and roasted until it is soft enough to become a mash. I documented this entire process and posted on Instagram with the recipe to get your started! Once you’re here, I used the recipe for my winter spice mix which is a more complex version of pumpkin spice to give you a real fall feeling. At the same time you’re toasting spices for this delicious loaf, you can be browning butter. The key to browning butter is to heat the butter until the hissing and popping sound of the water evaporating stops, being sure to swirl the pot to make sure there are no burns to your mix. Once that’s done, you’ve built the backbone of flavor that’s ready to be devoured. The key to this bread, however, is to just incorporate the flour, making sure not to over mix so that you don’t get a tough bread. At this point, you can keep it plain or add nuts or chocolate chips (or both!) to customize it for yourself! This bread is truly fall in a bite and is so good, it’s hard to put it down! Just because it’s delicious doesn’t mean it’s not good for you though!

Butternut squash is like a Health Ninja when it comes to benefits you get from eating it. Apart from the natural sweetness I’ve mentioned twice already (when you are keto, you will appreciate naturally sweet, healthy foods), it’s got a lot going on:

• Aids in Weightloss: Did you know there are only 100 calories per serving of this beauty? It’s also full of fiber which keeps you fuller longer, so bring it on!

• Keeps your stamina strong: This fruit is full of Vitamin C and the carbs it has are slow burning, so they keep you going with steady energy.

• Antioxidant rich: Butternut squash is full of Vitamin A and antioxidants such as caretenoids, cryptoxanthin and lutein which fight free radicals and are said to reduce the risk of cancer.

• Relief from PMS sypmtoms: I know this is ladies specific, but really. This has lots of maganese and is said to alleviate symptoms as well as Midol…I’ll let ya’ll know about that!

The bonus to this recipe is that you can easily turn these into biscotti by slicing them thin, about 1/2” in thickness and laying on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 275 or until they are dried out and firm. They will continue to crisp as they cool and become perfect for coffee dunking!!

Don’t forget to tag me in your photos online @lizeeangel or using #lizeeangel. And as always, comment below and please, like, share and follow me on youtube, instagram, twitter, facebook and pinterest!

Yield: 8Author: Monique ManningPrint Recipe

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Browned Butter [NOT] Pumpkin Bread

A bite of fall featuring butternut squash that delivers a punch in every bite! Add nuts, chocolate chips, dried cranberries or all of them, to make it a truly decadent dessert!

** Nutrition Info Includes Nuts/Add Ins **

prep time: 25 minscook time: 1 hourtotal time: 1 hours and 25 mins

ingredients:

1 stick plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp kosher salt (1/2 the amount if using iodized)

2 cups mashed butternut squash

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp winter spice mix *see notes*

Up to 1 1/2 cups of add ins such as toasted nuts, chocolate chips and/or dried cranberries.

instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and move grate to middle rack. Prepare a 8-inch loaf pan with either parchment or by spraying/buttering and set. aside.

2. In a separate bowl, combine flour and spice mix and stir to aerate and combine. Set aside.

3. In a pot, brown butter by cooking over medium heat. Cook until butter stops hissing and popping and deep golden color is reached. Allow to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

4. Transfer butter to bowl of mixer along with both sugars and beat until sugars are well combined and lightened in color. About 7 minutes.

5. Add baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix into butter mixture until well combined. About 3 minutes.

6. To the butter/sugar mixture, add the mashed butternut squash and beat on medium-low to get incorporated.  Add vanilla.

7. Add eggs one at a time, making sure each is well combined before adding the others.

8. While mixer is off, add all of the flour at once and mix on low until flour is JUST incorporated. You may still see streaks and that is ok.

9. Fold mixture to incorporate more of the flour. If using add-ins, add before the final fold and add to loaf pan.

10. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 60-70 minutes, or until a thermometer reads 210 degrees and comes out clean.

11. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on a baking rack, then remove and cool completely. Serve and enjoy!

NOTES:

To create spice blend, toast
5 cardamom pods
1/4 tsp black peppercorn
1/2 tsp allspice berries
1/2 tsp cloves
1 whole nutmeg

Grind using a spice grinder or high speed blender, and add 1 tsp ginger and 1 tsp ground cinnamon to the mixture.

calories

503

fat (grams)

27.4

net carbs

57.4

protein (grams)

6.7

©2018 Monique Manning

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