Butternut Squash Muffins

These incredibly moist and pretty muffins are a delicious treat at any time of the year. They can be served as a dessert, but can also be eaten as a healthy and filling snack.

Frosty citrus icing adds a great contrast to the cinnamon flavored butternut squash muffins. However, it is entirely up to you whether you want to ice your muffins or not, these butternut muffins would taste equally nice with a spread of butter or even peanut or almond butter.

We used a silicone muffin pan to make this recipe but you are welcome to use paper liners if preferred. The recipe makes about 20 medium sized muffins.

We hope you give these lovely butternut squash muffins a try!

1. Halve butternut squash lengthwise, peal and scoop out seeds. Grate ½ of the squash using a grater or whiz in a food processor until finely chopped.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease silicone muffin tray with cooking spray or vegetable oil (no need to spray if using paper liners).

3. Place grated or finely chopped butternut squash in a large bowl, add ground cinnamon, sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, baking powder, flour and salt and stir well. Be careful not to overmix, the ingredients simply need to be well blended and not perfectly beaten.

4. Spoon batter into silicone muffin tray or prepared paper liners to about 1/2 to 2/3 full.

5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the silicone muffin tray for 5-10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

6. While muffins are cooling, make the frost icing. Mix butter and cream cheese in the food processor or in mixing bowl and blend until smooth, for about 1-2 minutes. Sieve the icing sugar into the bowl, add vanilla essence and blend again until smooth.

7. Use a piping bag or a knife to ice the muffins (muffins should be cooled completely before icing!) Sprinkle some orange zest on top and let the frosting set.
Enjoy!