Whole Wheat Butternut Squash, Apple and Hazelnut Muffins
 
Hands-on time
Cook time
Total time
 
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Yields: 12 muffins
Ingredients
  • 1 butternut squash, cut in half and seeds scraped out
  • 2 cups hazelnuts
  • 1 cup whole wheat pasty flour (or regular whole wheat flour)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar, divided
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 large apple, chopped (leave peel on and just chop around the core)
Instructions
To roast the squash:
  1. Preheat oven to 375. Rub inside of squash with a bit of olive oil and place face down in a baking dish. Fill dish with about 1/2 inch of water. Roast until squash is tender, about 40-45 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Scrape out flesh and add to a food processor or blender. Puree until smooth. You will need 1 cup of squash for the muffins; save the rest for another use. Alternately, you can use canned butternut squash and skip this step.
To toast the hazelnuts:
  1. Reduce oven temperature to 325. Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Remove from oven and pour hazelnuts onto a clean kitchen towel. Fold up the edges and let them steam for 5-10 minutes.
  2. With the hazelnuts still in the kitchen towel, take the skins off by rubbing vigorously back and forth. There will always be a few whose skins won't come off. Just remove the skinned hazelnuts and try again with the few stubborn ones. It's OK if a few skins get left on.
  3. Add the skinned hazelnuts to a food processor and process to a coarse crumb. Scoop out 1/2 cup of ground hazelnuts and set aside for the topping.
To make the muffin batter:
  1. Preheat oven to 425. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease with baking spray.
  2. Add the remaining ground hazelnuts to a large bowl. Sift in the flour and baking powder and add the cinnamon, ginger and salt.
  3. In another large bowl, cream together butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar with a hand mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then vanilla, then 1 cup of squash puree.
  4. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir gently until just combined. Gently stir in the chopped apple.
  5. Spoon the muffin batter into lined or greased muffin tin, filling each cup to the top. I like to use an ice cream scoop for this to create nice little domed tops.
To make the topping:
  1. In a small bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup ground hazelnuts you set aside at the beginning and the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Spoon over muffins. You should have enough to top each muffin generously.
To bake the muffins:
  1. Bake at 425 for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375 (without opening oven door!). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with most crumbs, about 13-18 minutes longer.
  2. Let cool before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Inspired by Whole Living.
Recipe by Coffee & Quinoa at https://www.coffeeandquinoa.com/2013/11/whole-wheat-butternut-squash-apple-and-hazelnut-muffins/