Have you ever gone into your favorite cafe and seen squash harvest bread on the menu? It seems to be a staple on the cafe menus here in the Pacific Northwest.
This is a large recipe – it makes two full size loaves of squash harvest bread (or one full size, two minis + ten muffins!) so feel free to cut this recipe in half if you won’t be sharing it with family, friends, or neighbors. If you are going to make squash harvest muffins these are my favorite parchment paper muffin liners.
Ingredients:
- 20 oz. cubed butternut squash (3 cups), this makes 1 1/2 cups of puree
- 6 tablespoons of water
- 1/3 cup of crushed pecans
- 1/3 cup of crushed walnuts
- 1/3 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds, typically light green in color) + additional for sprinkling on top
- 1 cup canola oil
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 1/2 cup flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cloves
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
Step One for Squash Harvest Bread: Roast your butternut squash at 350 degrees for 45 minutes in a 9 x 13 pan. Let cool. Put the squash and 6 tablespoons of water in a big glass bowl. Using an immersion blender puree the butternut squash until smooth. Set aside. This makes the 1 1/2 cups of puree you will use in the recipe.
Step Two: Set the oven to 325 degrees. Line a small toaster pan with aluminum foil and put the crushed pecans, crushed walnuts, and 1/3 cup of the pepitas on it. Toast for ~ 3 minutes. Let cool.
Step Three: Put the canola oil, sugar, and brown sugar in a Kitchen Aid bowl and mix well until fully combined.
Step Four: Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt to the Kitchen Aid. Start the mixer, then add 1 egg at a time until you have used all 4 eggs.
Step Five: Add in your cooled nut mixture to the batter. Mix well.
Step Six: Add in the 1 1/2 cup of butternut squash puree and buttermilk. Mix well.
Step Seven: Spray your bread pans with non-stick spray and distribute the squash harvest batter evenly between them. Sprinkle additional pepitas on top if desired. Note: As I mentioned above this is a large batch recipe – this will make two large loaves or 1 large loaf + 2 mini loaves + 10 muffins. Or you can make ~48 muffins.
Step Eight: If making two large loaves of squash harvest bread bake for ~ 1 hour. A mini loaf bakes for ~ 40 minutes and the squash harvest muffins take ~ 25 minutes.
Step Nine: Enjoy this delicious squash harvest bread recipe with family & friends!
Are you looking for more recipe inspiration? Check out our Fantail Farm Recipes page!