Butternut Squash Bread from ‘Sweet’ by Valerie Gordon

Squash are the unsung heroes of the winter kitchen. They're inexpensive, nutritionally rich, and will keep forever until you cook them. Add to that the fact that they slip easily into every meal (squash frittata for breakfast! squash soup for lunch! squash risotto for dinner! squash crumble for dessert!) and you've got a serious culinary powerhouse on your hands. Yet every time I bring one home from the grocery, it idles unused in the pantry and glares at me resentfully every time I open the cupboard.

So when I was thumbing through my copy of 'Sweet' by Valerie Gordon of Valerie Confections, this recipe for Butternut Squash Bread jumped out at me immediately. Valerie is one of LA's most celebrated pastry chefs. Her truffles are a longtime Valentine's Day staple for SoCal cupids; her new cookbook is 350 stunning pages of pure sugar rush; and slices of her Coffee Crunch Cake have been known to start turf wars. If Valerie says this is how I should use the squash I've been so assiduously avoiding, who am I to argue? 

Well. From the scent of cinnamon that filled the air during baking to the moist, tender loaf that emerged from the oven, I couldn't have been more pleased with how this recipe came together. Bonus? This butternut squash bread is as versatile as the ingredient that inspired it. It's sturdy enough to toast and enjoy with your morning coffee, hearty enough to accompany your favorite Big Game chili, subtly sweet enough to top with cream cheese icing for a 'Look ma, I'm eating vegetables!' treat. Let it be known that a squash will never linger in my house again! 

Butternut Squash Bread
Recipe Courtesy of Sweet by Valerie Gordon
1 small butternut squash
1/2 cup canola oil (I used coconut oil with great results)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice squash lengthwise and roast on a baking pan until the flesh is soft and scoopable, about 75 minutes. Remove the flesh from half the squash (reserve the rest for something else) and combine with oil in a food processor until smooth. Mix flour through cinnamon in a small bowl, and in a larger bowl cream butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla. Alternately add dry ingredients and squash to butter mixture until you have an even batter. Pour into a greased loaf pan (9.5 inches by 5.5 inches in size) and bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.