‘Tis the time of year for baking some yummy treats! For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you will have noticed by now that I like to bake with butternut squash! 🙂
It’s the perfect ingredient in my opinion to create yummy yet nutritious treats for you and your family.
Issey (my 4-year-old) loves butternut squash desserts and she will happily choose this over something store-bought, which is a mom win 🙂 I like to use butternut squash because it’s a great filling substitute and you’re also getting more nutrients into your diet. For example, butternut squash is loaded with vitamin A, contains half your recommended daily intake of vitamin C – which is good for your skin, so will keep us moms looking young and healthy! And what I find amazing is that a protein found in butternut squash has been found to inhibit the growth of melanoma (skin cancer) cells, making it a potential anticancer agent.Â
Overall, butternut squash is high in antioxidants, it’s immune-boosting and can lower inflammation! (and you know what I always say about inflammation…. it is the root of all disease…)
And, lastly why I love this recipe so much is that you can just throw all ingredients into one bowl and you’re done, this is how I like to bake!! This bread is super allergy friendly, vegan and shred-friendly (for those moms in our shred group), gluten and dairy free!!Â
So I know you need to have this recipe asap! so here it is:
Ingredients
- 1 medium butternut squash (previously baked in the oven and cooled)
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax + 3 tablespoons water, whisk together, set for 10-15 mins)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups gluten-free oat flour*
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup almond meal (I just blend almonds in my ninja blender)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup vegan chocolate chips or 1 bar of 85% dark chocolate (Green and Blacks)
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line an 8-inch bread tin with parchment paper or grease your tin with coconut oil.
- Add the wet ingredients to a large bowl: butternut squash, coconut oil, maple syrup, sugar, flax egg, and vanilla. Whisk until well incorporated.
- Add the dry ingredients: oat flour, cocoa powder, almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt. Whisk together until difficult to stir.
- Fold in chocolate chips or chopped pieces of chocolate.
- Pour batter evenly into prepared tin.
- Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of the loaf. Lightly press chips down into the mixture.
- Bake for 50 -60 minutes (I normally check it at 45 mins and then see how it is by inserting a toothpick in the centre).Â
- Allow to cool on a rack for 2-3 hours (note, the first time I made this recipe I tried to take the bread out of the tin way to soon!!! And it ended up broken in half on my counter ;0 still tasted great though ha!)
Love Lisa XX
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References
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