Butternut Squash Banana Muffins (Printable)

Tender muffins with natural sweetness from bananas and roasted squash, ready in 45 minutes.

# What You'll Need:

→ Produce

01 - 1 cup butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
02 - 2 large ripe bananas, mashed

→ Wet Ingredients

03 - 2 large eggs
04 - 1/3 cup vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)
05 - 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
06 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

→ Dry Ingredients

07 - 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (or half whole wheat flour)
08 - 1 teaspoon baking soda
09 - 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
10 - 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
11 - 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
12 - 1/4 teaspoon salt

→ Optional Add-ins

13 - 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
14 - 1/3 cup chocolate chips or raisins

# Steps:

01 - Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
02 - Steam or roast the cubed butternut squash until fork-tender (about 15 minutes steaming or 25 minutes roasting). Let cool completely, then mash until smooth to yield 1 cup of purée.
03 - In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, maple syrup, mashed bananas, butternut squash purée, and vanilla extract until smooth and well blended.
04 - In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until evenly distributed.
05 - Add the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients. Stir gently with a spatula until just combined; avoid overmixing to keep the muffins tender.
06 - Gently fold in chopped nuts, chocolate chips, or raisins if desired, distributing evenly throughout the batter.
07 - Divide the batter evenly among the 12 prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full.
08 - Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
09 - Let the muffins rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • The natural sweetness from bananas and squash means you need barely any added sugar to feel satisfied.
  • They stay incredibly moist for days, which makes them ideal for meal prep or freezing for busy mornings.
  • You probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry right now.
02 -
  • Overmixing the batter activates the gluten in the flour and turns your muffins dense and rubbery, so stop folding the moment the last flour streak disappears.
  • The squash purée holds a lot of moisture, which means these muffins will stay soft for up to four days at room temperature when stored in an airtight container.
03 -
  • Let the cooked squash purée cool completely before adding it to the wet mixture, because warm purée can start cooking the eggs and create odd textured streaks in your batter.
  • Toss your chocolate chips or nuts in a light dusting of flour before folding them in, which prevents them from sinking to the bottom during baking.

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