



BUTTERNUT SPICED MUFFINS
These are a bit of a mash-up between a carrot cake and a pumpkin pie; the butternut squash grated into the mix as it would be in a carrot cake, but with a pumpkin pie spice mix. They make the yummiest autumn muffins. The crumble topping adds a lovely crunch too.
Ingredients
- 225 g caster sugar
- zest of 1 orange
- 225 g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/2 tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- small pinch of salt
- 150 ml neutral oil (sunflower, vegetable or groundnut)
- 150 ml soured cream
- 2 medium eggs
- 125 g butternut squash peeled & corsely grated
- to serve: water icing (optional)
Crumble Topping
- 50 g plain flour
- 20 g demerara sugar
- 40 g unsalted butter chilled & cubed
- 30 g pecan nuts roughly chopped
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 160°c (fan assisted)/350°f/gas 4 and line a muffin tin with 9 muffin cases, or a cupcake tin with 12 cupcake cases.
-
Start by making the crumble topping. Combine the plain flour and demerara sugar in a mixing bowl. Add the butter and use the tips of your fingers to rub the butter into the flour mixture, until you have something which resembles rough breadcrumbs. Stir through the chopped pecans, then set aside for later.
-
Combine the caster sugar and orange zest in a mixing bowl. Use your fingers to rub the orange zest into the caster sugar, to release the oils within the zest and increase its intensity. Next, sift the self-raising flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg into the bowl, add the salt and give everything a mix to combine.
-
Stir the sunflower oil, soured cream and eggs together in a jug, then slowly pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, gently folding as you go, until smooth and just combined. Finally, stir through the grated butternut squash.
-
Divide the cake batter between the muffin or cupcake cases and scatter each one generously with the crumble topping. Bake for 22-28 minutes, or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
-
Finish the muffins with a little drizzle of water icing, if you like. They just as delicious without though. Enjoy them warm, or cold; I love them with a spoonful of yoghurt for breakfast, too.
If you love my Butternut Spice Muffins recipe, you can find my other butternut squash recipes here.
Leave a Reply