These squash muffins are another gem from the CLIF Bar holiday series. Clif Bar is celebrating the return of their popular seasonal flavors (Spiced Pumpkin Pie, Iced Gingerbread, and Peppermint Stick) with recipes from the athletes and foodies at CLIF Bar that evoke holiday memories. We already highlighted the chocolate chip banana bread recipe chosen by Todd Wells, Olympic Mountain Bike and Cyclocross racer, but now it’s Lindsey Corbin’s turn.
Lindsey is a Professional Triathlete and Team CLIF Bar Athlete. Her favorite outdoor holiday tradition is going on adventure runs with friends and her dog, during the winter time in Montana. No doubt that they wouldn’t love to arrive home to a fresh batch of these low fat squash muffins! They are sweet, but with a touch of wholesome.
For ease, you can substitute the mashed squash with canned pumpkin or squash puree. However, if you want to enjoy the original squash muffins recipe, as is, then simply roast up a fresh seasonal squash at home …
How to roast a butternut squash: Preheat your oven to 350°F. Halve the butternut squash and scoop out the seeds. Lightly oil the cut part of the squash, and place it on a pan, cut side up, with 1 inch of water 5. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool, scoop out the flesh, and mash or puree it.
Special Diet Notes: Roasted Butternut Squash Muffins
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, optionally nut-free, peanut-free, optionally soy-free, optionally vegan / plant-based, and vegetarian.
- 1-1/2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Dash each of nutmeg, allspice, ginger & cardamom
- 1 cup mashed roasted butternut squash (see in-article note for roasting squash - can substitute with canned pumpkin puree)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup plain dairy-free yogurt*
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 egg or 1 egg replacer equivalent
- Hand full of toasted and chopped pecans, optional
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and grease two muffin tins or line them with cupcake liners.
- Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cardamom in a medium-bow.
- Blend the squash, sugar, yogurt, applesauce, honey and egg in a mixing bowl.
- Gently fold the dry ingredients into wet ingredients, being careful not to overmix.
- Gently stir in the nuts, if using.
- Fill each muffin cup ⅔ full.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Vegan Option: Use the egg replacer, substitute agave nectar for the honey, and make sure you choose a vegan brown sugar (most organic brands are vegan).
15 Comments
The flavor of these muffins is absolutely at 10….excellent! However we’ve made them twice and ours do not rise….we don’t get ours to rise to even the top of the pan. We do use almond flour and flax egg and maple syrup in place of honey Are we missing anything?
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great recipe! I’m excited!
Do you happen to have the nutritional value on these though?
No, not at this time Melanie.
Looks like a wonderful recipe, and I appreciate all the substitution options, but I’m surprised you posted such a healthy recipe without nutritional information? For many people with different dietary needs, the nutritional information is very important. Otherwise it seems like a well thought out recipe.
I have added the nutrition facts for you Gina. We are a dairy-free website, and have been sharing recipes for over 15 years. Our focus has always been on special diet needs, not weight loss or other dietary concerns. This is why we have not taken the time to calculate nutrition facts – it was rarely a concern to our audience. And to calculate them for over 3000 recipes, would unfortunately take more time than I have! Please do enjoy this recipe now that I have calculated them for you though. Keep in mind that the nutrition facts will vary depending on the ingredients you use (that’s the other reason we don’t usually calculate them – because we offer so many options!).
OMG. I too have a butternut squash that i keep looking at and wondering what can I make. Thank, thank, thank you. Im on it and thank you for the info on substitutes for eggs and yogurt.
But of course! I hope you enjoy the recipe Josie!
Alisa, I love these!! I have been wanting to bake with butternut squash all fall and just didn’t know what to make. I think I’ve found it 🙂
How do you do this?! I just made roasted acorn squash bread today! I was going to make the bread into muffins, but I didn’t want to clean the muffin tin. Delicious and I love that it isn’t pumpkin!
Hooray for butternut! Pumpkin tends to get all the love each autumn, so I’m glad butternut can share the spotlight a little bit in with this delicious muffin entry.
The flavor of these muffins is absolutely at 10….excellent! However we’ve made them twice and ours do not rise….we don’t get ours to rise to even the top of the pan. We do use almond flour and flax egg and maple syrup in place of honey Are we missing anything?
Hi Patty, I’m glad you enjoyed the taste! Unfortunately, those substitutions will definitely weigh the muffins down and keep them from rising. Almond flour is far more dense than wheat flour. And flax “eggs” do not have the structure to aid in rise and stability that regular eggs do. As written, the muffins will rise well, but made grain-free and egg-free, you will need to make other modifications to get them to rise – a better egg substitute, more leavener, and possibly other modifications.