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Butternut Squash Bread is full of autumnal flavors that only get more complex with time. This moist and delicious quick bread may just become your new favorite fall treat.
If you happened to catch my post last week for Apple Cinnamon Muffins, you may remember me coming up empty handed in my search for canned pumpkin puree. Well, many of you came to my rescue and a couple of you even emailed offering to ship me cans. Thanks for having your girl’s back!
However, several of you emailed me to say that Aldi shelves were pretty stocked with pumpkin puree. I’m not a regular Aldi shopper, but my friend Erin is and she just so happened upon a pumpkin jackpot at Aldi this past weekend and graciously dropped 6 cans onto my front porch.
If you can’t find it in your area, Aldi just might be the place to go to score a few cans. In the meantime, I think you should whip up this Butternut Squash Bread. It’s light, sweet and perfect for fall!
THE PERFECT BUTTERNUT SQUASH BREAD RECIPE
I have issues with perfection. I am always searching for it: the perfect recipe, the perfect pair of shoes, the perfect arch in my brows.
Obviously perfection is relative and varies from person to person, but for me, the search is endless and sometimes exhausting.
Rarely do I claim that a recipe is perfection. Why? Well, because I am always tweaking and fiddling with things to make them…well, closer to my version of perfect.
However, this recipe for Butternut Squash Bread may just define perfection for me (at least in my warped sense of the word).
The combination of flavors and the texture of this bread is truly amazing, and it only seems to get better over time. It’s delicious on day one, but by day two it transforms into a lovely moist bread full of rich, autumnal flavors.
It is very similar to my favorite Pumpkin Bread but with a slightly lighter texture.
I love this Butternut Squash Bread paired with a cup of hot chai or a London fog for breakfast or with a smear of butter for a late night snack.
HOW TO MAKE BUTTERNUT SQUASH BREAD
Remember the Butternut Squash Puree from earlier this week? I told you that you’d want to save some for making some Butternut Squash Bread!
To make this bread, start by grabbing your puree, either freshly made or thawed from the freezer if you made some ahead of time.
Whisk together the squash puree with eggs, oil, water, and both white and brown sugars.
(Psst! Ever wondered about the differences between the types of sugar? My handy guide lays it all out!)
Separately, whisk together the dry ingredients, including cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Stir the dry ingredients into the squash mixture, pour it into your loaf pan, and bake.
Pretty simple, right?? Like most quick bread recipes, this one is pretty straightforward, making it easy to whip up by yourself or great to make with kids.
SUGGESTED MIX-INS FOR THIS BREAD
Butternut Squash Bread is amazing as-is, but you can also get creative and make this recipe your own if you’d like.
You can try adding semi-sweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, chopped nuts, or even some dried cranberries to the batter before baking.
You could even mix up some cinnamon-sugar and sprinkle it on top of the batter before you bake the bread to give the bread a bit of a crunchy topping, similar to what I do with Dominique Ansel’s Banana Bread.
Whether you make it as written or decide to toss in some mix-ins, I know you’ll love this bread as much as we do!
Butternut Squash Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup butternut squash puree
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour one 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.5 inch loaf pan.
- In a large bowl, mix together the butternut squash puree, eggs, oil, water and sugars until thoroughly combined. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the butternut squash mixture. Combine just until incorporated; do not over mix. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Butternut Squash Puree
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 large butternut squash
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter; diced
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Slice the butternut squash in half lengthwise; scoop out and toss the seeds. Place the halves flesh-side-up on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Sprinkle the diced butter and brown sugar evenly on both halves.
- Roast for 45-60 minutes or until the butternut squash can easily be pierced with a knife.
- A liquid mixture of butter and brown sugar will form in the wells of the squash, make sure you include this deliciousness with the puree.
- Remove squash from the oven; allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Scoop out the flesh and liquid and place into your food processor or blender.
- Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and salt; pulse until you reach a creamy consistency.
- If you are serving this delicious puree as a simple side dish, adjust the seasoning to your taste and toss in a couple more tablespoons of unsalted butter. If you are using it for Butternut Squash Bread, leave the puree as written.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Perfection indeed! I added shredded carrot and chopped walnuts on top, and I couldn’t be happier with the results! This is probably the best bread I’ve ever yielded, thanks !
I grew butternut squash for the first time this year and was looking for a way of using the garden’s bounty. Your recipe was SO awesome, I’ve made it four times this week: some for us, some for others, and one doorstop where I forgot to add the eggs. :-P Anyway, thanks for a fabulous recipe. Have you come up with other things to do with the sweetened puree?
Debbie-
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for coming back and letting me know how the recipe worked for you!You can pretty much sub the puree for just about anything that calls from canned pumpkin. Have a great day.
-Jamie
You know when a recipe is good when the body of it allows the flexibility to substitute ingredients with what you have on hand. I used Kabocha squash, coconut palm sugar, and honey to replace what I didn’t have and added orange zest and orange juice for giggles.
It was DELISH! My mom loved it spread with creamcheese and I, just as is. Thanks for sharing and to all who replied with great hints and suggestions.Next is into giant muffins with streusel!
Lizzy-
Your version sounds absolutely perfect – thanks so much for sharing it with us! Have a great day!
-Jamie
In the last three weeks I have made TWO DOZEN mini loaves of your Butternut Squash Bread! It all started with a single butternut squash from my mother-in-law…a bread making affinity…a google search…and a long weekend at our little cabin in the Northwoods! I’ve shared the bread with family and friends; everyone loves it! It freezes well too. My favorite way to serve any homemade bread is warm with just smidgen of butter, and a few pinches of cinnamon-sugar sprinkled on top. Thank you for the recipe, it is now one of my favorites!
Amanda-
I am so glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe – thanks so much for coming back and telling us about your experience with the bread. Have a great day.
-Jamie
My family made fun of me when I said I wanted to try making a squash into bread. I used your puree recipe as well as this one! It was absolutely phenomenal! I will save this recipe to use again and again! Thanks for sharing.
Melissa-
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the Butternut Squash Bread recipe. Thanks so much for coming back and telling us your thoughts! Have a great day.
-Jamie
I made this recipe tonight and it tastes delicious! I did not have a few ingredients though so made some adjustments. For the oil I used navy beans, for the brown sugar I used honey and for one of the eggs I used vinnegar and baking soda. So glad I doubled the batch!!
A perfectionist, huh? I think you may be my kind of baker. I am convinced and will let you know if I manage to try the recipe tonight whether it is my particular brand of perfection. (I really like how you put that, by the way).
I had some leftover butternut squash butter I made for brunch last week and was looking for a way to use it up. I substituted the squash butter for the puree in your recipe, but followed it otherwise. The bread turned out wonderfully! Thank you so much for posting!
The butternut squash butter was from the Moosewood Celebrates cookbook.
This recipe IS perfection. We followed your instructions to the letter and were so pleased with the results — better than any pumpkin bread I’ve made. Thank you so much for sharing. It was just perfect with our Thanksgiving dinner.
Amy-
I am so happy you enjoyed it! Happy Holidays to you and your family!
-Jamie
It’s in the oven! Couldn’t stop stealing tastes out of the bowl. Threw a little bit of ground cloves in my second loaf. THANK you for this recipe–it smells OH so good! :0)