Do any of you parents have a hard time getting your children to eat vegetables? I certainly do. Addison eats fruits with no problem, but she isn’t too fond of her veggies. For whatever reason, she eats them at daycare, but I am guessing that it’s due to peer pressure. When she’s at home, it’s a different story. She is already showing signs of future teenaged years by ignoring her parents’ instructions.
I received some acorn squash and wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Of course, I wanted to make some type of dessert or sweet with them and found this acorn squash bread. The recipe only made one loaf, and the method seemed easy enough. Addison even helped me mix all the ingredients together. I told her we were making cake so she’d eat some. And she did!
This is a wonderful way to sneak some additional veggies into any non-vegetable eating children or significant others. You cannot taste the acorn squash but instead will get a bite full of delicious autumn spices with the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. This bread is a wonderful treat for breakfast or as an anytime snack.
Acorn squash bread
Ingredients
- 1 small-medium acorn squash
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup mild olive oil or vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground clove
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup chopped pecans or hazelnuts optional
- Coarse sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Cut the squash in half and scoop out the insides with the seeds and stringy stuff. Put the squash cut sides down on a high sided baking tray and fill the tray with ½ an inch of water.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the squash is very tender.
- Remove from the oven and let the squash cool (keep the oven on). Scoop out the fleshy bits with a spoon puree in a food processor or blender until smooth. Set aside 1 cup of the puree for the bread.
- In a medium size bowl, blend together 1 cup of the squash puree, sugar, the oil, and the eggs.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, spices, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add this to the squash mixture and mix until no longer lumpy. Stir in the nuts (if you are adding them).
- Grease and flour your bread pan and pour in the batter. Generously sprinkle the top of the bread with the coarse sugar. Bake in your preheated 350°F oven for 45-55 minutes until set. A toothpick inserted into the center of the bread should come out clean.
- If you want to make the bread super awesome, you can add a layer of streusel topping.
this sounds great! a nice change of pace from all the pumpkin recipes with still a wonderful fall flavor 🙂
MMMM, this sounds delish. I have the hardest time feeding veggies to Elena as well, I always have to mix bananas with whatever veggie I give to her…it makes for lots of interesting meals!! LOL This is one bread that I look forward to making!!
This sounds so good and perfect for this time of year! I think it's a perfect alternative to pumpkin bread!
This bread sounds so delicious and reminds me of my Mom, Louise, who had to always hide acorn squash in breads, cakes and pies so her 5 children would eat it. Addison, my granddaughter whose middle name is Louise, is keeping up the family tradition of liking her veggies as long as they are sweet! Add the streusel topping, and I believe I cold eat the whole loaf myself! Yummy!
I always call the 'healthy' bread "cake" to my daughter, too. Works every time. I like the idea of using squash 🙂
I have made this bread twice now and both times it will not set. After 55 minutes in the oven it still "jiggles". I have followed the recipe exactly both times and have even set the oven to 375 but nothing…
Oh no! Have you calibrated your oven lately? Maybe it is running cold so the bread won't set. Also, are your baking soda and baking powder fresh? The bread definitely should not jiggle. You could try cutting down on the oil a bit to see if it helps reduce the amount of liquid in your batter. Let me know how it goes!
It does run slightly off which is why I had it on 375. Both baking powder and soda are fresh. How much would you cut down the oil?
My guess is that maybe your acorn squash had too much liquid in it and the addition of the oil is making it too wet to fully bake. Try substituting the oil with 1/3 cup of applesauce and see if that does the trick. I find that applesauce is a great alternative to oil and keeps baked goods moist but doesn't create as much liquid. I wouldn't recommend having more than 1/3 cup of liquid in your loaf since it sounds like your batter is already too wet to begin with.
I am WAY late to the party, but I made this Sunday, and it is SO good! I always cook my squash in the oven, that way I know it will be good well and not watery, (I also pre-sprinkled the squash with olive oil and cinnamon!). My other changes: I only used 1/2 cup sugar, almonds instead of pecans/hazelnuts, and I did not sprinkle with extra sugar or add topping. Between my husband and I, we have only 2 pieces left! I will definitely make again. Thank you for posting!
I should re-read before posting! 🙂 I always cook my squash in the oven *on a baking sheet*, that way I know it will be *cooked* well and not watery…Sheesh!
Please put oven temps for the bread and squash
Author
Oh my goodness – thank you for the callout! I’ve fixed the recipe and added the oven temps. It should 350 degrees F for both the squash and the bread. Thank you!
I just tried this recipe, but as muffins. They turned out great. Don’t take as long to bake and my kids are more likely to eat them this way.
Author
Love that, Andrea!!! Glad the kids like them!
Thank you for the great recipe. It was delicious and fluffy. I added walnuts instead of pecans and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Author
Awesome!!
Wondering what size loaf pan you used. Was it the standard 9 x 5-inch or the slightly smaller one of 8 x 4-inch pan? It’s better to find out now than the hard way after it doesn’t bake correctly. Thanks
Author
I used a 9×5 inch loaf pan
Making this now, super excited to try it!
Author
Yay – I hope you enjoy it, Dee!
These were yummy! Made the recipe as muffins, baked for 27 min and they turned out perfectly. Thanks!
Author
You made my day – thanks, Robin!
My son wanted to turn our acorn squash into bread so we tried your recipe it’s in the oven now only no nuts since I didn’t have any on hand and I am using my silicon mini loaf pan! It’s been in the oven 5 mins and already smells “amaze balls” as my son put it!
Author
Whoo hoo! I hope you and your son love the bread!