Cheesy Savory Butternut Squash Muffins Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Serves a Crowd

by: fiveandspice

October25,2010

4.6

5 Ratings

  • Serves 12 muffins

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Author Notes

This recipe is inspired by a recipe for pumpkin and feta muffins from an Australian self-published cookbook called Martha Goes Green. The original recipe looked tasty, but also like there was just a little too much going on. Like a mantlepiece that goes from being quirkily decorated to just cluttered. So, I decided to take out a few of the ingredients and tweak the techniques to streamline these muffins a bit. But, what is left is still a fireworks display of autumnal flavors and textures. —fiveandspice

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoonsolive oil
  • 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • a sprinkling of salt and pepper
  • 2 small handfuls of spinach, well chopped
  • 3/4 cupfreshly grated Parmesan cheese
  • 3/4 crumbled (in large crumbles) feta cheese
  • 2 teaspoonsGerman-style mustard
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cupwhole milk
  • 2 cupsall purpose flour
  • 4 teaspoonsbaking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoonground nutmeg (optional)
  • 1 teaspoonsalt
  • freshly ground black pepper
Directions
  1. Heat your oven to 425F. Toss the squash cubes with the olive oil and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast in the oven, stirring them up a couple of times, until they are tender through (easily pierced with a fork – I usually take one out, blow on it, and taste it to see if it’s done), and getting a little golden brown on the outside. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
  2. Turn the oven down to 405F. Grease a muffin tin well with oil or butter. In a large mixing bowl, stir together about two-thirds of the squash, the spinach, Parmesan, and ½ a cup of the Feta.
  3. In a small bowl, beat together the milk, eggs, and mustard until well combined. Pour this into the bowl with the squash and spinach. Sprinkle the flour, baking powder, nutmeg if using, and 1 tsp. salt onto the squash and wet ingredients mixture. Gently stir this all together until just combined.
  4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan – it will fill the holes pretty generously. Sprinkle the tops of the batter-filled holes generously with freshly ground black pepper. Then, press the remaining feta crumbles and squash cubes gently into the tops of the batter.
  5. ake for 20 minutes, until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted into one comes out with no batter on it (it may come out with some melted feta on it, though!). Remove from the oven, allow to cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of each muffin and gently use the knife to lift them out and on to a cooling rack. The muffins are delicious warm or cold, so don’t scruple to eat them whenever you please! They are a wonderful accompaniment to a hearty autumn soup or salad.

Tags:

  • Bread
  • Muffin
  • Vegetable
  • Milk/Cream
  • Mustard
  • Nutmeg
  • Serves a Crowd
  • Fall
  • Winter
  • Thanksgiving
  • Vegetarian
  • Breakfast
Contest Entries
  • Your Best Butternut Squash
  • Your Best Vegetarian Holiday Side

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • borntobeworn

  • Erika Mayo

  • sevenfaces

  • Sarah H.

  • TheThinChef

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12 Reviews

borntobeworn December 4, 2018

These are great! Everytime I make them, people ask for the recipe so they are also unique, I think :)

A April 25, 2018

How best would you recommend storing these? And how long do you think they remain fresh? I made them recently and found that they were getting a bit soggy in the fridge.

borntobeworn April 7, 2016

Do you think I could make these in a mini muffin size and freeze them for a few weeks before a party? I'd reheat them prior to serving.

fiveandspice April 12, 2016

I think that would work!

Erika M. November 23, 2015

I made these for Friendsgiving this year —I actually roasted the squash a day ahead and made them in mini form. They were easy, delicious, and looked really cute on the table. I will absolutely make these again.

sevenfaces May 25, 2014

I made this today to give me breakfast on the go in the mornings this week. Fabulous! I subbed out some parmesan and feta for mozzarella, and the spinach for zucchini, I just loved the cheesy squashy flavour (next time I think I will add even more mustard). Dare I say it, looking forward to Monday morning now :)

Sarah H. August 9, 2012

I woke up early this morning to make these as a savory breakfast and found they were so easy to prepare. I can already tell that the cheesy, mustardy muffin base is the perfect jumping point for any kind of savory treat — already imagining roasted tomatoes, red peppers, or maybe even a green jeans special: broccoli and kale. These are a snack that paired well with this morning's iced coffee and will undoubtedly transition effortlessly with the changing leaves, lattes and hearty soups of autumn. Thank you for offering up a new kitchen favorite, first thing in the morning!

fiveandspice August 9, 2012

Yay! Glad you enjoyed them, and that you're taking the idea and running with it!

chefchick January 27, 2011

Made these today for a client; really yummy!

fiveandspice January 27, 2011

Oh good! I'm so glad you liked them. Thanks for letting me know!

TheThinChef October 25, 2010

Saw the pumpkin muffins on 101cookbooks...but I love this version, too. Butternut squash is much easier to get locally grown here in FL. Yum!

fiveandspice October 26, 2010

Yup, I was very inspired with how beautiful those muffins were, so I decided to take the idea of recipe but change it to just how I wanted it!

Cheesy Savory Butternut Squash Muffins Recipe on Food52 (2024)
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