Vegan Kabocha Squash Muffins

Yield - 12 muffins

Time - 1 ½ hours

Ingredients:

• 1 small kabocha squash - cut in half, deseeded

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water (this is your egg replacer)

• 1 ½ cups sugar

• ½ cup apple sauce

• 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

• ¼ teaspoon cloves

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place your cut and deseeded squash on baking dish, cut side facing up

2. Bake for 20-30 minutes, let cool, remove skin

3. Lower oven temperature to 375 degrees

4. Using a food processor (or your hands) turn the squash to mush

5. Mix squash puree, applesauce, sugar, and cornstarch mix together in a bowl

6. In a separate bowl, mix all your remaining ingredients

7. Combine bowls and mix thoroughly

8. Grease your muffin pan or line it with cups and pour in your batter - be sure to leave enough space for the muffins to rise, I suggest filling them halfway since these muffins don’t really rise into a dome shape

9. Bake for 20-25 minutes

10. Let cool, drizzle frosting on top (if you want), enjoy!

Easy Frosting Recipe:

1. Combine 1 cup powdered sugar with 1-2 tablespoons water

2. Mix and continue to very slowly add water until desired consistency is reached

I pictured these muffins to have an additional dash of spice on top but they’re already sooo flavorful so I kept it simple with the frosting. The kabocha is, without a doubt, my favorite of all the squash. It has a naturally sweet taste to it and trying to remember how to spell and pronounce it makes for a great brain exercise. This squash had been on my counter for, no joke, seven months and it was still in perfect condition, that’s the beauty of squash! What’s the longest you’ve kept a squash around for? If you’re more skilled than I am, you probably don’t need to bake your squash to remove the skin but I’ve accepted that it’s a safety precaution I need to take. Every time I try to cut the squash meat away from the skin, I either cut myself or end up losing too much precious squash meat. Baking it will allow for the skin to either peel off or be removed oh-so-smoothly with a paring knife. Plus, if you don’t have a food processor this will allow for you to turn it to a puree with just your hands.