Butterscotch Squash Mini Muffins

Makes approximately 60 mini-muffins.

Ingredients:

2¾ cup organic unbleached white flour
½ cup organic cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder, slightly rounded
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon finely ground sea salt
4 large cage-free organic eggs whites
½ cup vanilla seltzer water
1 cup steam-baked acorn squash
¼ cup organic walnut oil
¼ cup organic naturally sweetened applesauce
2 teaspoons organic almond extract
½ cup organic whole milk
1 cup organic vanilla Almond Non-Dairy Yogurt
¾ cup butterscotch chips
1 cup unsalted roasted whole almonds

Instructions:

1. Prepare the acorn squash in advance. Slice a small acorn squash length-wise, place the halves face down in ½ cup of water in a baking pan, and cover the pan. Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until squash is tender. Remove seeds and pulp. Scoop out the squash, mash it and set it aside.
2. Keep the oven at 350F for the muffins.
3. Grease mini muffin pans, making sure to grease the top so that the “muffin tops” don’t stick.
4. Prepare the Butterscotch Drizzle (see below).
5. In a large mixing bowl, sift the dry ingredients together: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
6. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until they’re frothy.
7. Add the seltzer water to the egg whites and whisk until frothy and bubbly.
8. Add the squash, oil, applesauce, almond extract, milk and yogurt (one at a time) to the egg whites and whisk until well blended and frothy.
9. Put the butterscotch chips in the food processor until crumbly and add to the flour mixture.
10. Put the almonds in the food processor until coarsely ground and add to the flour mixture.
11. Slowly add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture, blending slowly. Don’t over stir the batter.
12. Fill the mini muffin pan holes ½ full of batter. Drizzle a little Butterscotch Drizzle over the batter in the mini muffin holes, trying to keep the drizzle to the center. Cover the drizzle with more batter to fill each mini muffin hole.
13. Bake for 14 minutes (or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean).
14. Note: place a baking pan on the rack beneath the muffin pans to catch the Butterscotch Drizzle in case it bubbles over the edge while baking.
15. Top the warm mini-muffins with warm Butterscotch Drizzle and serve.

Shortcut: use jarred baby food instead of homemade squash purée.

Butterscotch Drizzle

Ingredients:

¾ cup organic dark brown sugar
5 tablespoons organic salted butter
¾ cup organic heavy cream
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat.
2. Add the dark brown sugar, lower the heat to medium, and stir with wooden spoon until it starts to liquefy.
3. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring constantly.
4. Add the vanilla. Stir until combined.
5. Add the salt a little at a time, tasting until it tastes like butterscotch.
6. Take the butterscotch off the heat and put it into a Ball jar.
7. Refrigerate until ready to use.