butternut squash muffins: updating jamie oliver's recipe

This week on his tv show, Jamie Oliver showed us how to make butternut squash muffins, which of all his recipes, made me sit up and listen closely. As butternut squash are quite like carrots, I figured they would work well in a muffin.

Jamie's version has a frosting, but I figured they would be quite nice, and set out on Saturday afternoon to bake a batch. I'm not very skilled at baking, but I figured I'd start out following Jamie's recipe and deviate if I thought it necessary.

Sugar, eggs, flour, olive oil, walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and squash were on his ingredient list. A quick survey of my cupboards told me I didn't have any walnuts, though I did have some flaked almonds, so I used those.

I cut down on a few of the quantities, though. His recipe called for 4 large eggs (I used medium, with no problem). It also called for 350 g sugar (and this recipe is supposed to be for kids!) I actually only had 225 g, but I tasted the batter, and it was quite sweet anyway, so I didn't worry. I added in a bit of ground ginger for a more natural sweetness, which worked fabulously with the butternut squash. The last ingredient I reduced was the olive oil, using about 100 ml instead of 175 ml.

The muffins take about 25 minutes to bake. The smell is divine, as is the taste. I especially recommend the ginger. After they cool, keep them in a sealed container for freshness.

One thing I learned here - never trust a chef on matters of fat and sugar! They always use too much. Don't take their quantities as unchangable. (However, I didn't reduce the flour, as that is probably quite important in helping the muffins to rise.)