Butternut Squash Bread

Directions

1. 1
   Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. 2
   Grease 2 standard size (9 by 5-inch) loaf pans or 8 mini (5 1/2 by 3-inch) loaf pans with butter or cooking spray.
3. 3
   In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, maple syrup, butternut squash, apple, eggs, and sugars.
4. 4
   Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/2 cup of the pecans until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
5. 5
   Divide the batter evenly between the loaf pans.
6. 6
   Sprinkle both loaves with the remaining 1/2 cup pecans.
7. 7
   Bake the loaves until they are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in their center comes out clean: 1 hour for the large loaves, about 40 minutes for the mini loaves.
8. 8
   Cool the breads for 30 minutes in their pans.
9. 9
   Remove from the pans and cool on wire racks before serving or wrapping for storage.
10. 10
    Add 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries to the batter.
11. 11
    Or to add a little sparkle, combine 1/2 cup diced candied ginger with the chopped pecans used to top the loaves; sprinkle the mixture over the loaves before baking.
12. 12
    The bread can be made in advance, wrapped, and frozen for up to 1 month, or refrigerated for up to 1 week.
13. 13
    Grating any squash, but especially tough butternut squash, can be grating on the nerves and the knuckles.
14. 14
    I avoid the pain by using my food processors grating disk.
15. 15
    Push hunks of peeled squash through the feed tube and the grating is done in minutes.
16. 16
    While Im at it, I grate the applepeeled, seeded, and quarteredright along with the squash.
17. 17
    If you end up with too much grated squash, spoon it into a plastic bag, squeeze out the air, and freeze for future batches of bread.