urban odds & ends

Butternut Squash Muffins with a Soured Cream Topping serves 12 normal and 24 small muffins

[please use your imagination and try to visualize some yummy looking muffins, thank you - my muffin photos got lost]

400g butternut squash, peeled and finely grated
300g brown sugar
150g plain flour
150g whole wheat flour
175mL oil (I used 1/2 olive oil and 1/2 rapseed oil)
4 large eggs
2 heaped tbsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
a handful of hazelnuts, finely ground

140mL soured cream
zest of 1 lemon and juice of 1/4 lemon
2 heaped tbsp icing sugar

Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). In a large bowl, combine the grated squash and eggs. Then add a pinch of salt, the two different flours, baking powder, hazelnuts, cinnamon and the oil and mix with a wooden spoon or hand mixer until just blended, it's important not to overmix. Fill the dough in a muffin pan lined with paper cases and bake in the preheated oven around 20-25 minutes for regular muffins or 10-12 minutes for small ones or until a wooden skewer comes out clean after sticking right into the middle of a muffin.

To prepare the topping combine the soured cream, zest, juice and icing sugar. It's intended to be on the runny side. Taste and balance sweet and sour by adding more lemon juice or icing sugar. Spoon over the completely cooled muffins. Since it's difficult to transport these muffins with a runny icing, I only topped half of the muffins with icing and left the other half plain - they're in both ways delicious.

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