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Squash & Chocolate Muffins

Claire Wright

Effort:
Complexity:
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Serves: 8-12 muffins

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

150g flour

50g cocoa powder

60g sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, optional

3 medium eggs, beaten

250g pureed roasted butternut squash (see method for how to make it)

optional 60g roughly chopped dark chocolate (the darker it is, the less sugar it contains), or dark chocolate chips

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Recipe created for Veg Power by Claire Wright. Food photography by Claire Wright | addsomeveg.com

Claire Wright from addsomeveg.com shares 3 simple ways to prepare squash that the whole family will enjoy.

These low sugar, veg-containing chocolate muffins are an easy way to make eating veg a treat. Don’t hide the contents from the kids – get them involved in making them so they know what they are eating and can be pleasantly surprised by the sweetness squash can bring to baked goods!

Method:

To make the pureed squash, peel, de-seed and cut a butternut squash into small cubes, toss with olive oil and a generous pinch of salt, then roast at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 20-30 mins, until soft and cooked through. Blitz the roasted squash in a food processor or with a hand held blender until smooth. Measure out 250g of it for the muffins. If you have some leftover – try making our squash smoothies!

For the muffins, preheat an oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl, and mix the vanilla extract, eggs and squash in a separate bowl or jug. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined and no more specks of flour are visible (but be careful not to over-mix or the muffins will be stodgy and dry). Add the chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, if using. Pour into a muffin tin lined with cupcake/muffin cases, filling each case about 2/3 of the way, then bake for 20-25 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool completely.

Engaging Kids

Engaging Kids

Kids who engage regularly with veg through veg-themed activities, such as arts and crafts, sensory experiences, growing and cooking are shown to be more likely to eat the veg they engage with. Encouraging kids to engage and play with veg is the handy first step to them developing a good relationship with veg and life-long healthy eating.

Kids in the kitchen

Kids in the kitchen

Show the kids how to measure out the ingredients, then let them mix it all together. Give them a spoon or cookie scoop to help you get the batter into the muffin cases.

Activities

Activities

While getting kids to interact with veggies for real and using their senses to explore them is best, encouraging hands off activities like arts & crafts, puzzles & games or at-home science experiments can be a great start, particularly for those who are fussier eaters or struggle with anything too sensory. Use these veg-themed activities as a stepping stone to interacting with the veg themselves. We have loads of crafty downloads here, puzzles here, and quirky science with veg here.

Sensory

Sensory

Once you feel your child is ready to engage a little more, you can show them how to explore the veg you have on hand with their senses, coming up with playful silly descriptions of how a veg smells, feels, looks, sounds and perhaps even tastes. Find ideas, videos and some simple sensory education session ideas to get you started here.

Serving

Serving

The moments before food is offered can be a perfect opportunity for engagement that can help make it more likely a child will eat it! Giving children a sense of ownership in the meal can make a big difference to their feelings going into it and the pride they take in it. You know your child best, but if you aren’t sure where to start, we have some fun and simple ideas for easy roles you can give them in the serving process over here.

Claire Wright

Communications Manager: After leaving Exeter University with a degree in English Literature, Claire worked in various fields ranging from youth work and charities to publishing, before starting up a food-focused website when her first child was born. After being asked to project manage the publication of Veg Power's Crowdfunder book, Claire came on board as a fully-fledged team member in 2018 to take on the role of Communications Manager, looking after Veg Power's website and social media platforms.

addsomeveg.com/

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