Recipe for cooking butternut bread

Quick Meals- Soups and Bread :: Sweet Quick Breads

Butternut Bread

1 (2 3/4 lb.) butternut squash
2 1/2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 C. unsalted butter, softened
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 C. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract or flavoring

Trim ends off the squash and halve it lengthwise. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Cut the squash into 3-in. pieces, leaving the skin on, and steam them until completely tender, about 30 min. Drain well and set aside. When the squash is cool enough to handle, use a spoon to scoop flesh away from the skin. Pure the flesh in a food processor until completely smooth. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 5-in. bread loaf pan. Line the bottom with wax paper, then grease the paper. Lightly dust pan with flour and shake out excess.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger and salt together in a bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, cream the butter and both sugars with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sour cream, vanilla extract or flavoring and 1 C. of the reserved butternut squash pure; mix well. (Reserve remaining squash pure for another use.) Stir in reserved dry ingredients until just Mix togetherd. Spread batter in the prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 1 hr. and 15 min.

Cool the loaf in the pan on a wire rack for 15 min. Then run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the loaf and turn it out onto the rack. Peel off the wax paper and allow the loaf to cool completely before slicing.

Slice the bread 3/4-in. thick with a serrated knife.