Yellow Squash Muffins

We carved the pumpkins. Ryan, who had not carved a pumpkin in fifteen years by his own admission, approached this with the intensity of someone defusing something. He drew the pattern in pencil first. He looked up techniques on YouTube. He used three different sized knives. His pumpkin has an extremely detailed firefighter helmet on it, which I genuinely did not expect and which is so good that I photographed it and put it on the blog without asking him, which he is mildly annoyed about and mostly fine with. Mine is a cat. I like cats. I stand by my artistic choices.

Halloween itself was quiet — we put the pumpkins out on the balcony railing (which Ryan had fortified with rope ties, structural overcaution being a firefighter trait) and gave out candy to the handful of kids who came around, all masked, all with parents who waved from a distance. It was subdued in a very 2020 way and also sweet. Kids in costumes are an argument for things still being okay.

November is approaching, which means Thanksgiving planning, which means Patty has already sent a shared spreadsheet with dish assignments. I have: the stuffing (a good assignment), the cranberry sauce (easy), and "the green thing" which is a phrase she uses for green bean casserole or roasted vegetables or similar, TBD. Ryan has been assigned: show up and compliment everything. He said this was the best assignment he has ever received. He is correct.

The blog this week was the pumpkin carving with a note about Ryan firefighter helmet pumpkin, and then a post about the apple cider donut holes I made on Halloween morning with the kids from the neighborhood who came to watch the pumpkins being carved. Mini donut holes fried in oil with cider-spiked batter and rolled in cinnamon sugar while hot. Fifteen minutes, cost almost nothing, made twelve children extremely happy. That is the whole recipe.

The donut holes were the star of Halloween morning, but they only happened because I had squash sitting on the counter and a crowd of eight-year-olds about to descend on my balcony to watch Ryan wield his assortment of carving knives. These Yellow Squash Muffins have become my go-to when I need something warm and sweet out of the oven fast — the squash keeps them impossibly moist, the cinnamon makes the whole kitchen smell like October, and they’re the kind of thing you can hand to a kid in a skeleton costume without worrying about anything at all.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 large eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups shredded yellow squash (excess moisture squeezed out)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 375°F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners.
Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg until evenly combined.
Mix wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat eggs lightly, then whisk in vegetable oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract.
Combine. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined — a few lumps are fine. Do not overmix.
Fold in squash. Gently fold in the shredded yellow squash until evenly distributed through the batter.
Fill and bake. Divide batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake 18—20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops are golden.
Cool. Let muffins rest in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Yellow Squash Muffins — Sweet Little Bites for a Halloween Morning Crowd