Sunday, January 22, 2012

Butternut Squash-Banana Bread with Cranberries


I have a huge collection of cookbooks. It’s really huge, in fact a little too big. I need to find new, loving homes for some of my cookbooks, and I really didn’t know where to start. I thought about taking them to a used bookstore, donating them to a charity, giving them away on Craigslist or maybe having a garage sale and hawking them off… oh, what to do! I ultimately decided to give them away, to my readers. That’s right; I am going to give away my cookbook collection to my readers!! One a week until they are gone – perhaps during the holidays it will be one every two weeks…


This is how it will work: I will post a cookbook up for grabs, if the book is of interest to someone, all you have to do is mention it in a comment. At the end of the week I will take all the individuals interested in the cookbook and pick a reader at Random.org – then I will send that person the cookbook that is up for grabs. Shipping is on me, that’s why we are doing these once a week folks. :) Whatever books do not get picked will all end up going to a charity that has not yet been selected.


This will be fun and I am looking forward to sharing my cookbooks with all of you! The first one up for grabby-grabs is The Frugal Gourmet written by Jeff Smith. This was the first of eleven cookbooks written by Jeff Smith, the host of The Frugal Gourmet TV show that aired on PBS from 1983-1997. I can’t give a review of it because I have never cooked anything from it, as is the case with most of my cookbooks. I love them, I love to collect them – but I rarely use them, hence the giveaway.


I will pick the new owner of The Frugal Gourmet on January 28th and will contact via email – so be sure to include it in your comment. :)


Ok… so about that Butternut Squash-Banana Bread with Cranberries. I received the Butternut Squash in my produce box and wanted to do something fun with it. Since I have been on a Quick Bread kick lately I decided to look around for a Butternut Squash Bread recipe and was OH SO LUCKY to find one at My Baking Addiction. Jamie from Baking Addiction also has an awesome recipe for Butternut Squash Purée, so check it out if you are in need. :) I ended up not having enough Butternut Squash since I was making two loaves, so I substituted the rest with bananas. Since I was not sure how the cranberries would work out I only added them to one loaf – however, if I had to do it again I would have added them to both. These 3 flavors ROCK together. Yes, ROCK!!


Butternut Squash-Banana Bread with Cranberries
Ingredients
1 cup butternut squash purée
1 cup mashed bananas
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup dried cranberries, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees, grease two 6-cup loaf pans
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg
3. Mix together butternut squash, bananas, eggs, oil, water and sugars
4. Combine flour mixture with butternut squash mixture - making sure to not overmix
5. Fold in cranberries
6. Pour into loaf pans
7. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean
8. Let cool, enjoy!

29 comments:

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I've been surprised at how much like pumpkin the butternut squash tastes. That means it would be perfect as a quick bread. That, paired with cranberries, sounds delicious!

Crunchy Creamy Sweet said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

The bread sounds fantastic! I love that it has squash in it - but really, the cranberries sold me :D I am IN for the Frugal Gourmet cookbook :)

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Okay - this is WAY too cool! I love the idea of this giveaway! Count me in for the Frugal Gourmet! Thanks! BTW - the bread is terrific, too!

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

The cranberries were awesome in the bread! My toddler ate them first when eating the bread. haha :)

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Thank you! The bread is great, and I am totally excited about doing these giveaways. :)

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

It was wonderful! Now you have me thinking about Pumpkin Bread... :)

Kristen said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

What a great bread with SO many wonderful ingredients and flavors. It's a great way to sneak some healthy squash into my ever resistant children's diet!

Walter P Hopkins said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Great post!

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

That is what got me started on the breads - my picky toddler! Anything baked in a cupcake liner gets his interest too. :)

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Thank you Dad :)

Kiri W. said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Mmmmmm, butternut squash bread! Sounds amazing, though I'd omit the cranberries for myself. Great recipe! :)

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Thank you. :) The loaf without cranberries was as equally good, I am becoming a bread-fanatic!!

Caitlin said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

i have brown bananas and i have a butternut squash waiting to be eaten- i would have never come up with this combo but I am going to try it! thanks for the great recipe!

Mike said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

What a fantastic combination of squash in a banana bread ... outstanding! Plus, congrats on your Top 9 and hello since I've only now found you. Looking at your past posts made my mind light up, so good morning too!I do need more recipes to adapt with my spicing pecans. I will enjoy tagging along for any well loved cookbooks. The Frugal Gourmet sounds great.

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Thank you! I would love to hear how it turns out. :)

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Thank you and nice to "meet" you! I checked out Amelia's Spicing Pecans and they sound wonderful, can't wait to try them. :)

Anna said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I love the frugal gourmet. I remember watching it with my mom on pbs!

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I wish I would have seen it, I love cooking shows!

alyce at culinarythymes said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

What a great way to get more veggies! Great idea about your cookbook giveaway.

Monica said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

This looks super interesting. Does it taste mostly like bananas? Can you tell it has butternut squash in it? I would love to get that frugal gourmet book!

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Thank you! I have to sneak them to the kids however I can. :)

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

You can really taste both the banana and butternut squash in this bread. I was really impressed with it. Thanks for reading! :)

Ally said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Absolutely loving the sound of these 3 flavors together!
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.com/

Jess said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

Thank you! I am jumping over to check your blog out now. :)

Coryn said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I made this tonight and wanted to stop by and say thanks-it was great! I think next time I'm going to try to sub apple sauce in for the oil to make it a little healthier but it was wonderful!

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

And the collection continues to travel...

Anonymous said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

i will try blueberries, chopped dates or prunes instead of cranberries.

Donna said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

This recipe looks great and I'm going to try it out tomorrow. I am going to only add 1 cup of sugar though. Between the bananas and the butternut squash, it would seem to me that 3 cups would make it super sweet. I'm also going to substitute whole wheat flour (I use whole wheat flour in everything) for the all purpose flour. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Donna said... Best Blogger Tips[Reply to comment]Best Blogger Templates

I'm going to make this tomorrow, it looks good. I'm going to reduce the sugar to 1 cup and substitute whole wheat flour for all purpose. I'll let you know how it turns out.

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