Baked Winter Squash with Maple Nut/Seed Butter

By Ros Creasy, author and Seed Savers Exchange advisor

“A wonderful complement to squash is a nut or seed butter as the rich flavors seem meant for each other. You can make your own nut or seed butter, or many types are available in natural foods and specialty stores,” says Ros. “The special part of this recipe is that growing up we always had baked butternut squash throughout the winter into spring. My mom always made it with just a pat of butter, but I was experimenting with ways to vary it and came up with adding nut butter instead. My final version favorite is with pumpkin seed butter and just a little maple syrup.”

Serves about 4

Ingredients

• 2 acorn or other small squash (about 1 1/4 pounds each), or 1 medium squash (about 2½ pounds)
• 3 tablespoons each dairy butter, nut or seed butter, and maple syrup

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Place squash on a baking pan and bake at 350° F for 45 to 90 minutes, until soft. You may want to turn the squash a couple of times for more even cooking. Cut in half and remove seeds and strings; if using one squash, cut again to make four servings.

Put back on baking pan, cut side up. In a small saucepan, melt dairy butter, add nut or seed butter and syrup, and stir to mix. Spoon mixture into squash cavities and coat surfaces. Return to oven for about 10 minutes to heat through before serving.