These yellow squash muffins are as delightful in taste as they are in texture. Sweet but not too sweet, they are perfect for breakfast or a snack anytime of the day.
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Greetings my friends!
I am super excited to share this recipe with you because it really showcases two of my truest loves: the love for my garden and my love of baking. And when those loves combine—BAM! You get amazing things.
Just you wait.
Read on.
You know, zucchini sure gets the garden and baking spotlight a lot more than it should. Zucchini is great and I love using it in baked goods, but I don’t know why more people don’t talk about how great yellow summer squash is in baked goods.
It’s so yummy!
This is the first of a couple of recipes I’m going to share with you this summer using yellow squash that are absolutely amazing. Oh how I love yellow summer squash.
We have been making a variation of these muffins for many, many years. Our family loves them. And they have become a tradition every single summer.
In fact, we plant yellow squash in the garden specifically so we have plenty of squash to make these muffins every year. At the end of the season I make a bunch to freeze to last us as long as we can make them (which never is long enough).
I finally got to work and perfected the recipe and oh boy, I am so excited to share it with you today.
It’s hard to describe the flavor of these muffins. If you’re wondering if they are “squashy” tasting, they are not like that at all. It’s a warm, comforting flavor that is simply delicious. When they are warm they just kind of melt in your mouth.
These muffins really don’t need anything to accompany them. They are perfect just as they are. But of course if you eat them with a little dab of peach jam, nobody would complain and it might even cause you to cry tears of joy.
Can you freeze these yellow squash muffins?
Yes. They freeze beautifully well. A frozen yellow squash muffin is perfect to throw in a lunch or pull out for a snack or quick breakfast.
I love to have stuff like that around. Oh and so do kids apparently because I am never quite successful at keeping these stocked.
Okay my friends it’s time for me to leave you to a very important decision.
How soon can you get these muffins into your life?
The sooner the better, believe me!
Yellow Squash Muffins
These yellow squash muffins are as delightful in taste as they are in texture. Sweet but not too sweet, they are perfect for breakfast or a snack anytime of the day.
Ingredients
- 1 pound yellow summer squash about 2 small, trimmed and sliced into rounds about ½” thick (or 1 ¾ cup yellow squash, cooked and pureed)
- 10 tablespoons (1 stick + 2 tablespoons) butter melted
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup (5 ounces) white sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or grease with nonstick cooking spray.
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Place the sliced summer squash in a medium saucepan, add about three cups of water and heat on high until water comes to a boil.
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When water reaches a boil, reduce heat to medium and cover the pan. Simmer squash for 5 minutes. When squash is done, a fork should pierce through easily. Drain the squash in a colander.
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Place drained summer squash in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the melted butter and egg to blender and mix for a few seconds until thoroughly mixed.
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In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the blended squash mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until just barely mixed (being careful not to overmix).
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Fill greased muffin cups and bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes until the tops spring back lightly to the touch and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
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Let cool in the muffin tins slightly before removing to a wire rack. Delicious when warm or at room temperature. These are also very good eaten the next day.
Recipe Notes
1. These muffins freeze wonderfully well. I usually just wait until they cool completely and pack them into freezer bags. Then when it’s time to unthaw them, I pop them in the microwave or toaster oven for a few seconds.
2. I’ve made this recipe with up to half whole grain flour (I used a combination of freshly ground barley, brown rice, and spelt) and they turned out a bit heartier, but still very tasty.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
Since I didn’t follow exactly my rating is suspect. I wanted a recipe to use some frozen squash purée. It was actually patty pan but I don’t think that matters. I used coconut sugar, which is not as sweet as white, and I added pecans, cinnamon, nutmeg and dried cranberries. The consistency was good and and it seems quite adaptable to whatever you want to do. I will use this recipe again.
This recipe is the reason we include yellow squash in our garden every year. I use 1/2 c sugar and 1 stick of butter but otherwise follow exactly and my whole family loves them.
Yum Rachel!
Too plain without much taste; wish I had added “something” like others did, but I did add vanilla. First time making them so didn’t dare experiment too much, but will next time!
Hi Heather! These were a huge hit in a house filled with picky eaters! Thanks for a fantastic recipe! I received a box full of summer squash from a friend and was just thrilled to find your recipe for a tasty treat! Absolutely phenomenal!
Thanks Heather! Glad you loved them.
Hi! I am making these now, but I wasn’t sure if you were to remove the seeds from the squash before boiling and pureeing?
Hi Jen, I don’t! If they are super large you could though.
These. Are. Awesome. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but my husband and our kids loved them. For some reason I can’t click the fifth ⭐. Just know I’d give it 10 stars 🤩
Thanks Tiffany! So glad you loved them. They are a huge fav of ours too.
I have to laugh… you must be from the south and older like me. When you take muffins from freezer you say “unthaw” which is to freeze.. to thaw is to make them ready to eat. Took me 40 years to quit saying Unthaw when I meant to thaw something. Love the recipe
Lol! I always get caught saying this. 😁
Holy smokes, WOW-EEE!!! These are absolutely AMAZING!!! A coworker brought in a TON of yellow squash, and when I found this recipe, I HAD to grab a couple more. So so happy I did! These are in rotation permanently. Slightly sweet, and so soft & delicious. I was planning on freezing some, but I don’t think that’s gonna happen! Thank you very very much for sharing this recipe!!
Thanks Vanessa!
Have you ever made this with frozen squash? I’m just curious. I was given a bunch of squash and am worried I won’t get to make enough of these muffins to use most of it. I have a few other recipes to try as well.
Hi Amanda, yes I use frozen squash a lot. To freeze the squash: I measure out, cook and purée the squash like I do in the recipe and freeze it in quart sized bags so it’s ready to thaw and mix in. It works really well in this recipe and also my yellow squash pancakes (https://thecookstreat.com/yellow-squash-pancakes/) Hope that helps!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Hi Vanessa, they will keep for a couple of days at room temperature. I normally freeze them and they will keep for a couple of months. We just reheat them as needed in the microwave.
This looks so good! What a great way to get your kids to eat more veggies!
Thanks Suzanne! It definitely is perfect for that. My kids love these muffins. ☺️
I made these yesterday and we love them. I split cold ones and put on my George Forman Grill and heated then put butter on them. They were delicious. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Thanks C! Appreciate your feedback and your re-heating method sounds delicious!
I made a great variation….I cut the sugar in half, and substituted half of the flour with cornmeal. They had to cook a little longer (I had a smidgen more squash then a pound so that may have been why!). They were fantastic! We had them with dinner.
Love this variation Julie! Thanks for sharing.
I have 1 1/2 cup squash purée in my freezer. Do you think that would be about the right amount of squash? I’m looking for a yummy recipe to use it up!
Good question! I will measure and update the recipe with the puréed amount.
Well, I went ahead with what I had, and I can report back that they turned out perfect. Thanks for the recipe! Perfect use of squash, even my kids liked it. These muffins are the perfect vehicle for the peach jam I made this year. Thanks!
Thank you Sarah! I did measure this morning and came up with 1 3/4 cup of the pureed squash for 1 pound of squash. I’ve found that in making these though that the squash amount is pretty flexible so it doesn’t surprise me that 1 1/2 cups worked great for you! Glad you liked them. I updated the recipe with the measurements.
Could you use gluten free flour to make these?
Hi Joyce, I think that would work. Be sure to use a gf flour blend that you’ve had success subbing in for the flour in other baked goods.
What, if anything, could you replace the butter with?
Hi Aline, Good question. It wouldn’t be the same but you could try coconut oil. It would be a completely different flavored muffin at that point because the butter does have a very distinctive flavor but I think it would still probably work. I’d love to hear what you think if you try it.
These are so good! I didn’t even worry about boiling the squash- I just cut it up and pureed it in my magic bullet with the egg and butter and the muffins turned out fabulous!!! SO tasty! I love the way they taste like a sweet corn muffin, but so much healthier for my picky kids! Thanks so much for a wonderful recipe I’ll use quite regularly.
You’re welcome Amanda! What a great idea to use your magic bullet to puree the squash.
Like Linda, we have a ridiculous amount of summer squash this year. I am trying so many new recipes to try to use up as much as I can, besides forcing it on my co-workers and friends! But your recipe for these muffins is the best one I have tried – they turned out fabulous the first batch I made. My husband commented more than once how much he really enjoyed them, which means this recipe is a keeper. Now I make double batches and have frozen some of them to enjoy this fall. I found you through Pinterest. Just wanted you to know I appreciate your creating and posting this.
HI Shanna, thanks so much for your comment. I really you appreciate you popping in and sharing your success. Always a good recipe when the husband approves! 🙂
My garden is producing an over abundance of yellow squash. I made my first batch of these delicious muffins last week. I made my second batch today, with just a couple of tweeks. Instead of slicing and boiling the squash, I cut the ends off, poked holes in the whole squash, wrapped them in paper towels and microwaved them for about 3-4 minutes until they were fork tender. Then I let them cool some, cut it them in chunks and put the chunks in the blender. No extra pan to wash and the squash was the same consistency as if I had sliced and boiled it. I had a partially used lemon, in the fridge, so I added about 1 1/2 tsp of fresh lemon juice. It brightened up the flavor a bit. I may increase the amount of lemon juice next time. These are some of the quickest, tastiest muffins I’ve ever made. So good, I’ll even eat them still frozen right out of the freezer.
Thanks Lynda! I love your variation and quick way to cook the squash. 😊 Thanks for sharing. And frozen out of the freezer—yum!
These are a big hit with my kids, and I had a hard time to stop eating them. I had made a double batch with intent to freeze many but I think that is going to be difficult 😅 Thanks for the share
Thanks jennifer. Yes, keeping them around is definitely a challenge. 🙂
Also, after the squash is cooked and blended, how many cups should that be? I’m afraid too much will make it a wet mess, too little might be too dry. Thanks! I tried a different recipe this evening and it turned into gooey lemon squash mush. Wanting to try this recipe tomorrow! 😊
Marti, I have never measured the cups after I’ve blended the squash up, but I’ll be making these soon and I will measure and update the recipe. Until then you can use a kitchen scale to measure the weight of the squash. If you don’t have a kitchen scale just make sure you don’t use squash that is too big (or if you do, cut down the amt you use). The recipe is perfect as written but before I perfected it, I made these all the time just by eyeballing a pound of squash—which is abt two small yellow squash that are the size they carry in most grocery stores) and they turned out. If you get too much squash in there they will be a little more moist. If you get too little they will be a little dry. But we still enjoyed the muffins.
Hi Heather! Can’t wait to try this. Have you tried adding lemon to this recipe? I would like it a little more like lemon pound cake.
Hi Marti, no I’ve never tried lemon in this recipe but that’s a great idea. I have a lemon squash poppy seed bread on my blog that uses yellow squash. I bet it would work in muffins but you’ll have to bake them less. You could leave out the poppy seeds and maybe use vanilla extract instead of almond (or lemon but I don’t really like the chemically flavor of lemon extract). That’s probably what I would do if I was going for lemon pound cake type muffins. These yellow squash muffins may not be sweet enough to add lemon.
https://thecookstreat.com/lemon-squash-poppy-seed-bread/
Could you use honey instead of the white sugar?
Hi Carol I love swapping honey for white sugar in recipes and actually tried them that way after you asked. It may take me a few more tries to perfect the honey version but I will update the recipe when I do. 😊
Super tasty, lovely texture and color. I love them and can’t wait for morning to re heat for breakfast for the kids before I head off for work. Thank you!
Thank you Lisa! I can’t wait for my baby yellow squash to grow so I can make them in a few days 😊
I made your recipe this morning using gluten free 1-to-1 flour, and the muffins turned out amazing! My husband and I loved them! Note: I didn’t tell him what was in them, and he guessed that it was squash. It’s like a sweet corn muffin but with squash instead of corn. Thanks for the great recipe!
That’s a great way to describe them Diane! So glad you liked the recipe and thanks for letting me know about the gluten free substitute. That’s awesome! 🙂
Soooooo good!!
Just one tweak: instead of boiling the squash, I grated in with a box grater. One less dish to wash. Results were still amazing.
Thanks for sharing your tweak Nancy. Glad you liked the recipe.
These are so awesome!! Thanks for the recipe!! I added 1/4 tsp nutmeg…just because I love nutmeg. So so good!
Thanks Lyndsay. The nutmeg variation sounds wonderful! Glad you liked the recipe.
These have become my family’s absolute favorite treat! We do 1c almond flour, 1/2c AP flour and (because I was out of AP flour one night) 1/2c sweet cream pancake mix. They’re basically cupcakes at that point! Absolutely phenomenal!
I love hearing about your success with this recipe and awesome substitutions Kirbe! Glad you love the recipe.
Thank you for posting recipes that use produce from the garden–its so helpful.
Oh I am glad Carolyn! Thanks.