Butternut Squash Bread
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This homemade Butternut Squash Bread is deliciously moist and so simple to make! Made with butternut squash puree, warm spices, and a hint of orange, it boasts all the wonderful flavors of Autumn. This may just become your new favorite fall treat!
I just love when pumpkin season rolls around. Like my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin spice pancakes, no bake pumpkin dip, pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting or my easy eggless pumpkin pie. It’s Fall heaven!
However, this year finding a can of pumpkin puree in the stores was like trying to find a unicorn! So I decided why does pumpkin have to get all the glory and fame? What about all those other wonderful Autumnal squashes?
Enter: butternut squash. If pumpkin bread is delicious, butternut squash loaf must be equally amazing!
For this recipe I made my own butternut squash puree so that it had as vibrant a flavor as possible, but you can also use canned. The fresh puree gets folded into an easy batter spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and a little bit of orange juice to pull everything together.
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The delicious quick bread turns out soft and tender, with a lovely golden top and a moist interior. It tastes like fall as soon as you take a bite, plus it makes the house smell so good while it’s baking.
So the next time you can’t find pumpkin on your shelves, it’s time to give easy butternut squash bread recipe a try!
Table of contents
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy no yeast quick bread recipe
- Mixes up in minutes
- No mixer needed
- Can be frozen to enjoyed later!
Ingredients Needed
- All purpose flour – You can also try using 50% whole wheat flour to make it a bit more nutritious. I like white whole wheat flour because its a bit softer than traditional wheat flour.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Ginger
- Cinnamon
- Vegetable oil – You can use another neutral-tasting oil such as canola oil, sunflower, safflower, or avocado oil. Olive oil can be used but may impart some flavor. And melted butter or melted coconut oil can be used, but your bread may not rise as high. Read more about oil vs. butter in quick breads.
- Sugar – I prefer to use organic cane sugar, but regular granulated sugar works, or coconut sugar (but that will make the bread darker).
- Light brown sugar
- Eggs
- Butternut squash puree – You can make your own using the instructions below or use canned.
- Orange juice – Just a bit of orange juice adds a perfect amount of citrus flavor to compliment the fall spices. You can also use water if you don’t have orange juice.
How to Make Your Own Butternut Squash Puree
It’s a surprisingly simple process to make your own butternut squash puree. Honestly, the hardest part is cutting it. Use a large, sharp knife to carefully cut your squash in half lengthwise. Then remove the seeds and place the squash on a baking sheet that is lined with foil. I like to brush the surface with a little oil and then place face down on your baking sheet.
You want to bake at 400° for 45-65 minutes, or until the squash is tender. Once tender, allow it to cool slightly. Then scoop out the flesh (the skin can be thrown away). I just used a spoon and scraped out the cooked squash. If it’s been cooked through it will remove easily.
That wasn’t so hard now was it? Ok now that you have all this delicious cooked squash it’s time for your food processor!
I just placed all the squash into my food processor and blended it until very smooth. You may find you have some leftover squash puree. You can save it and add it to a butternut squash soup for later in the week. Yes dinner and dessert!
How to Make Butternut Squash Bread
Preheat and prepare pan. Preheat oven to 350oF. Spray a 9×5” loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter, or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
Combine dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and cinnamon.
Whisk wet ingredients. In a second large mixing bowl whisk together oil, sugars, eggs, pureed butternut squash, and orange juice until combined.
Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together until just combined.
Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 65-70 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan set on a wire rack. Store the bread, and any leftovers, covered at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Recipe Tips
- Measure your flour accurately. You can use the spoon and level method or a kitchen scale to get the most accurate. Learn how to measure your flour in this post.
- Careful to not over mix. By using a spatula to fold in the dry ingredients you avoid overmixing. You want to mix until everything is just incorporated, then stop. This will prevent too much gluten from forming, which means you’ll get a soft, tender bread.
- Test With A Toothpick. It may be tough to tell when a quick bread is done. I like to use a long wooden skewer or metal skewer to ensure that no wet batter is clinging to the toothpick to see when it’s done. Every oven is different so be sure to test the bread before removing it from the oven. Moist crumbs are what we are looking for!
- Wait for the bread to cool. You will be tempted to eat this straight out of the pan (it just smells so good!). But if you wait for it to cool, you won’t regret it! The flavor actually deepens as it cools and the texture becomes soft, tender, and perfectly moist.
Storage Instructions
Store the bread, and any leftovers, covered at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. The key to keeping it fresh and moist is to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap so that very little air gets in. You keep it wrapped in plastic wrap, tin foil or stored in an airtight container.
Quick breads like this one freeze beautifully. Make sure to wrap your bread tightly in plastic wrap and then provide a second layer of protection by placing it in a large zipper bag or wrapping it in foil. Then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw it at room temperature on the counter.
Recipe Variations
- Mix-ins: You could try stirring in 1 cup of chocolate chips and make this butternut squash chocolate chip bread! You could also try white chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, or dried cranberries. When adding mix-ins they tend to be very heavy and sink to the bottom of your bread. So I like to stir a tablespoon of the dry ingredients into a bowl of my mix-ins first. This coating of flour keeps them from sinking. You can read more here at How To Keep Chocolate Chips From Sinking.
- Swap water. Instead of orange juice use water instead. Or you could try a different juice like apple juice.
- Use half applesauce. To lighten things up, replace half of the oil with applesauce.
- Use pumpkin spice. Replace the ground spices with pumpkin pie spice instead.
- Top with seeds. Before going into the oven, sprinkle on some pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds for a little crunch.
- Try with brown butter. Instead of oil, use browned butter instead. Read my full tutorial on how to brown butter.
Recipe FAQ’s
Definitely! If you don’t own a loaf pan or just prefer muffins, it’s easy to make the switch. This recipe will make about 16 muffins. Bake for about 20 minutes. I recommend baking at 425oF for the first five minutes, then reduce the baking temperature to 350oF and continue baking for about 15 minutes. Check doneness with a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the muffins.
I have been lucky to find sometimes cans of squash puree and have used it. It’s not quite the same as fresh, but then again what is? So if you find some, then yes by all means use it in this bread. I did notice my bread made with canned squash vs. fresh puree yielded a slightly darker bread in the end. Still delicious just slightly different!
Yes you can. Use a mini loaf pan. The recipe should make about 3 mini loaves. Baking time should be around 35 minutes.
More Recipes To Try
If you are craving more bread, try my easy pistachio bread recipe made with real pistachios! Or my walnut bread made with toasted walnuts and a streusel on top.
And if you’r craving some chocolate, try my zucchini chocolate chip bread! It’s a perfect summer quick bread recipe.
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Butternut Squash Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (220 g) all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ cup (120 mL) vegetable oil (or other neutral-tasting oil)
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated white sugar
- ½ cup (107 g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (341 g) butternut squash puree
- ¼ cup (60 mL) orange juice (or water)
Instructions
- To make your own squash puree: I cut a butternut squash in half and remove the seeds. I drizzle with a bit of oil. Then place flesh side down onto a baking sheet (I line with parchment paper). And bake at 400oF for 45-60 minutes (depending on the size of the squash. Then remove and allow to cool. I then scrape out the flesh and place in a food processor to turn into a puree. Then measure and use in the bread. You can also just use canned butternut squash puree.
- Preheat and prepare pan. Preheat oven to 350°F (180℃). Spray a 9×5” loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray or grease with butter, or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and cinnamon. 1 ¾ cups (220 g) all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground cloves ¼ teaspoon ground ginger 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Combine wet ingredients. In a second large mixing bowl whisk together oil, sugars, eggs, pureed butternut squash, and orange juice (or water) until combined. ½ cup (120 mL) vegetable oil ¾ cup (150 g) granulated white sugar ½ cup (107 g) packed light brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 ½ cups (341 g) butternut squash puree ¼ cup (60 mL) orange juice
- Combine wet and dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix together with a spatula until just combined.
- Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 60-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan set on a wire cooling rack.
- Storage: Store the bread, and any leftovers, covered at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Video
Notes
- Storage: Store the bread, and any leftovers, covered at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. The key to keeping it fresh and moist is to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap so that very little air gets in.
- Freeze: Freeze the cooled bread for up to 3 months, wrapped well. Thaw at room temperature, uncovered when ready to enjoy.
- Orange juice: Water can be used instead if needed.
- Spices: You can replace the spices with 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice.
- Make muffins instead: If you don’t own a loaf pan, then turn these into squash muffins! They will make about 16 muffins. Bake for about 20 minutes. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then reduce the temperature and continue baking for 15 minutes at 350°F.
- Mix-In Ideas: Try stirring in 1 cup of chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, or dried cranberries.
I’ve always wondered how you make bread with butternut squash. Such an easy recipe to follow, thanks!
Thank you! I’m happy you found the recipe easy to follow. Happy baking! 😊🍞
This is simply comforting – worth all the steps!
Thank you so much for your kind words! I’m glad you enjoyed the Butternut Squash Bread. 😊
This bread is wonderful! I added 3/4 cup of coconut to the batter, is the only thing I added extra. Thank you for a recipe that I will make from now on.
aw that’s wonderful Fay! I’m so glad you loved it – and love the idea of adding some coconut. I’ll have to try 🙂
Was looking for a recipe to help me use up some butternut squash I had, this is perfect! Kids love it. I didn’t have the time to do the loaf so did muffins instead. Used water as I didn’t have o.j.
aw that’s great Becky! I’m so glad you loved it and was able to turn them into muffins!
Very Tasty! Made with regular flour and gluten free flour. Both ways turned out fabulous! Substitutions: Used coconut oil in place of canola oil. Added a cup of walnuts to recipe. Made a chocolate version by adding of Nestle Toll House Cocoa.
Wonderful Carrie! I’m so glad you enjoyed and love the idea of adding cocoa yum!!
Excellent recipe. I made it exact measurements and ended up getting two eight by five inch loaf pans of bread. Only thing different I did was add in a cup of chopped black walnuts.
Oh that’s wonderful Mary! I’m so happy you loved this bread as much as I did. And LOVE the idea of adding some tasty walnuts for crunch!
Terrific recipe. I used blue Hubbard squash and increased the spices a tiny bit used 1/2 cup of oil with great results
aw that’s wonderful Carol I’m so glad you made it work with the squash 🙂
This was so delicious. I put the dough in muffin tins. Those were the perfect muffins for the cold season. Sweet and flavorful at the same time!
aw thank you Hanna!! And love the idea of making them into muffins!
I found this recipe after I puréed it for baby food for my granddaughter. I have a large Hubbard squash. Could I substitute that for the butternut squash? Would you add any or more of any of the spices to make it more fall-ish and not so nutty tasting
Hi Gina, I’m not familiar with this kind of squash but if you think it’s a bit nutty you can always try increasing the amount of spices to help. Let me know how it goes!
I absolutely love this recipe. I was looking for a way to use up the butternut from my garden and found this. Love it! Only change I made is with the flour, I used King Arthur gluten free measure for measure and it still came out perfect. This bread is divine, an absolute treat in my house! Thanks for the recipe!!
aw that’s awesome Madeline!! I’m so glad you loved this bread! It’s a favorite around here and I’m glad you were able to make it gluten free for you too 🙂
I just made this as a spring treat for my workplace and everyone was so impressed! I left out the clove and orange juice (as I thought it was sweet enough) and still a HIT! I didn’t want to make it too much of a ‘fall’ bread so these were my subtractions and it still turned out so well.
aw that’s awesome Amber! I’m so glad you loved it!!
Can I use buttercup squash for this recipe?
I’m not familiar with this squash but I would think so yes!
Made this yesterday, but I veganized it by subbing 6 tbsp JUSTEgg for the eggs, I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup brown sugar plus 1 tbsp maple syrup, added orange zest and used 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cardamom. Add-ins of walnuts and pumpkin seeds. Turned out amazing! Thank you!
Hi Claudia! So glad you loved the bread and were able to customize it to your needs. Love the idea of adding cardamom too, going to have to try that next time!
This is absolutely delicious. I used butternut squash puree from my garden butternut squash. They were harvested in the fall but kept in my garage through the winter. I think the cold, but not freezing, makes the fruit extra sweet. The puree was so naturally sweet you would not need to add any sugar if you wanted to just eat the puree as a veggie side. Anyway, I substituted a little melted butter with the oil and I used some coconut sugar with the brown sugar and allulose with the white sugar. Then I added a little local honey because allulose and coconut sugar are not as sweet as regular. This bread is amazing! I am roasting more butternut squash from the garden now to make more puree to freeze for later. Yum yum! Would love a butter nut squash cookie recipe!
Hi Lisa! Oh I’m so glad you loved it as much as we did! And that’s cool to know about storing it to make it extra sweet. And love the idea of adding in coconut sugar and honey. I’ll put a butternut squash cookie recipe on the list to make for sure and keep you updated 🙂
I love squash, but hubby? Not so much. I had a full butternut squash, baked it so I could have some for lunches at work, but used the other half (or a little less) to back this bread. It is JUST perfect. My only (unintentional) alteration was using butter instead of oil since I didn’t have a neutral oil. Still, turned out beautifully.
Next time(s), I’m planning on adding some variations below:
candied ginger (chopped fine)
allspice
chocolate chips + walnuts
possibly dried cherries?? Still deciding on that one.
Anyway, thanks for a great recipe. It’s a keeper 😀
Aww thank you Barbara! I’m so glad you love it! And those add in sound so good! And love the idea of dried cherries – maybe with chocolate chips??
This turned out great. I decreased the white sugar form ¾ down to ½ a cup, and might try even less next time. I juiced an orange for the orange juice, and also added in some orange rind zest as per another reviewer’s suggestion. I also added a cup of chocolate chips and some toasted pecans. the loaf disappeared way too fast! I will make this again.
Hi Kim, glad to hear the substitutions worked out great for you! And love the idea of adding in some zest, chips and pecans. YUM!
This is an AMAZING recipe. I don’t say that about any recipe. I added my own spin to this recipe and made it even better. Thank you really LOVE this recipe 😋
aw that’s awesome Gigi…so glad you loved it!!
I’m wondering what you do for your squash purée, is it just roasted squash or do you do more to it?
I just simply roast the squash and then puree in my food processor
Hello,
I finally baked this recipe for butternut squash bread! My first time ever using squash for baking a loaf of bread.
It was delicious! I made 2 loaves and my husband loved it and so did my friends….the only difference was that I added orange peel from the orange I had used for its juice which came out delicious.
Thank you
S Reedy
Thank you Sonia! So glad you loved it!! And yes love the idea of adding in some extra orange zest..yum!
Very good tried this tonight and turned out great! Will make this again. Thanks!
aw that’s awesome to hear Jeremiah! Thank you! glad you loved it as much as we did!
Your recipe looks awesome. Can’t wait to try. Can I use apple cider instead of orange juice?
I think that would be a great substitution…let me how it turns out!
I ran out of apple cider and used white grape juice. It came out fantastic!! Love this recipe.
Thanks Yemi! What a great substitution!