Recipe for Butternut squash, oat and ginger cake bites
Makes about 20 small cakes
Note: if you don’t have any leftover butternut squash available, a medium squash cut in half takes about 35 minutes in a medium oven. Allow to cool slightly then scoop out the flesh.
250g roasted butternut squash flesh (flesh only, skin and seeds removed)
2 Tbsp rapeseed oil (aka vegetable oil, canola)
1 medium egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g golden caster sugar
30g macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped
1 tsp baking soda
250g wholemeal flour
0.5 tsp salt
150g oats
1 tsp cinnamon
0.5 tsp allspice
4 balls crystallised stem ginger, chopped
Preheat your oven to 180 C, 350 F, Gas mark 4 (I have a super-enthusiastic fan oven so used 160 C).
Give the squash a good stir to make sure that there are no big lumps in it (you can use a food processor if you want but I like to save on the washing up – a good beating with a wooden spoon should do it). Remove any fibrous/burnt/unpleasant bits.
Add the oil, egg, vanilla extract, sugar and ginger to the squash and mix well.
Combine the remaining (dry) ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and stir to distribute the ingredients evenly.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix gently until thoroughly combined.
Line a baking sheet with baking parchment. Dollop out the cake mixture into small mounds (about a heaped tablespoon), leaving a little bit of space between each one. You might need to baking sheets.
Cook for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
These store in an air tight container for a few days (you can also freeze them and defrost just a few as needed).