My #1 favorite thing about fall is roasted everything. Roasted veggies and roasted chicken are my fave and they just *taste* better coming out of the oven on a cool, autumn day, am I right? I’m currently digging all recipes with roasted squash – pie pumpkins, acorn squash, spaghetti squash and butternut squash.

Butternut squash has a subtle sweetness and great texture to compliment a hearty soup, plus you get an extra nutrient punch. This squash is so versatile that I’m also finding it’s  a great pumpkin substitute when I don’t have any pumpkin puree on hand. This post shows you how toput your squash to work and create two yummy recipes all at once. If you prefer or already have squash on hand, you can use frozen butternut squash or canned puree and skip to the recipes further down on the page.

How To Roast: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut length wise with a sharp knife and scoop out the inside membrane, seeds and all. Place the two halves open-side down on a cookie sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, and then flip carefully using a set of tongs. Check in 10 minutes increments from here. The squash is well roasted when the inside can be pierced or lightly mashed with a fork. Let cool on the pan before scooping out the golden squashy goodness.

If you’re not ready to make any dishes with your roasted butternut squash then you have two options. Option 1: Once cool, you can use a knife to make a checkerboard pattern within the inside of the squash. Be careful not to cut the skin, if possible. Use a big spoon to scoop the cubes into a freezer friendly ziplock bag. Option 2: Use a spoon to scoop squash out and place in a blender. Puree on high until it reaches a smooth consistency, much like canned puree. Freeze in a baggy until ready to use.

Butternut Red Pepper Mushroom Chili

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil or ghee

4 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped

1.25lb ground elk (or meat of choice), I like 85%

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

8 oz sliced mushrooms

14 oz can or 2 cups fresh diced tomatoes (with juice)

1 TB canned tomato paste *

3 cups bone broth to water mixture (I use 1 cup homemade bone broth + 2 cups water works well with the 15% fat ground meat)

2 cups cubed or pureed butternut squash

Spices:

3 TB chili powder

2 tsp ground paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1.5 tsp ground cumin

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1.       Coat a deep stew pot with 1-2 TB olive oil or ghee and heat on medium-high.

2.       Add chopped onion and garlic to sauté until softened.

3.       Add ground burger and cook for about 10 minutes or until browned.

4.       Add sliced red peppers and mushrooms to pot. Stir until softened.

5.       Add 1 cup of desired broth/water mixture and stir in 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.

6.       Add seasoning, tomatoes, butternut squash and remaining broth/water mixture. Give it a good stir to mix and cover with lid to raise to a boil.

7.       Once at a boil, lower to medium heat and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Remove thyme sprigs before serving.

So now, your main course is simmering and you are ready to prepare some desert! You can either continue onto your baking excursion or save the remaining butternut squash for another day. Roasted squash will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days before you want to decide to use it or freeze it. Try this recipe for Butternut Squash Protein Brownies below.

These brownies have no refined flours or sugars, only good-for-you ingredients. As always with protein, I recommend using a high quality protein powder because it is easy to find ones with a lot of junky ingredients. My favorite brand of protein powder to bake with is Tone It Up from Target (also sold as Perfect Fit) because it doesn’t make a recipe fall flat like a lot of other powders I’ve experienced.

Butternut Squash Protein Brownies

Making this Recipe Soon? I’ve linked most of the ingredients below to help you stock your pantry!

Wet Ingredients

3/4 cup butternut squash puree (if you’re using homemade roasted butternut squash then I recommend using a blender or food processor to achieve proper consistency)

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

3 TB coconut flour

1/4 cup chocolate protein powder

1/2 cup fine ground almond flour

1/3 cup raw cacao powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

1.       Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prep your 8×8 baking dish with coconut oil.

2.       In a small bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips.

3.       In a larger mixing bowl, mix wet ingredients.

4.       Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet bowl until well incorporated.

5.       Carefully fold the dark chocolate chips into the batter.

6.       Pour batter into the baking dish. Give it a few shakes and shimmies to release any air bubbles and slide into the oven for 23-25 minutes.

7.       Topping (Optional):  1 TB melted coconut butter/coconut manna, 2 TB almond butter and a couple extra tablespoons dark chocolate chips. Before you pull the brownies from the oven, go ahead and use a small dish to microwave melt your coconut butter and almond butter. You can do them separately or mix them together, but be sure to slowly heat up the coconut butter as it does burn fairly easily. Once your brownies are ready then use a spoon to drizzle your coconut and nut butter. Finish off with either cacao nibs or more dark chocolate chips.

Leave me a comment below if you give either of these recipes a whirl! I’m happy to hear how they turned out 🙂