Sneaky Squash Muffins

I am always trying to find snacks that my kids will eat, especially if I am able to sneak in some extra veggies that they otherwise wouldn't touch or try. I am not complaining about the amount of veggies my kids eat because thankfully they LOVE raw veggies but I sneaking in a few extra won't hurt….. I should probably find more recipes where I can sneak more fruit into snacks and other foods because my older kids will only eat apples, on a good day grapes and maybe some cuties. Oh well for now I am happy that they will snack on these muffins.

While these were baking in the oven you would have thought I was either baking pumpkin pie or carrot cake, it smelled so fall-y. 

Getting my ingredients ready to go

I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com for something called Toddler Muffins which seemed to be a great way to sneak a few extra veggies into a little treat. I made a change to the ingredients used, instead of using oat bran I used oats. I didn't have any oat bran on hand and wasn't really sure if I would have more use of it if I went out and bought it so I improvised. Worked and I wouldn't go back and change it now.

Piping hot out of the oven!

I own the book "The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids' Favorite Meals",which does have a lot of simple recipes in which you can sneak a few extra fruits and veggies into. Too bad it is packed away (along with all my other cookbooks) and I see it again for another few months, oh well at least the library has a fairly decent selection of books for me to borrow and search for ideas and inspirations. And of course lets not forget Pinterest!

At one of our many library visits I came across Jessica Seinfeld's "Deceptively Delicious" and will be flipping through this book to hopefully find a few more ways to sneak a few things into food my kids will be snacking on. I already spotted a few desert ideas that are going to be added to my "try out" list.

Sneaky Squash Muffins

½ cup butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar

2 bananas, mashed

1 (4.5 oz) jar squash- baby food

2 carrots, grated

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup flour

½ cup oats (quick or regular)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

½ tsp salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly grease a 24 count mini muffin pan or a 12 count standard muffin pan.  (I prefer making mini muffins for snacks but I do think these would be a great on the go breakfast snack if baked in standard muffin size)

In your mixing bowl whip the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Mix in the mashed bananas, squash and carrots; stir to combine. Then stir in the remaining ingredients and stir just until combined. Spoon the batter equally into prepared muffin pan.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean after inserting it. Cool in pan for 10 mins before removing to cool completely.

These can either be stored at room temp or you could freeze them for to go lunches or snacks.