Herbed Butternut Squash and Cottage Cheese Muffins

Creamy cottage cheese blended with roasted butternut squash puree for a savory muffin great with soups and stews.

What is cottage cheese to you? A diet food? A comfort food? To me, it's the base of the most wonderful potato chip dip. I haven't shared the old family recipe [can you have an old family recipe for chip dip? We do] but one of these days I'll measure the "pinch of this, shake of that" that's involved and share with the rest of the class. The key is great cottage cheese.

While living around the US (and enjoying the terrific Danish and German dairy products while stationed in Germany) I've come to realize that it is possible to find an equivalent to the amazing cottage cheese I grew up with, Nordica (purchased at High's Dairy Stores in the mid atlantic region). I've found one here in Ohio, oddly branded Michigan cottage cheese. I don't care what the name is, it is a small curd and relatively dry cottage cheese that rocks. [I'm not being paid to say that. They don't know me. I buy it--and in mass quantities when I find it marked down--on my own.]
What happens if you only have access to national brands? No worries--you're mixing it up in a muffin after all, not scooping it up with a chip. [Note to self seen by anyone else reading this blog--consider putting up the Olson Family Chip Dip recipe either the Friday before the Super Bowl or in the summer for cookouts.]

This savory muffin is excellent with soup or stew. Often I'll make a big pot of soup which we will eat over multiple meals. To keep it enticing the second or third go round, I'll serve hot muffins alongside. They are easy to throw together and bake while the soup is reheating gently on the stove.
For other recipes using butternut squash, please see my Buttercup/Butternut Squash Recipe Collection or my Winter Squash Recipe Collection, part of my Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient.

realized the batter was too dry, added milk (proper recipe below)

Note: to roast a butternut squash, cut in in half tip to tail and scoop out the guts (compost them if you can). Place the halves cut side down in a rimmed baking sheet. Add a cup of water--about, just some water to cover the bottom of the pan. Roast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until tender when you give it a squeeze, about 45 minutes to an hour depending on the size of squash. No need to preheat the oven. The puree can be frozen in zip top bags with the air removed or in a canning jar with a plastic lid (like I show in my Amazon kitchen gadget listing). Just label it so you know if it's butternut or pumpkin or what.

Herbed Butternut Squash and Cottage Cheese Muffins (makes about 3 dozen mini muffins or 1 dozen regular muffins)

1 egg
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup roasted butternut squash puree
⅓ cup milk
⅓ cup vegetable oil
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon savory
½ teaspoon seasoned salt
1 cup (4 ounces by weight) whole wheat flour (I used soft white wheat)
1 cup (4 ¼ ounces by weight) unbleached all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 24 well mini muffin pan or a 12 well standard size muffin pan with oil spray, or line with paper liners. In a large bowl combine egg, cottage cheese, squash puree, milk, oil and seasonings until well-blended. Dump flours, baking soda, and baking powder on top. Stir until just combined (in the photo above it looked too dry to me, so that's when I added the milk. You'll add the milk at the beginning and skip the too dry stage. Scoop (Amazon affiliate link to my mini muffin/cookie scoop) into prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes (mini muffin size) or 15 minutes (regular size). Let cool 5 minutes in pan, then transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm.