Caramelized Brown Butter Butternut Squash {+Tuitorial}

Squash of any variety is in abundance this time of year.  My neighbor brought me five (5!) butternut squash from her dad's garden.  So far we've dug into one.  Thankfully, they last forever and are forgiving, so if it takes me another 2 weeks to get to one, they don't care.  They wait.

I've got to hand it to Emily over at One Lovely Life, for helping me with this recipe.  Everything she makes and feeds her family is beyond beautiful.  And she is expecting her second little one, which makes me gitty with excitement.

Anyway.  Here we go.

Prepare yourself for an upper body workout when slicing chopping up one of these bad boys.  I bet you could probably chuck it across the street and it would still stay in tact.

A step-by-step tuitorial, plus a yummy sauce to bake this in...ready?

Get a LARGE cutting board and the biggest knife you own.
You'll see I upgraded on my knife below.

Slice squash in half, then slice off each end (bottom and top).

Slice again down the middle and begin carefully carving down the sides
to remove the outer skin.  Once skin is removed, slice again down the middle
and scoop out all the seeds and pulp.

Slice into sticks and then into cubes.

Find the biggest bowl you have and dump in all the cubed squash.

Head to the stove.  In a saucepan combine 3 T. butter and melt.  Continue
stirring until bubbly and brown.  It was start to smell caramel-ly and fragrant.
Add in 3 T. brown sugar and 1/2 t. cinnamon, stir to combine and melt.  Pour
into large bowl.  Toss to coat.

Place all squash on a large, rimmed baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for
15 minutes.  Stir.  Bake for another 15 minutes, until soft.

Then you eat.

It all gone.

The husband loved this.  I even got the kids to take a few bites.  Its sweet, but not too sweet, soft, buttery, with a hint of caramel.

We do have some leftovers and I plan to puree it up and dump it into muffin batter.  Or mix it into my fantastic banana bread recipe.  Or through it into our smoothies.

I can't wait.

Have you ever had butternut squash?