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1
Preheat the oven to 350F.
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2
Grease 2 standard size (9 by 5-inch) loaf pans or 8 mini (5 1/2 by 3-inch) loaf pans with butter or cooking spray.
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3
In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, maple syrup, butternut squash, apple, eggs, and sugars.
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4
Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/2 cup of the pecans until the dry ingredients are incorporated.
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5
Divide the batter evenly between the loaf pans.
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6
Sprinkle both loaves with the remaining 1/2 cup pecans.
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7
Bake the loaves until they are firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in their center comes out clean: 1 hour for the large loaves, about 40 minutes for the mini loaves.
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8
Cool the breads for 30 minutes in their pans.
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9
Remove from the pans and cool on wire racks before serving or wrapping for storage.
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10
Add 1 cup raisins or dried cranberries to the batter.
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11
Or to add a little sparkle, combine 1/2 cup diced candied ginger with the chopped pecans used to top the loaves; sprinkle the mixture over the loaves before baking.
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12
The bread can be made in advance, wrapped, and frozen for up to 1 month, or refrigerated for up to 1 week.
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13
Grating any squash, but especially tough butternut squash, can be grating on the nerves and the knuckles.
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14
I avoid the pain by using my food processors grating disk.
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15
Push hunks of peeled squash through the feed tube and the grating is done in minutes.
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16
While Im at it, I grate the applepeeled, seeded, and quarteredright along with the squash.
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17
If you end up with too much grated squash, spoon it into a plastic bag, squeeze out the air, and freeze for future batches of bread.
