Maple Butternut Squash Kugel: Recipe Redux

Maple Butternut Squash Kugel

This month's theme for The Recipe Redux is "Stick with Maple Honey Sweetness" and it's all about using maple or honey to naturally sweeten your foods.  One of the first things I look for on the nutrition facts label is Total Sugars.  The second thing I check is the ingredients for the source of sugars.  Companies try to make their products sounds healthier by putting things like rice syrup, maltodextrin, and barley malt in the ingredients.  These are just different names for sugar and too much of it will make your waist size grow.  Click here for more names of sugar.  For more info on artificial sweeteners, visit here.  


Honey and maple syrup, as long as they're the good quality stuff, are natural sweeteners.  Pancake syrup is mostly high fructose corn syrup and is the farthest thing from a natural sweetener.  Here's a comparison of calories per Tablespoon:

Sweetener	Calories (Per Tbsp)
Table Sugar	45
Maple Syrup	52
Honey	60

Since honey and maple are naturally sweeter than table sugar, you need to use less of them in a recipe.  While sugar only contains calories, honey and maple also have a small amount of nutrients.  I more often use honey as a sugar substitute so I decided to try maple for a change.  I also felt that the maple flavors would better compliment the squash dish than honey.  

Kugel is a Jewish dish comparable to a casserole or soufflé.  Wikipedia says it's an Ashkenazi Jewish pudding.  Sometimes it's funny to see how a dish I grew up with is formally defined.  Kugel is a great dish to "redux" because it's usually bad for you.  Basically, you start with a vegetable (or potatoes or pasta) and add eggs, flour, sugar or salt, and oil.  I'm not a big kugel maker because I'd rather just roast veggies and have a healthy dish but once in a while I'll indulge.  My usual butternut squash kugel recipe contains white sugar and white flour so I swapped those out for maple and whole wheat.  Since maple is sweeter, I cut back the amount, added a little baking soda to balance out the acidity, and decreased the baking time since it browns quicker than white sugar.  


The result:  it tasted exactly the same but with a little more depth.  The whole wheat was unidentifiable so no one was scared off.  This was definitely a successful redux.  Try it out for your next Shabbat dinner or party.

Immersion Blender in Action

Maple Butternut Squash Kugel  Yields: 9 x 13 in. casserole Ingredients: 20 oz cooked squash 2 large eggs ½ c soy milk 1/3 c maple syrup ½ c whole wheat flour ¼ t baking soda 2 T margarine, softened ½ t pumpkin pie spice (or nutmeg and cinnamon) Cinnamon, for topping Directions: Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients using a hand or immersion blender.  Pour batter into dish and sprinkle cinnamon on top.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Check out the list below for more great honey/maple recipes!

As the first and only recipe challenge founded by registered dietitians, The Recipe ReDux aims to inspire the food lover in every healthy eater and inspire the healthy eater in every food lover. Thank you for visiting. We hope you enjoy!

(Please note that this is a closed link-up for Recipe ReDux posts only. Any links added to this collection for non-ReDux posts will be deleted.) 

1. Emily @ The Nutriscientist - Lemony Honey and Yoghurt Cake	2. Meg @Meg's Food Reality- Almond Carrot Muffin	3. Carlene @ Carlene's Figments	4. Maple Pecan Coconut Quinoa Breakfast from InspiredRD
5. Dr Barb's Orange Banana Ambrosia	6. Mary @ Brighton Your Health - Maple Syrup French Vinaigrette	7. Regan @ The Professional Palate : Honey Raisin Bread	8. Alexandra @ Delicious-Knowledge: Carrot Cake Muffins
9. Cherie@Grain Crazy - Almond Butter Oatmeal Puffs	10. Diane@eatwelleatclean - honey, yogurt & granola	11. Nina @ What's for eats: Honey Banana Muffins	12. Deanna @ Teaspoon of Spice: Honey Drizzled Chicken Skewers with Green Rice
13. Kat @ Eating The Week - Banana walnut French toast barley	14. Janice & Liz @ Meal Makeover Moms' Kitchen - Maple Quinoa Crunch	15. Katie @ East Meats West - Cucumber Cooler's	16. Elizabeth @ Don't (White) Sugar Coat It Maple Coconut Granola
17. Erin @ Wholesome RD - Whole Wheat Oatmeal Banana Bread	18. Emma @ Scoop Nutrition Vietnamese Honey & Lemongrass Pork	19. Nicole @ Whole Health RD - Maple Mochi	20. Karman @NutritionAdventures
21. Susan @ Wish Upon A Dish - Asian Honey-BBQ Sauce	22. Amber @ Chocolate Broccoli- Tamari Honey Glazed Scallops	23. Danielle @ Food Confidence- Sweet & Savory Chicken Thighs	24. Katie @healthybites
25. Becky @ TOHG - Maple, Apple, Pecan Muffins	26. Kristen @ Swanky Dietitian-PB Honey Granola	27. Lisa @ Healthful Sense	28. Rebecca @ It's a Savoury Life
29. Jessica @ Nutritioulicious-Homemade Honey Beef Jerky	30. Avital@ A Slice of Nutrition- Maple Butternut Squash Kugel	31. Monika @ inCYST on the Best! Mexican Hot Chocolate Oatmeal	32. Ayla Withee @EatSimply
33. Ann@ Eat to Nourish, Energize & Flourish - Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Buns	34. Caroline @ SweetFoodie - Maple Kissed Roasted Vegetables	35. Meg @ Meg in the Kitchen - Crispy wine roasted Brussels sprouts	36. Audra @ nutritionknowhow - Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

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