Butternut Squash Blondies

With Thanksgiving coming up, I have been on the lookout for fun recipes to celebrate fall flavors.  When I came across the idea for Butternut Squash Blondies, I just couldn't resist! I love when recipes are unexpected and exciting and this was perfect! I adapted it slightly from Food Plus Words and the result was amazing! I knew I was going to like it since I adore butternut squash, but even I was surprised at how much I loved it.  I roasted by own butternut squash to make the puree and then got to work on the blondies.  I can't wait to make this again and share it with my family for Thanksgiving!

Butternut Squash Blondies 

Ingredients:
Roasted Butternut Squash Puree:
1 butternut squash
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 tbsp brown sugar
Blondies:
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp (heaping) cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
4 tbsp brown butter, cooled
1 1/2 cups butternut squash puree
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mixed chocolate chips (I did white chocolate, milk chocolate, and semi-sweet chocolate)
1 cup dried cranberries

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 400.
2. Prepare your butternut squash by peeling it, taking out the seeds, and then cutting it into 1/2 inch cubes.
3.  Toss the chopped squash in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, and brown sugar.  Spread the squash out on a baking sheet in a single layer and place in the oven for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, stir the squash and roast for another 15.  After 15, stir again, and leave in for a final 15 minutes.
4.  Place the roasted squash in a bowl and mash with a fork or potato masher.  Let cool.  You can do this ahead of time and place in the fridge for a few days, or you can let it cool and use immediately.
5. Reduce the heat of the oven to 350.
6.  In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
7.  In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar and eggs until pale in color.  Beat in the brown butter, squash, vanilla, and salt until well combined.  Switch to a spatula and fold in the dry ingredients until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and cranberries.
8. In a lightly greased 13 by 9 inch baking dish, pour the batter.  Bake the blondies for about 30 minutes or until sides are lightly browned and the middle is set.  Let cool.

Enjoy :)

Pretzel M&M Blondies

Tonight I am all about preparing for tomorrow. Tomorrow is a big day in my life! I am lead-teaching the honors algebra class and I am being observed for the first time by both my university supervisor and my cooperating teacher (the main teacher of the class).  I am a little nervous, but I am mostly excited.  Also, tomorrow is a DTS study night so I am getting all prepped for that.  That means baking something delicious.  What is truly convenient about this is that baking helps me de-stress and feel good and Glee is on tonight, something that also puts me in an awesome mood!

I am totally going to rock tomorrow!

Tower of Delish!

I can't wait to teach my lesson.  I designed the lesson plan a while ago, and as of now, it is all set to go.  I am teaching a lesson on simplifying radicals (things with square roots).  The lesson in the book is pretty simple and I used the teacher-edition to help me get ideas.  I think I have a pretty solid plan.  The key ingredients: confidence and an exit slip.  I am going to start with a warm-up, check homework, go over homework (there shouldn't be too many questions), and then jump right in!  The kids are going to do some problems in groups and share their ideas for solving the problems.  We will go over strategies and definitions as a class and then I will hand out the exit slip.  An exit slip is an awesome teacher tool (not to mention all-the-rage in teacher education right now) and so I am using it to both get/give feedback for my class and get a good report from my supervisor (because he loves exit slips!).  An exit slip is a good way to give the kids practice and then see how they understood the lesson.  Then, you give them feedback on their work and hand it back to them the next day.  This way, they get to see if they understood the material and receive ideas for improvement if needed. My cooperating teacher loves them, but also expressed the frustration she has with them. Exit slips are awesome, but when you have 100 or more students, they can be unrealistic.  So, lesson learned: use them sparingly and use them on lessons and in classes where it is more difficult to gage student engagement during class.  After the exit slip, the class will have some time to work on homework.  I have a really good feeling about tomorrow and I can't wait to teach!!!

My life in a photo...

For tomorrow's study night, I made blondies with pretzel M&Ms in them! MMM! I am obsessed with pretzel M&Ms.  M&Ms were always one of my favorite candies, but when they came out with the pretzel variety, I was sold: they are no longer one of my favorites, they are my one and only favorite! So, why not throw them into blondies?  Check it out:

Pretzel M&M Blondies (adapted from Bakeaholic Mama)

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 cups Pretzel M&Ms

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, and baking soda.
3. In a large bowl, beat melted butter with both sugars until well combined.  Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla and beat to combine.  Slowly add in the flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in the M&Ms.

4. Spread batter into the prepared baking dish and bake for 25-28 minutes or until edges begin to brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool completely.

Enjoy :)