Brûléed butternut squash

 This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Butternut squash is one of the most popular varieties of winter squash. It’s called winter squash because of its thick skin, which allows it to be safely stored into the winter months. It’s actually harvested in later summer / early fall. Indiana farmers generally harvest butternut squash in mid-September, but they’re being harvested a little early this year because of how hot it was this summer. 

Purchasing a whole butternut squash from the store can be a little intimidating. It’s hard to peel and cut through. Fortunately, I have a few tricks for preparing the squash.

If you want to peel the squash and cut it into cubes, poke the outside several times and microwave it for 5 minutes. It will be significantly easier to peel and cut.

If you want to use the flesh for any number of things like soup, risotto, purees, or baked goods, you can just stick the entire thing in a pressure cooker with a cup of water and cook on normal pressure for 25 minutes. No peeling or cutting necessary. Or you can cook it in a slow cooker on high for 4 hours. The only downside is you don’t get the same caramelization that you would get from roasting the squash in the oven. So it may depend on the recipe which way you want to cook it.

I like to use the pressure cooker method to create the easiest fall dessert of all time—brûléed butternut squash! 

Once the squash comes out of the pressure cooker, cut it in half and remove the seeds. Then score the flesh and slather both halves with butter. I like to use Challenge Salted Caramel Snack Spread. The butter is infused with real caramel flavor adding an extra element to this dish. Then I sprinkled granulated sugar over everything and torched it. It’s that easy. You really can’t go wrong with burnt, caramelized sugar!

Brûléed butternut squash

Yield: Makes about 4 servings

Time: About 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 Tablespoons Challenge Salted Caramel Snack Spread
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• Optional: 2 Tablespoons chopped pecans

Directions

1. Pour 1 cup water in Instant Pot and place trivet inside pot. Set butternut squash on trivet.
2. Cover pot with lid and set pressure cooker to normal pressure for 25 minutes.
3. After it's done cooking, quick release pressure and open lid.
4. Once cool enough to handle, remove squash from Instant Pot and cut in half. 
5. Remove seeds and score flesh. Spread butter over squash.
6. Sprinkle sugar over squash and use kitchen torch to brûlée sugar.
7. Top with chopped pecans if desired and serve warm.