Welcome the warm spices of Autumn with my Spiced Butternut Squash Soufflé. This delicate, airy side dish will fill your house with the scent of cinnamon, ginger, clove, and nutmeg. In my opinion, this recipe smells better than any seasonal candle.
What makes this recipe so great? Essential oils! This soufflé is gluten, dairy, and sugar-free. It’s sure to be a favorite for years to come.
Table of Contents:
Help, I Can’t Bake a Soufflé!
A soufflé is a classic egg dish that originated in France. The word soufflé means to blow up, which is an excellent description of what happens in the oven! It became popular when famous chefs like Julia Child started featuring different soufflé recipes on their cooking shows.
A soufflé can take on many different forms, as eggs are versatile. Some people enjoy their soufflé with savory herbs, while others want theirs sweet as pie.
The word soufflé may have you feeling a bit squeamish. Soufflés are high-maintenance! If you’re familiar with the cooking world, you already know that most soufflés require water baths, separating the eggs, and precise mixing. Plus, you must be extremely careful around the baked soufflé, or it will fall.
That’s not the case with this recipe. My Spiced Butternut Squash Soufflé is a one-bowl recipe; that bowl is your blender or food processor. You don’t need to separate eggs or mix the batter until your arm is stiff.
This is a recipe that even novice bakers can make. It takes about 15 minutes to make, but you get the credit of baking a soufflé like the budding French chef you are!
Healthy Soufflé Ingredients
This side dish comes from my Aunt Sandy and is well-loved in our family. I converted it to be healthier and fit our lifestyle. You’ll find that this recipe contains straightforward ingredients, many of which you already have on hand! I love this recipe in Fall and Winter when butternut squash is abundant.
Butter or Coconut Oil: Every souffle needs a bit of butter! Butter is lovely, in moderation. When choosing butter, purchase a variety that comes from grass-fed cows. You can use coconut oil if you’d like to keep this recipe 100% dairy-free. I’ve used both and haven’t noticed a difference in texture.
Butternut Squash: This simple vegetable contains vitamin A, an essential nutrient for healthy vision and skin cells (1). It’s full of beneficial antioxidants that fight against free radicals, which can cause many ailments. You can purchase pre-chopped cubes from the frozen section to reduce prep time. Just check the label to ensure the manufacturer didn’t include any fillers and thaw before using.
Sea Salt: Traditional table salt lacks health benefits, thanks to a rigorous processing system. We prefer using sea salt, like this delectable kind from Colima, because it’s minimally processed and contains all the good stuff. Plus, it tastes incredible!
Sweetener: If you’re following our Fast Track plan from the Essential Oils Diet book, use liquid stevia. Liquid stevia blends beautifully, and it tastes fantastic. If choosing stevia, you can add ¼ t. pure maple extract to get that Fall taste.
Eggs: An excellent protein source for bodies and a fantastic binding agent in recipes! The incredible egg does it all. To get the healthiest eggs, look for cage-free eggs. The chickens that lay them are treated more humanely! You may also be able to come across a farmer willing to share his bounty.
Cornstarch: Cornstarch is critical to making your soufflé light and fluffy. We recommend using non-GMO cornstarch.
Coconut Milk: Coconut milk is full of medium-chain triglycerides that give you a boost of energy (2). Coconut milk adds creaminess to this recipe without adding heavy dairy. You’ll want to pick up a can of full-fat coconut milk for this side dish. The “lite” variety doesn’t contain coconut cream, and you lose out on decadence.
Cinnamon Essential Oil: This fragrant essential oil is a must for any Fall dish. Cinnamon EO can help protect your mouth from oral diseases, and it helps to freshen your breath (3)! Cinnamon can help your body process glucose more efficiently and lower your fasting blood sugar levels (4).
Ginger Essential Oil: This fragrant EO aids digestion and gives you a much-needed boost of antioxidants. This EO comes from ginger root and is extracted by steam distillation. Some people use ginger essential oil in back massages, as studies show it helps with inflammation (5).
Safety Note:
Ingesting essential oils is perfectly safe when done correctly. This recipe contains plenty of ingredients that act as dispersants to prevent the essential oils from irritating your mouth. You never want to ingest an essential oil neat!
Make Spiced Butternut Squash Soufflé
Can you believe you can prepare a soufflé in just 15 minutes? It’s true! Wow your friends and family with this simple recipe. They’ll never guess you didn’t spend all day in the kitchen.
- Unrefined (no propellant) coconut oil or olive oil cooking spray
- ½ cup grass-fed butter or raw organic coconut oil, melted, plus more for greasing the pan
- 2 cups cooked and mashed organic butternut squash
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground pink Himalayan salt or sea salt
- 5 to 6 tablespoons Grade A Dark Amber maple syrup, or 5 to 6 droppersful liquid stevia**
- 3 tablespoons non-GMO cornstarch
- 3 large pasture-raised organic eggs separated
- 1¼ cups unsweetened organic canned full-fat coconut milk
- 2 drops cinnamon essential oil
- 1 drop ginger essential oil
- 2 drops clove essential oil
- 2 drops nutmeg essential oil
- ½ cup slivered or sliced raw almonds
- Supplies:
- Blender
- 1½-quart casserole dish
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 1 ½-quart casserole dish.
- Combine the squash, salt, maple syrup, and cornstarch in a food processor or large blender. Blend until fluffy**.
- Add the egg yolks, coconut milk, and butter, and mix thoroughly.
- Drop the essential oils through the chute in the food processor or hole in the blender top and combine. Last, add the egg whites and blend for 30 seconds.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole. Sprinkle with the almonds. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Serve hot.
**If you don't have a blender or food processor, separate the eggs and beat the white until fluffy before gently folding them into the squash mixture.
Step One: Preheat the Oven and Prep the Pan
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 1 ½- quart casserole dish. I recommend using olive or coconut oil cooking spray. If you don’t have either, you can use butter. Butter wrappers are excellent greasing tools, and your hands won’t get messy!
Step Two: Blend the Ingredients
Combine the cooked squash, salt, maple syrup, and cornstarch in a food processor or blender. Blend until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, coconut milk, and butter, and mix thoroughly. Drop the essential oils through the hole or chute in your kitchen appliance and combine them.
Finally, add the egg whites and blend for 30 seconds.
Step Three: Prepare the Soufflé for Baking
Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake your soufflé for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve hot. Enjoy your fancy side dish!
