Maple Glazed Acorn Squash

By Patlynn

Cutting our Maple-Glazed Acorn Squash into eighths increased surface area and provided room for ample amounts of maple glaze. The smaller pieces also resulted in a shorter roasting time. Tossing the squash wedges with vegetable oil and a small amount of granulated sugar before roasting them ensured that they browned quickly.

Our simple glaze of maple syrup and melted butter—with a little cayenne for kick—ran right off the squash. But slightly reducing the syrup on the stovetop helped it cling

Ingredients

• Don’t even think about using pancake syrup—use pure maple syrup.
• 2 acorn squash
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 5 tablespoons maple syrup
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preparation

Step 1

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475 degrees. Halve squash through stem, seed, and cut each half into 4 wedges. Toss squash, oil, sugar, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Arrange squash cut side down in single layer on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until bottoms of squash are deep golden brown, about 25 minutes.


2. Meanwhile, bring syrup to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes. Off heat, whisk in butter and cayenne until smooth. Cover and keep warm.


3. When bottoms of squash are deep golden, remove from oven. Flip and brush with 6 tablespoons glaze. Bake, rotating baking sheet, until squash is tender and deep golden all over, about 15 minutes. Flip and brush with remaining glaze. Serve.