Thanksgiving is hands down my favorite holiday.

I think we were about 14 years old when my best friend Deborah and I were invited to eat at the “grownup” table. We were beside our selves, what with the pretty china and crystal glasses we’d get to eat and drink from, likely with our pinkies up.

It started off all well and good. But without getting into all the details, we were not invited back the next year.

At 26, we sometimes still eat at the children’s table.

It’s more fun there anyways.

Mama’s fall classics make their first appearance of the holiday season on Thanksgiving, another reason for it being my favorite. Things like her fresh cranberry relish, corn casserole, cranberry upside down cake, and her squash pudding.

The general atmosphere is one of love and thanks and lovely smells from the oven permeate the cozy air.

I took my mama’s squash pudding and put a slight spin on it. Instead of regular old oats, I switched them out for some Bob’s Mill gluten free ones. And in the spirit of avoiding refined sugars, I traded brown sugar for coconut palm sugar and white sugar for honey.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Squash Pudding

Ingredients:

Topping:

½ cup crushed pecans

½ cup gluten free oats

⅓ cup coconut palm sugar

pinch of salt

4 tablespoons grassfed butter, melted

Pudding:

1 large butternut squash, cooked, scooped out of skin, and mashed (approx. 2 cups of mashed squash)

½ cup of coconut palm sugar

¼ cup of honey

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

¼ cup of grassfed heavy cream or whole milk

4 tablespoons grassfed butter, melted

2 eggs, beaten

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the pecans, gluten free oats, coconut palm sugar and pinch of salt. (Do not add melted butter yet! ) Set topping aside.

In the same large ovenproof casserole dish you will be using to bake the pudding in, make sure your squash is thoroughly mashed and no large chunks remain. Add the sugars, ginger, vanilla, cream, butter, and eggs to the squash and whisk to combine well.

Spread the topping evenly across the top of the pudding. Lastly, pour remaining melted butter evenly over topping mix, so that most of the topping has absorbed the butter.

Bake in the oven for approximately 40-50 minutes or until the topping is a nice crisp golden brown.