Piña Colada squash muffins

So I kind of have a summer squash issue around here.. we have entirely too much of it for us to possibly use! So I decided to get creative, and here's what I came up with. After reading tons of zucchini bread recipes, I made this recipe out of what I had around the house, and it worked beautifully! Don't be afraid of cooking and baking, because if you read enough recipes, you're likely going to do just fine. Mod this recipe as you see fit. For my purposes, and for what I had around the house, it was perfect. :)

Piña Colada squash muffins with a coconut lime yogurt glaze:

2 cups self rising flour
1.5 cups shredded summer squash, any color
1 heaping cup sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
2 tbsp lime juice
2 oz vanilla greek yogurt
2 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup buttermilk (or make your own with an acid and milk)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the butter and sugar until combined, then add in buttermilk, yogurt,lime juice, squash, eggs, and salt, and mix with a spoon until well combined. Then add the flour slowly until incorporated without lumps. Batter should be pretty soft. Don't bother straining the squash. Grease your muffin tin (makes 18, so I used two) and ladle the mixture 3/4 of the way up. Mine filled all the spots perfectly. I think I just got lucky with this one..

This part isn't so much tricky, as it is probably just a new concept to most folks. We are energy saving folks around here; Well, money, energy, everything saving folks, that is.. and I recently read that you can get your oven up to heat, and if you have to cook the thing you are cooking for 20 minutes or less, you can turn it off right when you put it in the oven! I was amazed, intrigued, and of course, I had to try it. It works like a charm. So I used it here. Basically, you put your muffins in, set your timer for 15 minutes. Once the timer goes off and you make your way over to the oven, you'll just turn your oven off. I then set the timer for another 10 minutes, left the oven light on to check them, and walked away. When that timer went off, I finally opened my oven to check them with a toothpick, and they were PERFECTLY done! Talk about energy savings! Plus it didn't heat up my house as much. :) Awesome tip for summer baking.

While they were in the oven, though, I made this simple glaze:

Coconut rum yogurt glaze:

1/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup warmed honey
6 oz greek yogurt (I used plain, but I like a tart glaze)
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp any rum (spiced is nice)

Toast the coconut on medium heat until it starts to turn golden, then take it off immediately! Mix it together with all the other ingredients until it's nice and smooth! I put about a tablespoon on top of each of my muffins, and then I licked the bowl. Hey, don't judge me.. You can do whatever you want with your leftovers.. But I suggest enjoying it. :)