A few years ago, groggy from a raucous New Years Eve celebration the night before, Mike and I embarked on a fairly involved breakfast of zucchini fritters and pancakes, a cooking endeavor I can only attribute to having been younger and therefore more motivated than we should have been.

We had followed this recipe, from my all-time favorite cooking blogger, and it was absolutely perfect. We devoured every last fritter (and quite possibly went back to bed after).

Since I went through this summer’s zucchini bumper crop without making one single fritter (the horror!!) I HAD to make up for it.

Enter: the Sweet Dumpling Squash.

These beauties are delish – a bit sweeter than other squashes, and such a cute size! Having bought four from the farm without any major plans for them, I seized the chance to replicate those New Year’s Day fritters in a slightly different way.

This is a super-simple dish that works as an appetizer or as a side-dish with dinner. I served each fritter with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt on top, alongside oven-roasted BBQ chicken and sweet potatoes.

What You Need:

•  2 Sweet Dumpling squashes, skin peeled, seeds scooped out, grated by hand (about 3 cups grated squash. More detail below)
• 1/2 cup fresh chives, diced
• 2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp ground flax seed (substitute this with chia or hemp seeds – whatever you like)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup flour (gluten-free flour works totally fine)
• Coconut oil (at least 3 tbsp but you might find you need more)
• Plain Greek yogurt for dollops on top

What You Do:

Slice the tops and bottoms off the squashes and discard. Gently cut a circle around the inside perimeter of the squash, leaving about 1 1/2 inches between the skin and where you’re cutting. The circle you cut should loosen and easily pull away from the seeds and out, exposing the inside.

Scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Then, with a sharp knife, gently slice off the outer skin. This doesn’t have to be a perfect job because the skin is actually edible. I just got as much as I could but left it in the grooves where it wouldn’t readily slice off.

Using a hand or box grater, grate the squash until it’s mostly used up (you won’t be able to grate the entire thing, but get as much as you can).

Place the grated squash in a large mixing bowl. Add the chives, pepper, salt, flax seed, egg and flour, and stir well.

In a large pan on medium heat, add a tbsp of coconut oil.

Form the squash mixture into small, flat patties and place them in the pan. They should sizzle in the oil once it’s properly heated.

Give each side of the fritters a few minutes to cook, lifting them periodically when a spatula to ensure they don’t burn.

You want the fritters to have a nice, golden brown coloring. The longer each side cooks (without burning) the crispier and more held-together they will be.

This recipe should make 8-10 fritters. Add a tbsp of coconut oil each time you add new patties to the pan, and add additional oil if the pan begins to look dry or the patties start to burn.

Serve hot with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream on top.

Pro Tip: Any type of squash will work with this recipe. I like Sweet Dumpling because of their sweeter taste, and because the skin is edible, but Acorn or Butternut squash are good substitutes in a pinch.