Squash Rolls

On this brisk morning, I decided to warm things up a bit in our house by baking some squash rolls. I had some sweet dumpling squash already cooked up and ready to use.

To bake squash: cut them in half horizontally; we leave the seeds in (they pull out much better after baking); place them upside down in a baking pan; put enough water in the baking pan so that the bottom is covered; cook at 375 degrees F or so for 45 minutes or until a fork easily pierces through the skin; let cool, scrape out seeds (for making baked & seasoned seeds) and then scrape out your squash for use.

Squash Rolls Recipe
Source: The Bread Book: A Baker's Almanac by Ellen Foscue Johnson (Jennifer LOVE'S this book.)

1 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup or honey (we used sorghum)
4 tbsp sweet butter or light oil (we used butter)
2 tsp salt
1 cup cooked winter squash
1 1/2 tbsp dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 tsp sugar or honey (we used sorghum)
2 eggs
1 tsp grated orange peel (we did not have and so omitted)
6 1/2 cups unbleached white flour (we used 1/2 graham flour)

1. In a saucepan; scald the milk. Add the maple syrup, butter, salt and squash; stirring to mix well. Let sit until lukewarm.

2. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar or honey. (We used sorghum.) When it is bubbly, add the cooled milk-squash mixture, eggs, orange peel (we did not have so did not use), and 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Beat with an electric mixer 2 minutes, or at least 200 strokes by hand. Gradually add enough more flour to make a dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl and is stiff enough to knead.

3. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, sprinkling with a little more flour if it remains sticky. Put the dough into a buttered bowl, turn to coat all sides or brush the top with melted butter. Cover and let rise (I turned our oven on for one minute - turned it off and let the dough rise for about an hour inside the oven since it was so chilly in the kitchen) until doubled in bulk. (I did not get a photo of this - I got all caught up in the break making and forgot to document. Sorry.)

4. Punch the dough down, turn out onto a floured board, and knead a few times to press out air bubbles. Cut into pieces about the size of eggs; cover and let rest for 10-15 minutes. Form into rolls of whatever shape you wish (the easiest is to make balls and put in buttered muffin tins - I formed all of ours into balls). Brush the tops with melted butter and let rise, lightly covered, until not quite doubled in size.

5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. (Make sure you take your formed rolls back out prior to preheating if you have them rising in there!) Bake 15 minutes, or until done. Break one open to test; do not overbake. Serve hot. If you plan to save the rolls for the next meal or freeze them, bake for a slightly shorter time, cool on a rack, and re-heat when ready to use. Makes about 2 dozen rolls. I got about 36 rolls with the way I cut them - that's a lot of rolls!

These are so moist and yeasty and delicious! ENJOY!