Tate's Bakeshop Squash Rolls

Brush tops with melted butter as soon as you pull them out of the oven.

With dire weather predicted Monday through Wednesday of this week, it is time to hunker down with homemade bread, steaming pots of soups and stews, and a stack of good books.  In preparedness I made a batch of Squash Rolls.  Hot from the oven these are so light and delicious that one calls for another.  If the thought of making bread has you shaking in your snow boots, don't despair, I made these in the bread machine!  Both the traditional directions and ABM directions are below, so you can decide for yourself how to proceed.

Shaped and ready for the oven.  When shaping them into rounds, pinch the dough together and place the rolls, pinched-side down into the pan.

You can see the little flecks of butternut squash throughout this delicious roll.

Tate's Bakeshop Squash Rolls

1-1/4 oz. package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup squash*

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 Tablespoon butter 

2-1/2 to 2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Traditional directions:

Dissolve yeast in warm water, with a temperature between 105-110 degrees F; set aside. Scald milk in a heavy medium saucepan.  Remove from heat and add squash, sugar, salt, and butter.  Stir until butter is melted and fully incorporated into the mixture.  Add yeast and water to the squash mixture. Place 2-1/2 cups flour in a large bowl.  Add the squash mixture to the flour and mix together well.  Turn dough onto a floured board and knead it until it is smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed.  Oil a medium-sized bowl.  Turn dough into bowl, cover and place it in a warm spot to allow it to rise.  Once it's doubled in size (about 1 to 1-1/2 hours depending upon the temperature of your house), punch it down and move it to a floured board.  Divide the dough into twelve equal portions and shape into rolls.  Place the rolls in a greased 9" x 13" pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes until golden.

ABM directions:

This is not a bread machine recipe, per se, but I have found that a lot of non-ABM recipes work just fine in the bread machine, these rolls included.  I simply put all of the ingredients into the bread machine according to the manufacturer's instructions and set the machine to the "dough" setting.  After the 90-minute cycle was complete. I dumped the dough onto a floured board (the dough is a bit sticky, but don't be alarmed, the rolls will come out fine), punched it down and continued as directed above, by shaping them and putting them into a greased pan and baking.  The rolls pictured here are the result of having been made in the bread machine.

*I emailed Kathleen King, owner of Tate's and editor of the cookbook, and asked her which is better, to roast a fresh butternut squash or use frozen.  She told me that frozen squash may be used equally well in this recipe and saves a lot of time and trouble.  Simply thaw out the package of squash, measure out the 1/2 cup and then cook and enjoy the rest.

For more delicious recipes from Tate's, I strongly recommend this book.

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