Squash Dinner Rolls

I can’t say enough good things about these rolls. Oh my gosh, they are so good. I didn’t taste any squash, just moist, delicate, orangey rolls with crusty tops and bottoms and melt-in-your-mouth middles. I plan to make these for Thanksgiving and believe me, nobody messes with the dinner rolls at Thanksgiving. But this are good enough that I am going to mess things up this year. Note: I steamed the squash, then pureed it in my food processor until smooth. I used my bread machine to make the dough. I also served them warm instead of letting them cool. So easy, so good.

Here’s the recipe from Sunset:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm milk
• 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup puréed squash or canned pumpkin
• 5 tablespoons vegetable shortening
• 4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted, plus more for pan
• 2 teaspoons poppy or sesame seeds

Preparation

• 1. In a large bowl, combine milk with yeast, sugar, and salt. Let stand 5 minutes, then add egg and beat well to combine.
• 2. Add squash and shortening; mash with a fork until shortening is in small pieces. Add 1 1/2 cups flour and mix well with a wooden spoon. Gradually mix in more flour by the cupful until dough collects around spoon and pulls away from sides of bowl (you may not need all the flour).
• 3. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead 2 minutes. Put dough in a greased bowl; cover with a towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• 4. Preheat oven to 400° and butter a large baking sheet. Punch dough down, turn out onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead until dough is smooth and supple, about 7 minutes. Cut dough into 4 balls; cut each ball into 6 pieces.
• 5. Roll each piece into a round and arrange rounds on baking sheet so they barely touch. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds; cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes.
• 6. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool, then pull apart to serve.