Pull-Apart Squash Rolls

These warm apricot-hued beauties have been hanging around just waited to be talked about for a little over a month now...and I think it's about time they received some praise.  A second round of praise.  While the fact that they are infused with their gorgeous color by winter squash may throw you for a loop at first...you expect them to taste like squash, too...once the soft, slightly sweet roll tickles their taste buds, you all but forget there's even squash in them.  Not that squash is a bad thing.  Quite the contrary, actually.  Just sayin'.

Amongst the three types of rolls that charmingly carbed-up our meal that night (brioche and poppyseed being the other two), these unassumingly stole the show! So you may or may not remember that these other two rolls were made for a certain day where we give thanks and eat turkey...and how during mad preparation for this day, I discovered the beauty that is a bread maker.  Well, in the interest of freeing up time, hands, and counter space...I bravely adapted a regular bread dough (from The Tate's Bakeshop Cookbook) into a bread maker dough.  And it worked!   I think it's basically just figuring out the order to put it in the machine...but since I didn't have a manual to said machine, I was pretty proud of myself for working it all out. 

Pull-Apart Squash Rolls

bread machine method

makes 16 rolls

½ c.  warm milk

¼ c. warm water

 4 Tbs. salted butter, melted & cooled to room temp.

½ c. butternut squash, cooked & mashed

1/3 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

3 c. unbleached ap flour

2½  tsp. instant yeast (or bread machine yeast)

Place all ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order listed, starting at the top.  Set machine to dough cycle and let it run through the rise, until machine turns off.  How incredibly easy was that!?

Turn dough out only a lightly floured surface and divide dough into 16 pieces.  Form each piece into a roll, and place side by side in a 9" square pan that has been greased.  Cover with film or a clean kitchen towel and let sit until doubled in size, ~1-1½ hrs.

Preheat oven to 350° F during last 15 minutes or so of rise time.  Bake for ~20 minutes, until they are nice and golden orange.  Gently flip the whole thing out of the pan and cool on a rack.  Or bring them to the table while still slightly warm.

Happy first Monday of the year! ☺

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