The heat in our apartment appears to be controlled by martians so the cool days have been inspiring me to do something I fear like the reaper: Bake. By martians, I may actually mean the girls that live below us. Point is, its cold during the day so instead of being productive with work, I want to bake.
I had an idea in mind; though stumbling across this post confirmed to me that it was a good idea. I also had a Kabocha squash, my very favorite kind, sitting on the counter.
Squash
Winter
Warm
Bake
Visions of warm, buttery rolls floated through my head, emitting puffs of steam when you pulled them apart, letting pats of butter melt into their every crevice.
Knowing that baking isn’t my forte, I set out to make something involving flour, eggs and squash.
And then, a few quick hours later, there they were, too hot to handle, ready to fulfill all of my bread related fantasies.
If you still have giant amounts of cranberry sauce left (as I do) it makes a great compliment to these.
Whole Wheat Kabocha Squash Rolls
1 small to medium Kabocha squash
Canola oil
1/2 cup warm water
1.5 tsps. baking yeast
2 tsps. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 cups white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsps. salt
More flour for the board
Rub the oil on the outside of the squash and roast it until soft. For me, this was about 30 minutes in a 375 oven. Cut it open, scoop out the guts and toss, then scoop out the ‘meat’ and save. Put the water and the yeast into the bowl of a food processor, then add the sugar. Leave it for a few minutes, then add the eggs and squash (about 2 cups) and process until smooth. At this point, add the salt and leave the processor going on low and add the flour through the tube. Once all three cups are in, let it process until it forms a ball or close to it. You’ll probably want at least a little more flour, but I err on the low side, its easier to add than subtract!
Once you’ve got it in a ball, place on a floured board, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise for an hour. Roll in to balls (I got ten out of this), cover and let rise another 45 minutes to an hour. If your house is freezing, you can turn on the oven and let it come up to 375 degrees while you sit in front of it during this time.
Either way, place on a floured pizza stone or baking sheet and put it in the oven. After about 5 minutes, open the oven and splash a little water in–this gives the rolls a crustier exterior. Let it keep baking for about 25 minutes in total. Then cool and eat. or don’t cool. and eat.
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