Butternut Squash Milk Bread Rolls (Dinner Rolls)

yellow bread rolls, butter and butter knife in a black basket lined with dish towel.

5 from 2 votes

Butternut Squash Milk Bread Rolls (Dinner Rolls)

These butternut squash milk bread rolls are for you all who love soft and fluffy milk bread / dinner rolls, but would like to upgrade your rolls with some tasty seasonal flair.

Prep Time30

Cook Time18

Proofing time2 30

Total Time3 18

Course: Bread and bun

Cuisine: American, Asian

Servings: rolls

Calories: 133kcal

Author: Edwina

Ingredients

For the dough

200 g butternut squash ¾ cup after steamed and mashed
185 g cold milk ¾ cup
1½ teaspoon instant yeast preferably saf instant yeast
450 g bread flour 3½ cup
50 g cake flour (see note) ⅓ cup
45 g fine sugar 3 tbsp
20 g honey or sweetened condensed milk 1 tbsp
¾ teaspoon sea salt
45 g unsalted butter 3 tbsp

Brushing

½ tablespoon melted butter
½ tablespoon maple syrup optional

Instructions

Prepare butternut squash

Cut butternut squash into cubes and steam for 20 minutes until it's completely softened. I prefer to use the part near the seeds for better flavor as it's sweeter.
Mash the squash with a fork and let it cool completely before using. You should end up with ¾ cup. If you have time, chill the squash in the fridge for a few hours.

Dough

Add mashed butternut squash and milk in a stand mixer, mix them with a spatula to roughly combine.
Add yeast, bread flour, cake flour, sugar and honey (or sweetened condensed milk) into the stand mixer, mix with medium low speed until it forms a rough dough (see the picture in the post). Cover and let it rest for 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, take the butter out from the fridge and cut it into 6 pieces and set it aside.
When it's done resting, add salt and continue to knead the dough for 1 minute.
Add butter cubes one at a time and knead until the dough is silky smooth and passes the windowpane test. (This step takes me about 8 minutes on medium speed. The actual time it takes you depends on your mixer.) Since the dough is very sticky, you probably need to scrape down the dough on the sides of the mixing bowl one or two times in the mixing process.
Form the dough into a ball (it will be very sticky, but if it's too sticky to handle, then add a little bread flour and knead for another 1~2 minutes) and put it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover, and let it rise for about 1 hour in a warm place (between 80°F to 90°F) until it doubles in size.
Transfer the dough onto a working surface and cut it into 20 (or less if you prefer the roll to be a bit bigger) even pieces. Cover and let them rest for 5 minutes.
Form each piece into a ball and place them in a lined baking pan with ¼-½" apart.
Cover with greased plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place (between 80°F to 90°F) until it doubles in size (about an hour).

Baking

In the last 20 minutes of proofing, preheat the oven to 350°F. When the temperature is reached, put the pan in the oven and bake for 16 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix the melted butter and maple syrup (if using) and set it aside.
Take the pan out, quickly brush with a layer of butter/maple syrup and put it back to the oven and bake for another 2-3 minutes.
Transfer the rolls to a cooling rack. Let it cool for 10 minutes before enjoying. The flavor is better after it cools completely.

Notes

Adding cake flour causes the rolls to end up with a softer and more delicate texture. If you don't have cake flour, you can just use all bread flour.

Nutrition