Squash Rolls (for Thanksgiving, or any time)

I made these a couple of Thanksgivings ago, and they are very, very yummy. A nice change from your regular white yeast rolls, and kind of cheerfully orange, too. The squash gives them a moistness and sweetness that goes great with turkey. And SO good if you have leftover rolls and and leftover turkey and a dab of cranberry sauce for a snack! It's from an old Betty Crocker book. When I made them, I used the frozen pureed butternet squash option.

Squash Rolls
4 1/2 - 5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/4 cups very warm milk (120-130 degrees...I don't have a thermometer so I just heated it on the stove and kept testing with a finger. my finger.)
1 cup mashed cooked winter squash (or 1 cup frozen squash, thawed and brought to room temp)
2 T. butter

Mix 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Add milk, squash and butter. Beat on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; kneed about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place about 1 1/2 hours until doubled.

Grease 24 medium muffin cups. Punch down dough; divide into 24 equal pieces. Shape each piece in to 3 smooth balls. Place 3 balls in each muffin cup. Cover and let rise 30-45 minutes or until doubled.*

Heat oven to 400. Bake 15-20 minutes or until light brown.

*This is just one way to do it, obviously. They come out looking like Parker House rolls if you do it that way, very classy. You could also make free-form rolls, or what my grandma called "pocketbook rolls" - flattened then folded over. Or butterhorn shape, if you have the patience for that.