from my kitchen to yours: Squash Cinnamon Rolls

Hello family! Happy holidays to ya!

With advice from Mom, I recently adapted my old Squash Rolls recipe to be cinnamon rolls. This New Years Eve, I utilized Heather's expertise to make them vegan. I will include both ways in this post. The pictures are of a double batch (as it was for the New Years Eve party for the Packards, Petersons, Waltons and us), so one batch makes half of what you see here. For a small family like mine, you could half the recipe or make dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls at once. I've made these twice now and they are delicious!!

Squash Rolls

1/2 cup warm water
2 TB yeast
6 cups flour (half whole wheat, half white)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 cup milk, scalded (coconut milk is fine)
1/2 cup oil or butter (shortening, butter, and canola oil are all fine)
1 1/2 cups cubed winter squash
Butter, melted (or coconut oil)
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Pumpkin pie spice (or others like nutmeg, cloves, allspice)

Boil and mash winter squash, set aside. Dissolve yeast in warm water, set aside. In bowl or mixer, combine 5 cups flour, sugar and salt. Add yeast mixture, butter, squash and milk. Mix well. Add remaining flour until correct consistency. Knead. Place in oiled bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in volume (30-60 minutes). Roll dough out into a long rectangle. Pour butter over dough and rub to the edges. Sprinkle heftily with brown sugar, and lightly with spices. Rub to make smooth. Roll dough into log and cut with knife or floss. Place in greased baking pans and let rise for about 30 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes until slightly browned. Push down any centers that have risen too high. Cool and spread frosting.

Cinnamon Roll Frosting