Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Zucchini Yeast Rolls and Freezing Bread

When I was reading through the numerous food blogs I read everyday I came across this post on Today's Menu Take It or Leave It. I still had a lot of zucchini in the fridge so this looked like a great option.
Hiding the veggies #1
(This batch was par-baked, frozen & then finished on the day we wanted to eat them.)

What a great way to use zucchini. Really other than a little green in the rolls you won't know they had vegetables in them. The rolls were a little heavier than a white roll but not too heavy. They have a nice slightly sweet flavor. I think they would we perfect with a soup or stew. I did have a problem with the recipe in the amount of flour is called for. I could not get it to form a smooth, elastic dough without adding almost twice the amount of flour. I think the zucchini has so much water in it but can also vary from zucchini to zucchini so that was probably part of the issue. To that end though I have halved the amount of water the recipe calls for.

I also thought it would be a good chance to try different ways of freezing bread to prepare later. After the first rise, when the dough was rolled into 2.5 oz balls, I put half the balls on a greased cookie sheet & then into the freezer. After they were frozen I put them into a freezer bag & wrote cooking directions on it. The night before I want to use these I take the number I want out & leave them in the fridge to thaw. On baking day, they would be place them on a greased baking sheet & let rise until doubled & then bake as normal.
Zucchini Yeast Rolls
(This batch was frozen after the first rise.)

For the other half of the batch, I parbaked them liked the take & bake breads you get at the grocery store. I followed the recipe through the second rise & then only baked them for 15 minutes. I let the rolls cool to room temperature and then froze them. On the day I want to make them I'lI take the number I want out & bake them at 400 F for 8 - 10 minutes. They won't don't even need to be thawed.

Both methods worked well for freezing bread dough & having fresh baked rolls at a later time but the par-baked method was really the winner. Since the rolls could be baked right from frozen the only lead time needed was the time to preheat the oven & bake them. The other method worked fine but you have to take the extra time to thaw them & let them rise, though they took less time to bake than they did fresh.

Zucchini Yeast Rolls
(adapted from Simply In Season)

2 - 3 c zucchini, grated
1 /2 c water
1/2 c sugar
3 T olive oil
2 t salt
1 c bread flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/3 c powdered milk
2 T yeast
1 3/4 - 2 1/2 c bread flour (I actually ended up using close to 5)

Combine the zucchini, water, sugar, oil & salt in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for about 2 minutes until warm (no hotter than 110 F).

In a large mixing bowl combine the 1 cup bread flour, wheat flour, milk & yeast. Stir in the warm wet ingredients until smooth. Stir in more bread flour until you get a soft dough (mine was still pretty sticky). Knead for about 10 minutes until you get a smooth, elastic dough. Place the dough in an oiled bowl. Turn to coat with oil. Cover & let rise for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into 2.5 oz balls. Place on a baking pan that is either greased or covered with a silicon pad. Cover & let rise until about double (I let mine rise for 2 hours).

Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush the rolls with milk for a soft crust or an egg wash for a shine crust. Bake the rolls for 25 - 30 minutes until brown.

Makes 20 rolls.

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski

3 comments:

Thistlemoon said...

These are a great way to use up an abundance of zucchini - I wish I HAD an abundance of zucchini....

Sharon said...

ooh, healthy bread! Good work. The little flecks of green are quite pretty :)

Deborah said...

What a great idea!!

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