Beet Dinner Rolls

I don't cook beets really but I am always in awe of the beautiful color. So when I saw them this spring I was determined to turn them into something delicious and beautiful. And for me, bread is everything delicious. I was almost heading in the direction of pasta but since I am not the biggest fan of pasta ( I know, I know... blasphemy!), I decided against it. For now at least. So bread it was. Maybe burger buns with sesame seeds? Maybe a two-color brioche? There are so many options. So when I was cooking up a big dinner, I thought rolls would be the perfect addition.

I don't know about you guys, but my bread consumption is off the charts and while I was making these I felt reeeealllly guilty but then I ate them... and everything was right with the world.

Okay! Let's get into the nitty-gritty.

Beet Dinner Rolls

These dinner rolls are a beautiful fuchsia color and are slightly sweet. They have that bit of homemade denseness but are still soft and fluffy. They reheat in the microwave well for several days but I promise they won't last that long. Add a little salt to the top and serve with some butter and maybe some honey and boy oh boy!!!! And if you are wondering if they taste like beets or have a vegetable taste then they don't. You can't even taste the beets. It a great way to add more vegetables to the dinner table in a delicious way. Especially if you have picky kids.

Let's talk about a few ingredients and steps in this recipe, to make sure there are no cutting corners in places that are essential to the final product.

• Beets - Pureed beets are easy to make. You simply peel and cut the beets into cubes, submerge in a pot of water and boil until soft. Then you toss them into a blender and blend until thick and smooth. You may need to add a smidge of reserved water used to boil the beets if it is too thick to puree but I never have this problem. This is what I usually do and if I am making these for a special occasion or even just for dinner, then I like to cook and puree my beets a day or 2 in advance and store them in the fridge. Also if you have a baby or toddler, then any leftover pureed beets can be mixed into apple sauce for a kid-approved snack.At most grocery stores you can find canned beets either whole or sliced and you can puree those. At one of the local stores where I live, they carry freshly cooked beets that are packaged air-tight and you can blend those. So there are a few options to choose from and all will yield great results.

• Scalded Milk - While you can use unscaled milk, I promise that scalding the milk will be worth it. A good dinner roll will be the talk of the table at Thanksgiving and will be request year after year. Scalding the milk is done by heating it on the stovetop or in the microwave until it reaches a temperature of 180°F or 82°C. At this temperature, you deactivate the whey proteins in the milk that can weaken the gluten structure of the dough and affect how light and fluffy your final result will be. And if you are going to the trouble of making bread from scratch, then you definitely want it to be perfect. Once scalded then you can bring it back down to room temperature or a bit warmer for your recipe. Do not boil your milk. If this happens then start over. So be careful to keep an eye on it as you are scalding and use a digital thermometer to get it accurate.

• Instant/ Rapid Rise Yeast  - While a lot of recipes call for active dry yeast, I love using instant/rapid rise yeast because it is just so easy to work with. I don't use yeast a lot and instant or rapid-rise yeast has a longer shelf life. I always hate proofing yeast only to realize that it has gone bad and I have to stop what I am doing to go to the store. Also, instant/rapid rise yeast rises faster than active dry yeast, cutting down the time you spend making these. This is always good because bread-making is a process. Some bakers say they can taste a difference between the two, with active dry yeast not having as strong of a yeast flavor and yielding a more mellow flavor bread. But if there is a difference, it isn't significant to me. If you wish to use active dry yeast then reduce the milk by 1/4 cup and proof yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water (110ºF).

This is a simple and easy recipe. I hope you guys check it out. Let me know what you think.