Zucchini Dinner Rolls

The last two weeks of summer. School starts September 1st, and I have made my decision: one more year. One more year of teaching, one final year, and then retirement in June 2022. The decision is not public — I will tell the principal in September, I will tell my colleagues when the time is right — but the decision is made, and the making of it has produced a strange calm, the calm of a woman who has been carrying a question for months and has finally set it down. One more year. Forty-three years total. Then: the kitchen. The blog. The book I haven't written yet. The grandchildren. Marvin, for as long as he's here. One more year of Mrs. Feldman behind the chalkboard, and then Ruth, at the kitchen table, with a pen and a pot of soup and the rest of her life.

I set up my classroom on Thursday — the last time I will set up a classroom at the beginning of a school year, which is a thought I have not yet allowed to fully form, because fully forming it would make me cry, and I have desks to arrange. The desks are in rows. The books are on the shelves. The chalkboard is clean. The room is ready. I am ready. One more year.

I made a back-to-school challah — thirty-two years of this tradition now, a challah on the Sunday before school starts, blessed and eaten as a secular prayer over the academic year. This is the last back-to-school challah. I braided it with extra care, the way you tie the last knot on a rope that has held for thirty-two years: firmly, with respect, with the understanding that this knot matters not because it is the last but because it is the same knot you have always tied, and the sameness is sacred.

The challah was braided and blessed, and when it was gone I still had zucchini on the counter from the garden — fat, late-summer zucchini that needed to be used before the season turned. I thought: one more loaf. Not the sacred one, not the ceremonial one, but a quiet, practical loaf, the kind of bread that says the kitchen is mine and I know how to use it. These zucchini dinner rolls are what I made that Sunday afternoon, after the challah was wrapped and the classroom was ready — soft, golden, a little golden-green where the zucchini runs through them, a small rehearsal for all the baking that’s coming in June 2022.

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 22 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes (includes rise time) | Servings: 12 rolls

Ingredients

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
3/4 cup warm water (110°F)
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup shredded zucchini, moisture squeezed out
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 egg, beaten (for egg wash)
Flaky sea salt, for topping (optional)

Instructions

Activate the yeast. In a large bowl, combine warm water, honey, and yeast. Stir gently and let sit for 5–8 minutes until foamy and fragrant.
Prepare the zucchini. Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. Wrap in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze firmly until most of the moisture is removed. You should have about 3/4 cup after squeezing.
Mix the dough. Add the zucchini, olive oil, and salt to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Add flour one cup at a time, mixing until a shaggy dough forms. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 7–9 minutes until smooth and slightly tacky but not sticky.
First rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Shape the rolls. Punch down the dough and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a smooth ball by pulling the sides under and pinching the seam at the bottom. Arrange in a lightly greased 9x13-inch baking pan.
Second rise. Cover the pan and let the rolls rise for 20–25 minutes, until puffed and touching each other.
Bake. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Brush the rolls with beaten egg and sprinkle with flaky sea salt if using. Bake for 20–22 minutes, until the tops are deep golden brown and the rolls sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Cool and serve. Let the rolls cool in the pan for 5 minutes before pulling apart. Serve warm with butter.

Nutrition (per serving)

Zucchini Dinner Rolls — The Bread I Baked When I Finally Set the Question Down