Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

These pumpkin dinner rolls are light, tender, moist, and are wonderful warm and fresh from the oven slathered in melty butter. 

You'll love serving these rolls along with your holiday feast. They are sure to disappear. 

Even though these dinner rolls derive their color from pumpkin, they do not have a pumpkin flavor. Even pumpkin haters will love them, if they can get past the color. They are super soft, and they are a family holiday favorite. 

They also make excellent buns for turkey or chicken salad sandwiches. Trust me. 

They are soft and fluffy, and are great fresh out of the oven with butter, honey, apple butter, or even pumpkin butter.

I first tried this recipe to use up leftover pumpkin puree after making pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Since then, I have made these rolls several times, especially when I need dinner rolls to serve with roast turkey or chicken, or when I've been assigned "rolls" for holiday potlucks!

They also are great for splitting to make toasted cheese bread too. 

The dough for making these rolls is super easy to work with too. First, you knead it either in a stand mixer, bread machine, or by hand until smooth and then let it rise for about 90 minutes. 

Next, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. To do this, I pressed it into a flat round and cut the dough into wedges, like a pie. That worked pretty well, although using a scale is even more accurate. 

After that roll out the dough pieces with your hands into 12-inch ropes and then tie them into a knot and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet. 

Let them rise for about an hour, brush them with an egg wash, and then bake them for about 20 minutes, until golden. 

Just remember that with bread baking, there are nuances in working with dough. While baking cookies or cakes is precise, baking bread is more about how it feels to you, the baker. It's about getting to know the dough and how it behaves. Rising times will vary depending on the temperature in your kitchen, the humidity, and other factors. 

To quote Lionel Vatinet, baking bread is "mysterious and endlessly alluring." 

Ingredients:

Pumpkin Puree: You'll need a half cup of the puree (not pumpkin pie filling). 

From the Pantry: Bread flour, salt, sugar, salt, and instant yeast. 

From the Fridge: Egg and butter. 

Make-Ahead Tips:

These rolls can be assembled in advance and refrigerated overnight, covered, on the baking sheet prior to baking.

You can also bake these, let them cool completely, and then individually wrap them in plastic wrap, put them in a freezer bag, and freeze for up to 30 days. To serve, thaw, mist lightly with water, and reheat in a 350 degree oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. 

P.S. I've got even more pumpkin dinner rolls, including pumpkin rolls with salted maple butter, cranberry pumpkin rolls, and pumpkin, rye, and cornmeal dinner rolls. 

Holiday Side Dish Week:

Welcome to this year's Holiday Side Dish Week, hosted by Heather of Hezzi D's Recipe Box. Every year, we've been sharing recipes for holiday side dishes, just in time for holiday season.

The Best Baked Corn Casserole by Hezzi-D's Recipe Box

Homemade Old-Fashioned Dressing by A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures

Twice Baked Potatoes by Blogghetti

Palak Paneer Cornbread by Magical Ingredients

Carrot Souffle by Shockingly Delicious

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls by Karen's Kitchen Stories

Cabbage Salad with Oranges and Pecans by A Day in the Life on the Farm

Cauliflower Mac & Cheese by Sneha's Recipe

Herbed Garlic Potatoes by Jolene’s Recipe Journal

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Yield: 12 rolls

Author: Karen Kerr

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 20 MinInactive time: 2 H & 30 MTotal time: 3 H & 20 M

These pumpkin dinner rolls are light, tender, moist, and are wonderful warm, fresh from the oven slathered in melty butter.

Ingredients

• 411 grams (14.5 ounces/3 cups) bread flour
• 1 tablespoon plus 3/4 tsp instant yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
• 3 tablespoons room temperature unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
• 1 room temperature egg
• For Glazing: 1 lightly beaten egg, a tablespoon of water, and a pinch of salt

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients (except the glazing/egg wash ingredients) and stir with a large spoon until all of the dry ingredients are moistened.
3. Knead with the dough hook and knead on low for 5 minutes.
4. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl or dough rising bucket and turn it to coat with oil.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 90 minutes. It will take longer if your kitchen is cool.
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and divide the dough into 12 even pieces.
7. Roll each piece into a 12 inch rope. Tie each rope into a single knot.
8. Place the knots on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover the rolls loosely with oiled plastic wrap and proof for about an hour, until doubled.
9. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack placed in the middle.
10. Whisk together the egg wash ingredients and set aside until the rolls are ready to bake.
11. Brush the rolls with with the egg wash and bake for about 18 to 20 minutes, until golden.
12. You can serve these immediately, or cool on a rack.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

181

Fat (grams)

4 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

2 g

Carbs (grams)

31 g

Fiber (grams)

1 g

Net carbs

29 g

Sugar (grams)

5 g

Protein (grams)

5 g

Cholesterol (grams)

22 mg

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2013/11/pumpkin-dinner-rolls.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

pumpkin, holiday side dish, rolls

bread