Can you believe Thanksgiving is almost here?! Are you ready? How many dinners are you going to this year? We have just two family gatherings and one friendsgiving. I’m thankful that we won’t have to travel anywhere and we can come home to our warm house to nap after we eat and visit. I’ll be bringing Healthy Pumpkin Pie and Fresh Cranberry Salad to all the dinners this year. Next week I’ll be posting my Fresh Cranberry Salad recipe on Tuesday so you have time to make some too! I promise it’s worth it. A few years ago I made those cute little pumpkin rolls that are shaped like pumpkins for Thanksgiving. They were amazing, so this year I decided it was time to develop my own recipe for Easy Pumpkin Dinner Rolls.
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I put this recipe off for a week because I was having a little trouble wrapping my head around it. I don’t make enriched bread very often and I’m not as familiar with the process. In the end, after a little research and experimentation I have a recipe I’m really excited to publish! The first thing I noticed was that many enriched bread recipes call for scalded milk. I did a search and learned that there are two reasons it’s actually worth while to do this for a bread recipe. The first reason is because scalding milk makes yeast bread lighter. The second is that when you scald milk you deactivate the whey proteins. This is a good thing in yeast bread because those proteins can weaken the gluten in your bread and prevent a good rise. I’m willing to do an extra step if it serves a good purpose!
I did not scald my milk really scientifically for this recipe. Really I just put it in the pan and when it started steaming I turned it off and added the butter. If you want to be more scientific there are videos out there that can help. The great thing about these Easy Pumpkin Dinner Rolls is that you mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and everything else into the scalded milk, combine and voila – bread dough! I added the egg after the pumpkin so that the mixture is cool enough that you don’t accidentally cook it!
You may have noticed if you have made any of my other bread recipes that I don’t proof my yeast in warm water. I have found bread making to be so much simpler with this method of mix dry, add wet, stir. Your dough will develop better flavor if it is allowed to rise more slowly and so the extra step with warm water may actually detract from your final results. There are many kinds of yeast out there and I can’t speak to most of them. Personally I use Saf Instant Yeast which I buy in a 1 pound package so it lasts me for months if not years. After I open the package I put it into a ziplock back and store it in the fridge. So far I have never had my yeast fail on me using this method.
Originally I was going to make these pumpkin shaped but it seems everyone is doing that this year so I opted for the classic crescent instead. To keep it on the healthy side we’re adding whole wheat flour and just a little honey. To finish we’ll brush them with a honey butter glaze before baking. These delicious rolls are soft and light with just a hint of sweetness. My family loved them so much I’m going to need to make more! We’ve eaten them with soup for dinner and with scrambled eggs for breakfast. I toasted a few and spread the leftover honey glaze inside – to die for!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you bake any of these. Tag me on social media @teatimebaker. Next week’s recipe will be on Tuesday to leave time for Thanksgiving festivities. Thanks for pinning and sharing!
-Erin
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Easy Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
- Prep Time: 2-3 hours
- Cook Time: 16 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 24 servings 1x
- Category: Bread
Description
Beautifully soft and golden these Easy Pumpkin Dinner Rolls are the perfect side dish for Thanksgiving dinner. Try to save a few for breakfast too!
Ingredients
Pumpkin Rolls:
- 3 cups (480 g) unbleached white flour
- 1 cup (140 g) whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 tsp yeast
- 1 cup (235 ml) milk
- 4 Tbsp (55 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cup (215 g) pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- 1 Tbsp honey
Honey Butter Glaze:
- 1/4 cup (55 g) unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp honey
Instructions
Dough:
- In a small saucepan scald your milk (bring it close to boiling) turn off the heat and add the 1/4 cup (55 g) of butter.
- While the butter melts into the milk, stir together the white and wheat flour in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the salt on one side of the bowl and the yeast on the other and stir.
- Once the butter has melted and the milk is cooling add the pumpkin to the saucepan and stir.
- Whisk in the egg and honey and pour the wet ingredients into the mixer.
- Mix with the paddle attachment until the dough comes together.
- Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-7 minutes. I used a combination of a little oil on the counter and a little flour on the dough to keep it from sticking while the gluten builds.
- Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and let it rise at room temp for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.
Baking:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F (175 C). Melt the 1/4 cup (55 g) of butter and 1 Tbsp honey in a small pan for glazing.
- Turn the dough onto the counter and divide in half. Roll the first half out into a circle about 15 in (38 cm) in diameter.
- Cut your circle into 12-15 pieces depending on the size of rolls you want. I used a pizza cutter to cut my dough into 12 pieces.
- Roll each triangle up starting at the wide end and place them on a cookie sheet in two rows two inches apart.
- Let them rise for 15-20 minutes, brush with the honey butter and bake for 15-17 minutes.
- Repeat with the second half of the dough.
- Let the rolls cool on a wire rack or serve warm!
Notes
You can make these in any shape that you want to!
If you’d like a few more small rolls cut your circle into 15 pieces instead of 12.
Keywords: Easy Pumpkin Dinner Rolls, Thanksgiving bread recipe, pumpkin rolls, easy bread recipe
Food Photographer, Recipe Developer and Blogger
Hi, I’m Erin! I’m a Mom, wife, dog mom and photographer. I love to take beautiful pictures and develop delicious recipes. I live on bread, tea and chocolate 💗
