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Hi Bold Bakers!
WHAT YOU GET: My delicious Pumpkin Dinner Rolls recipe yields soft and fluffy dinner rolls with a cheerfully orange color. It’s perfect for holiday dinners and will make a great addition to your festive tables!
It may be past Halloween season, but don’t throw away your pumpkins just yet! November has begun, and that means it’s time to practice your Thanksgiving and holiday recipes. While you can make traditional dinner rolls for parties, it’s much more fun when you put a creative twist on it, especially when the whole crew is there to celebrate! Your Thanksgiving dinner rolls should be as special as the rest of the meal!
The pumpkin puree in my Pumpkin Dinner Rolls makes them extra fluffy and moist, which will pair perfectly with other spreads and gravies. These rolls have a touch of sweetness, along with that buttery flavor we all know and love in a classic dinner roll.
With just 9 ingredients, you’ll have these incredible Pumpkin Dinner Rolls hot and ready on the table in under 50 minutes. You can also check out my 1-Hour Dinner Rolls for a more traditional recipe. Give it a whirl!
Homemade Pumpkin Puree
As the recipe title suggests, these Pumpkin Dinner Rolls are pumpkin flavored! Since pumpkin plays the starring role in this recipe, we have to get that flavor down to perfection.
For those of you who may be unfamiliar, pumpkin puree is cooked and pureed squash or pumpkin. If you check out my various pumpkin-related recipes, you’ll see I use a lot of pumpkin puree.
Though you can find pureed pumpkins in stores (sometimes labeled “canned pumpkins”), challenge yourself and make Pumpkin Puree at home! It’s super simple and will make your dinner rolls that much more delicious.
What Is Scalded Milk?
Scalded milk is milk that has been heated to about 181°F (83°C). The point of scalding milk is to denature the proteins — the why in milk can prevent yeast from working. If you don’t scald your milk, you risk making bread that doesn’t rise.
Don’t worry! It’s easy to scald milk. Add your cold milk to a wide saucepan and heat it over medium heat, stirring frequently. When small bubbles begin to form on the outside of the saucepan, your milk is ready.
You can also tell if your milk is scalded properly if the skin of congealed proteins forms across the top. Feel free to use a thermometer to check the temperature.
Be sure to let your scalded milk come down to room temperature before continuing with the recipe.
Tools You Need To Make Pumpkin Dinner Rolls:
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Stand mixer with a dough hook (alternatively, a large mixing bowl and a mixing spoon)
- Mixing bowls
- Plastic wrap
- 10-inch (25 cm) round baking pan
- Pastry brush
Why Are My Dinner Rolls So Dense?
This is a common problem bakers will run into when making dinner rolls. Dense dinner rolls typically occur if you don’t let your dough proof for enough time or you add too much flour to your dough. In the latter case, you may have over-floured your work surface.
Use the bare minimum of extra flour to keep your dough from sticking to your work surface and hands. Add in little by little, making sure not to add too much, or else it will make the dough more difficult to shape later on and lose its fluffy texture.
How To Store Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
If you have leftover dinner rolls, store them in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To keep them for longer, freeze them for up to 2 months.
To reheat your rolls, defrost them at room temperature for about an hour and rewarm them in a 250°F (120°C) oven for 5 minutes.
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips For Making The Best Pumpkin Dinner Rolls:
- To scald milk, heat to just until barely simmering. Then, let cool.
- Scalded milk denatures the proteins in milk to create a softer bread.
- Be sure to use Pumpkin Puree and not pumpkin pie filling for this recipe.
- These rolls would be delicious served with either Maple Pecan or Chipotle Lime compound butter.
- Cut these rolls in half to make delicious slider buns!
Get More Rolls For Thanksgiving Dinner (Or Breakfast!) Here:
Try These Recipes!
Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- ½ cup (4 fl oz/120 ml) scalded milk, lukewarm
- ½ cup (4 oz/115 g) pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoons (1½ oz/42 g) butter, plus more for brushing, softened
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 3¾ cups (18¾ oz/531 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Egg wash
Instructions
- In a medium mixing bowl whisk together the milk, pumpkin puree, butter and egg until smooth.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (or with a large mixing bowl and a mixing spoon if working by hand) add in flour, sugar, yeast, and salt and give a stir to mix everything together.
- On medium speed, pour in the wet ingredients into the dry and mix for roughly 8 minutes until it forms a dough and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. If you dough is a tad dry add a splash more milk until the dough forms. (If kneading by hand, knead the dough for 10 minutes.)
- Transfer the dough to a large, oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Set aside at room temperature to proof for 60 - 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down and transfer it to a floured work surface. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces, then shape it into rolls and arrange them in a 10-inch (25-cm) round baking pan with 10 rolls on the edge, then 5 rolls, then one roll in the center.
- Cover again and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 45-60 minutes.
- At the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Brush the rolls with the egg wash, then bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown. Brush with butter while the rolls are still hot.
- Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. For longer storage, freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost at room temperature for about an hour, and rewarm in a 250°F (120°C) oven for 5 minutes.
Can you make the dough in advance? Refrigerate overnight?
Hi Gemma, I have trouble with rising doughs. When it says room temperature, exactly what does that mean? My house is usually 62′ and I am very comfortable. I don’t ,however, think my rising bread like it. I would love some advice if possible,
Hi Gemma!
When a recipe like this calls for just “butter” is it suppose to be room temp, cold, or melted?
Love your recipes so much!
Can you make these in a 9×13 pan?
Can I shape the same dough into hotdog roles? I’ve made this recipe as buns which are delicious and freeze very well. Want to shape as hotdog roles now.
Gemma, any substitute for the egg?