Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Recipe found at Beyond Kimchee.

How cute are these?! They would look adorable on a Halloween buffet, or beautiful on the Thanksgiving table don't you think?

Not only are these pumpkin shaped, but they are made with pumpkin puree as well. However, there was not a discernible pumpkin flavor in these rolls - the recipe only calls for one cup - I am assuming more for coloring than flavor. They had the taste of your typical sweet dinner roll. 

These are really easy to make. If you feel you don't have the time to make the bread dough, or just not a fan of pumpkin, I'm sure you could use the refrigerated bread dough from your market or use your favorite bread roll recipe and shape accordingly. These would be just as cute without the yellow coloring.

After cutting your dough in several pieces and rolling the pieces into balls, the recipe instructs you to take a knife and make eight slits in the dough, leaving the center intact. I found it easier to use kitchen shears to achieve this. (I was in a hurry when I made these. Next time I would take more care in forming of the balls - stretching the dough smooth, for the imperfections show in the final product. )

After forming all your little pumpkins, poke a whole in the center of each with your little finger. This is where the "stem" will go once they come out of the oven.

 After the final rise, the center holes closed up a bit. Just poke them again before placing into the oven.

For the "stems" of the pumpkins, you slice the pecan halves lengthwise. You will have two stems from one pecan half. Once the rolls are out of the oven, place a stem where you poked the holes.

 Would you like a roll my sweet? Heheheheeee..

These rolls were more dense than I like my rolls to be. This may have been due to me overworking the dough. Still I enjoyed these, and they were fun to make. I'll have to give them another try - maybe try a plain bread version next time.

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Yields 30 rolls

Recipe adapted from Beyond Kimchee

¾ cup whole milk, scalded

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

6 tablespoons butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

2 packages active dry yeast, plus 1 teaspoon sugar

¼ cup lukewarm water

5 cups all-purpose flour

15-20 pecan halves, sliced into 3 vertical sections

¼ cup melted butter, optional

Pour hot milk into a mixing bowl, add butter and stir to melt. Add sugars, pumpkin puree, and salt to milk mixture, stir to combine.

In a small bowl combine yeast and one teaspoon of sugar. When it foams, add to the pumpkin mixture along with the egg and mix well.

Add flour gradually and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. The dough will be sticky. If using an electric mixer, attach a dough hook and beat the mixture until the dough pulls itself from the side of the bowl.

Turn the dough out on a wooden board dusted lightly with flour. Knead by hand for 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, cover with a cloth and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Punch the dough down to deflate and knead it for a few seconds. Cut the dough in half and each half into 15 pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball shape and flatten slightly. Using a knife or kitchen shears, cut 8 slices, leaving the center intact, resembling a flower.  Place 2 inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Poke the center of each “flower” with your pinkie finger to make a deep indentation.

Cover and let rise until almost doubled in size, about 45 minutes. You may need to poke the holes again if they closed up during the rise.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Brush the rolls with an egg wash if desired and bake for 9-12 minutes until the tops are golden brown. (My rolls took about 20 minutes to bake.)