“Don’t play with your food!”
I tell my kids all the time when they show not much interest in eating their food but playing with it. Well, I find myself today that playing with food is quite entertaining and I did have a great time making these Pumpkin Dinner Rolls. The best part? You get to eat them at the end!
Pumpkins are delicious and nutritious. So why not add some in the dinner rolls to join the harvest season and celebrate the bounty of mother nature?
These rolls even look like mini pumpkins. They are quite easy to make from scratch and will look so gorgeous on your Thanksgiving dinner table.
The dough recipe is from Delicious Dishes. They were soft and tender with a hint of sweetness. But you can use any of your favorite dinner roll recipe to shape these cute minis.
They didn’t take as much time as I thought it would. The whole process went really fast and I had nice warm rolls ready for my lunch.
Heat milk to scalding hot, add butter to melt and pumpkin to mix in. Add the salt and stir everything well.
Combine yeast, sugar and warm water and let them bubble up. Add to the pumpkin mixture. Add an egg and mix well.
Add the flour gradually and stir with a wooden spoon.
Time to knead! I used my mixer to do the job. Knead until the dough pull itself from the side of the bowl, about 5 minutes.
Dump the dough on the lightly floured surface and knead with your hand for 1 minute.
Form the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover and let it rise in a warm place until they get double in volume.
Here is the beautifully risen dough. Love the deep yellow color!
Give it a punch to deflate. The moment I’ve been waiting for…
Divide the dough in half. Roll each half to make a log and cut each log in 15 pieces or more if you prefer smaller rolls.
Form each piece into a ball by pulling it together…
Press down a little with your hand.
Using a knife, give 8 segments of cut on the edge but leave the center uncut. Looks like a flower…
Poke deeply on the center of pedal with your pinkie.
Let them rise again. The center indentation somehow disappeared but you can always poke them again. You gotta love poking!
Brush with egg wash to give the golden look…
Bake them in the 350F oven for 9-12 minutes. Don’t over-bake.
Brush with melted butter to give them a little shine. …And the final touch? The sliced pecan pieces as stems! Cute… aren’t they?
In a couple of weeks I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner at my house for about 20 guests. Thank God…, it will be a potluck!
Imagine the turkey adorned with all the bells and whistles, the scrumptious & glorious fall side dishes flowing around the Thanksgiving table…, and think of these mini pumpkin rolls being passed around, I bet you will see some smiles on people’s face.
There are so much to thank for. Family, friends, the laughter, and even the tears of life through rain or shine, thick or thin.
I have been loved… tons!
And YOU! my blog readers who have shown a great amount of support and encouragement…, Thank you!
With love,
Ingredients
Directions
- Pour hot milk in a mixing bowl, add butter and stir to melt. Add sugars, pumpkin puree, salt to the milk and combine well.
- In a small bowl proof yeast in a lukewarm water with a teaspoon sugar. When it gets foamy add to the pumpkin mixture, and add the egg, mix well.
- Add in flour gradually and mix with a wooden spoon until well combined. The dough will be sticky.
- If using electric mixer, attach a dough hook and beat the mixture until the dough itself pulls from the side of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out to a wooden board dusted with a little flour. Knead with hand for 1 minute. Form the dough into a ball shape, place in a greased bowl and cover with a cloth. Let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume, about 1 hr.
- Punch the dough to deflate and knead it for a few seconds on a wooden board. Cut the dough in half. Cut each half into about 15 pieces.
- Roll each piece into a ball shape with your hand. Flatten the piece with palm of your hand a little. Using a knife, give 8 cuts on the edge to mimic flower pedals but the leave center uncut.
- Poke the center with your finger to give a deep indentation, and repeat the same procedure to all the other pieces.
- Place them, 2" apart, on a baking pan lined with parchment paper or baking mat, and let them rise again to be doubled, about 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven 350ºF for 20 minutes.
- If the center indentation is not obvious on the rolls, poke them again with your finger.
- Brush with egg wash, if you wish, and bake for 9-12 minutes until the top gets slightly golden.
- Brush the rolls with melted butter or a little honey diluted with water to make it shine if you wish.
- Insert pecan slices on top to mimic pumpkin stem.
{ 89 comments… read them below or add one }
This is really cool!!!! I can’t wait to try this out!
those are about as cute as a cute dinner roll gets. I will make some to take to our Thanksgiving dinner hosted by my youngest son and his family. This is such a good time of year for edible crafts! Thanks
Okay these are just way too cute! These definitely have to make an appearance on my thanksgiving table!
Oh, these little pumpkin rolls are so beautiful, Holly! If I am doing this, I don’t think it will turn out as beautifully like yours. Ive browsed all your posts and I think you are an excellent cook!
Yes, they will turn out good no matter. They are pumpkin after all. They are supposed to look “not perfect”
They look amazing!
Those are adorable and I am going to add them to my Mouth Watering Mondays this Monday. Come on over to see at http://www.noshingwiththenolands.com Cheers, Tara
Wow those look gorgeous and so festive! Can’t wait to try them. Thanks so much.
These are ADORABLE, Holly — pumpkin shape and pumpkin in nature. What a cute way to celebrate Thanksgiving!
Those are adorable!! I was curious, Could you make them a day ahead? Thanks, cant wait to try them!!
Kathy
I tried these rolls on the next day and they were still good. However they are best on the day they are made. I slightly under-baked my second batch and put them in the freezer to eat next week. Just thaw them out and reheat them in the oven to enjoy fresh baked rolls.
how do you know at what point to stop baking to under bake?
like cupcakes or anything you bake, just keep testing them. take a tooth pick and stick it in and if dough comes off on the tooth pick then they aren’t done. Also, when bread starts turning slightly golden, it usually means it’s done. By “not over baking” them she means to watch for them and make sure they don’t burn. Like with anything you bake, the time that it says to bake it at is not always right.
I have made these today! The dough went together beautifully and was very easy to work with…they are totally adorable. Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I think they will be a hit at my dinner party this evening.
Great Jean! They are really easy to work with recipe and I hope your family loved them.
This is an awesome idea!
Adore the pecan stems.
Just discovered these adorable rolls via Lemons & Anchovies FB page – so cute!
Such a terrific recipe! Really cute. Great pictures, too. Really excellent stuff – thanks so much.
Oh wow these are just gorgeous! Laura, of Tutti Dolci, posted the link on Facebook and I just had to stop by. Bookmarking them. Thanks for sharing:)
Can the lactose intolerant use coconut milk in place of the whole milk?
I don’t think adding coconut milk will change the look of these rolls but it might alter the flavor. I think it will still be delicious.
Thanks for sharing this idea, they’ll be on our Thanksgiving table, too. Grandchildren will love them.
These are fabulous! I saw them on Pinterest. I definitely will plan on making these! Your photo is beautiful too and I love your step by step instructions.
Love them!! I have a few packages of pumpkin bread mix (I’m a cheater, I know!), do you think I could form little balls and get the same effect?
I personally never tried bread mix, but I don’t think it would be a problem as long as they rise.
Ok! I’ll try them! Thank you!
Great idea! And a yummy looking recipe too. Thanks so much for finding this– I’ve put a link to this post of yours on my food blog; I hope that’s okay!
These are so cute!
Holly, Love your Pumpkin rolls!
Are you able to try this with real pumpkin? Considering there are several leftovers from Halloween!
Hi Harmonity, I haven’t tried this recipe with the real pumpkin. However, I have tried making pies with real pumpkin. It contained more liquid than canned one and my pie was quite loose. So I think you might have to adjust the amount of liquid in the recipe.
Hi!
Thanks for this adorable recipe Holly! I made this with real pumpkin and its still awesome. Just baked and scooped out the pie pumpkin and used it in place of the canned pumpkin…
That’s great, Sanchai. Thanks for your tip on using fresh pumpkin to make these rolls! Glad to hear that they turned out great.
Holly- These are so adorable! I’ll definitely have to make them.
These will be perfect for an event I’m going to this weekend – thanks for sharing the recipe and for being so inventive with the shape. Just brilliant!
These look fantastic!
These are just so clever and so cute! I just saw this when Haniela shared them! What a wonderful idea!
Holly, those little pumpkin rolls are so cute! Amazing work and beautiful photography!
Hi, Nice recipie. Can i use this for my bread machine?
I think so.
Hi Holly! I’ve been meaning to stop by to take a closer look again on the blog but haven’t had the chance till now. I am in love with your pumpkin dinner rolls and one day I want to serve on our Thanksgiving dinner! So pretty and so adorable…. I’m in love with these. I love the picture of dough so round and cute!!! I need to be more comfortable with yeast. I’ve never seen mine like that. Got to learn and practice more!
Really nice ! I added them to my Pinterest page “Halloween Sweets/Idées gourmandes pour Halloween”. Thanks.
Anne, Paris, France
These are so beautiful and perfect for fall! They look delicious too
Sara
http://saraforsoker.blogspot.se/
These look awesome…..was wondering though, can they be made in a bread machine?
Sure, I don’t see why not.
Do you think these could be partially made on Wednesday for Thursday service? Where would you stop and refrigerate? Thanks for any suggestions!
I am going to make these rolls again for Thanksgiving dinner. I will make them a couple of days ahead only up to the shaping the dough part.
Two ways to prep ahead of time.
1) Shape the dough, then freeze. Then on the T-day, you take them out to thaw and let them rise, and then bake. But that will take a couple of hours to complete.
2) If you only have less than 1 hour to finish off, I would bake up to a little over half way through (about 6-7 minutes of baking time), then freeze, take out to thaw and finish baking until golden brown on top. I would insert the pecan pieces at last.
I personally prefer not to stop in the middle of baking for the better texture. But, in time crunch, you just gotta do what you can. I reheated some of these leftover rolls last night that I stored in the freezer, and they were still soft inside but slightly dry and crunch on the outside.
Hope this helps.
Holly
OMG they are too cute Holly!!! I LOVE THEM!!!!
You totally made me smile!
i want to make these, but I don’t want the pumpkin flavor, would I just omit it and have them turn out, or will I need to add in something different?
If you omit the pumpkin, you have to reduce the amount of flour to maintain the right consistency. You can adjust the amount the flour as you wish as you are making, but if you are not comfortable with that, there are plenty of good regular dinner roll recipes online you can search for.
What if my family doesn’t like pumpkin, can I make without or substitute
If you take out the pumpkin, you need to adjust the amount of flour. I would reduce the flour by 1/2-1 cup, omit the brown sugar and increase the white sugar instead. You might need to adjust more with flour. However if you are not so comfortable getting the right consistency of the dough by adjusting ingredients yourself, there are many plain dinner roll recipes online you can search for. Good luck!
Found your blog about a week ago and pinned a bunch of stuff. (I haven’t made it all the way through, yet, but you’re on my list!) This is the first recipe of yours I’m making, have it printed out in the kitchen.
I’m not a novice baker so I went ahead and started proofing the yeast before I started on the rest… but even though that’s the first two ingredients, it’s not the first thing you do. Then you talk about melting butter, and I saw the melted butter.. but. I figured it out, but ingredients in order of use would be super helpful.
The other thing is, I don’t see the instructions mention the salt? I’m putting it in before the flour right now. Will let ya know how it turns out!!
Sending it to the in-laws for Thanksgiving.
Thanks Tina. I guess I left out the salt part in the tutorial. The salt was in the recipe as an ingredient but I forgot to add in the instruction. I shouldn’t have overlooked at the power of salt, shouldn’t I? Glad that you are not a novice baker to point that out. I fixed the instructions. I understand your request for writing the ingredients in order of making. I will keep in mind that. You are right, it is helpful for people to follow the recipes in order. When I try a new recipe, I usually read the ingredients and the instructions before I start working. That helps me visualize how the recipe should proceed. Some recipes do have their ingredients not in order and it gets frustrating if I didn’t read in advance. I am glad that you found my blog, too.
Oh, and the recipe starts with pre-heating the oven, but I see a 1hr and 45min rise. My electric bill, lady! lol
Hi Tina, Thanks for pointing that out. You don’t want to preheat your oven that early. I can’t believe that I wrote to start with preheating oven in that stage in the recipe. What was I thinking?
These are amazing. So sweet. your tutorial is fabulous!!
These look delicious! Same as the rolls those little boys keep stealing in the movie Brave (that kinda made me laugh when I saw them).
Does it have to be whole milk?
You can use low fat milk. I wouldn’t use skim milk though.
I only had skim and was forced to use it. They turned out fine. I will make sure to have whole milk nest time, they will be even better.
Is it possible to refridgerate these over night (the formed, raw dough) and cook them in the morning and still turn out well? Or well that mess up with how they are supposed to rise?
It depends on the temp. of your refrigerator. Overnight night might be too long and they might rise too much if your fridge temp. is not as cold. Mine reached to a full rise after 4 hours in my fridge, but I live in the tropical country so that may have been the reason. If you are not sure, I would suggest to keep in the freezer and take out in the morning and let it thaw in a warm place to speed up the rising.
How creative! I loved it
Holly – These rolls are the perfect touch I was looking for! I’m going to wing it and see if making ahead will work.
By the way, you’re just the nicest person. The way you responded to the critique of your recipe was so kind. We could all learn from that. Blessed Thanksgiving!
Thank you for your comment and I hope this recipe will turn out great for you. Have a wonderful thanksgiving!
Just made. Half the dough is in the fridge. Used 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/4 cup skim as I didn’t have any whole milk. I’m going to bake a few and see how they turn out. Fingers crossed!!
Will these work with Splenda?
I haven’t tried with Splenda. I can’t guarantee but I think it will work.
These look so cute but I’d like to make them a day ahead of time. Are they good or can they be reheated the next day! My oven will be in use for other dishes. Any suggestions?
Yes, they reheat very good.
Came across your site (it’s great by the way!) a couple of weeks ago and I love it. Your photos are amazing! Thanks for this recipe. The rolls are too cute! I’m making these right now and the dough is currently rising… can’t wait to get them into the oven and see what the end result will look like!
Hi Rebekah! Thanks for your comment. I hope they turns out good for you and you like them.
Hi! Love your recipe! Wondering for step #13 above, would that replace #12, or do you do both? Thanks!
I do both. Egg wash will give the golden look on top when baked and the melted butter at the end will give rolls a little lust and the buttery flavor.
Awesome! Thanks Holly! I’m going to try this tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Hope it’ll turn out as good as yours.
Made these last night and they are wonderful! Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Holly ~<3 Thank You so very Much For sharing your recipie of pumpkin dinner rolls … I made them for thanksgiving for tomorrow
they turned out AmAzing 
can't wait to see my families reaction tomorrow 
They are soft & beautiful
(I didn't taste it … I'll wait for my husband to do that
Thank Thank you thank you !!!!
God Bless you
Anush Kirakosian
Thanks Anush. Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving with your family.
Thanks so much for sharing…the instructions were thorough and I was so proud of myself for how they turned out. A huge thanksgiving hit!
That is so awesome, Becca! Thank you so much for this comment.
These dinner rolls were so festive for Thanksgiving dinner. They were a hit and actually easy to make. Thanks for sharing.
I made these for thanksgiving and everyone loved them. They will definitively be on the menu every year from here on out. Thank you!
These were awesome! And quite a hit both Thanksgiving and at church potluck the weekend before. I did find that scissors were much easier to use to do the cuts than a knife. And I did use a bread machine to mix the dough – although I found the dough was a bit too wet and had to knead in a bit more flour the first time (the second time I just watched it and added more flour to the machine).
Also, I vegan-ized the recipe for Thanksgiving (our holiday dinners usually have to accommodate both vegans and meat-eaters) and that worked fine as well (1 Tbs flaxseed meal + 3 Tbs warm water for the egg, soymilk, vegan butter, etc for the other ingredients). The only difference the vegan ones weren’t quite as orange as the original recipe ones.
Thanks for sharing, seems good!
I tried this recipe tonight. It was a total complete DISASTER!!! You said the dough would be sticky, but after gradually stirring in almost double the amount of flour, the dough was still painfully sticky and completely unworkable. I had to keep stirring because it was just too sticky to even think about kneading. I followed all of the instructions. The only thing I was uncertain about was the quantity of pumpkin. The size of the can was not listed in the recipe. I have only seen the 29 oz cans in the store, so I moved forward left to assume I had the right quantity. I hope I did. After a lot of effort and time I gave up, and threw it in a ziplock bag in the fridge, hoping maybe I can still rescue it. So sad to see so many costly ingredients go to waste
Hi Beth
So sorry to hear the disastrous experience with this recipe. I understand how frustrating it is when the recipes doesn’t turn out they way it should. I also had so many similar experiences in the past.
For the amount of pumpkin, the recipe indicates to add only 1 cup. If you used the large 29 oz can, that is almost 3 cups which means 3 times the amount it is needed. So your dough will be truthfully sticky even with added flour.
If I can suggest one recipe to rescue the failed dough, try my Korean sweet pancake recipe. You can use your pumpkin dough instead and just add the cinnamon sugar filling in the center. It is really good and many people have raved about it. You will find the tutorial in the link below.
http://www.beyondkimchee.com/hotteok/
wow, I checked back on the quantity several times and never saw the one cup, I read it as one can! yikes, no wonder I had such trouble! thanks so much for responding. worth another try another day…
These remind me of the rolls from the movie Brave that the little boys keep stealing from the kitchen. Beautiful pictures!
I just want to say I made this recipe the other day and absolutely loved it. I used your recipe (full credit given) in a recent Dutch Oven cook-off (adapted of course). I’m happy to say we won Peoples choice. Thank you for the inspiration.
http://mommaboyers.blogspot.com/2013/04/im-still-here.html
Cyndi Boyer
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