These Pumpkin Bread Rolls look cute and can also be called mini pumpkins. They are easy, soft & delicious, and serve these gorgeous cuties in your Thanksgiving dinner.
Pumpkin Shaped Dinner Rolls are soft & fluffy and have a hint of sweetness. You can use any of your favorite dinner rolls recipe and shape the rolls like a pumpkin. This is made by adding pumpkin puree & pumpkin spice mix to the dinner roll recipe.
As Fall is already here, I thought to experiment with a few recipes. And I decided to make pumpkin dinner rolls but with a twist. You can make them plain or add stuffing of cream cheese, flavored butter, etc., to the Dough.
These rolls are a little sweet in flavor and go great with savory recipes like Pav Bhaji, Lentil Soup, etc. you can also serve them with some butter, and you won't be disappointed. Also, do try these easy & delicious breakfast Eggless Pumpkin Muffins. You can also help them with the soup of your choice and these unique & delicious Maple Balsamic Roasted Brussel Sprouts.
The post contains Helpful Tips & Tricks for making Pumpkin Bread Rolls. But if you're in a hurry, you can also click "Jump to Recipe' under the Heading to go directly to the Recipe Card, or you can also click Recipe Card from the Table of Contents below.
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INGREDIENTS
- FLOUR: You can add any flour for making dinner rolls. If you want them healthy, then you can use Whole Wheat Flour. Or you can also add half-wheat flour and half of the all-purpose flour. Or make it with only bread flour or all-purpose flour.
- YEAST: Adding 2 teaspoon of Instant Yeast gives a strong flavor to the dinner rolls. If you don't like that taste, add 1 teaspoon or 1 packet of Yeast.
- MILK: Adding Milk will help in getting fluffy & softer dinner rolls. You can also add half milk & half cream to the Dough, giving more delicate rolls. Or you can also add water to the Dough; this will affect the texture of the Dough but still works. You can add plant-based Milk, too, for a vegan option.
- PUMPKIN PUREE: You can use store-bought pumpkin puree in the recipe, or if you like, you can also make it at home in your Instant Pot. Click the link to check the recipe for making Pumpkin Puree in the Instant Pot.
- PUMPKIN SPICE-MIX: Pumpkin spice mix adds flavor to the rolls.
- BUTTER: You can add Vegan butter if you want to make vegan pumpkin dinner rolls.
- SWEETNESS: Maple Syrup/Honey/Sugar can be added for a bit of sweetness in the roll. Also, when sugar is added, Yeast works faster.
- BAKING SODA & BAKING POWDER: As these rolls are eggless, I have added them, but if you're using eggs, you can skip this step.
- See the recipe card for quantities.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN BREAD ROLLS
** For the full recipe, check the recipe card below, but you refer here for step-by-step photo instructions.
STEP 1- WARM MILK: Add Milk and Butter to the inner pot of the Instant Pot. When the butter starts to melt, cancel saute. Let it sit there for a few minutes until the Milk is warm but not hot. Yeast won't work if the milk temperature is hot; it will only work when Milk is warm.
STEP 2 - ADD YEAST: Add Yeast and let it sit for a few 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, the yeast and milk mixture will be foamy & bubbly. Then add the rest of the ingredients (Flour, Salt, and Salt).
STEP 3 - MIX INGREDIENTS: Mix all the ingredients together until they form like Dough. You can use a food processor or knead it with your hands.
STEP 4: Close the lid, press the Yogurt button, and set the timer for 1 hour until the Dough rises and doubles in size.
STEP 4 - MAKE THE BALLS: After 1-hour, the Dough will be at least double in size. Then cut the Dough into 12 equal parts. Take one piece and form it into a ball. Using a thread, form the Dough into a pumpkin. You can also use a knife to shape the Dough into a pumpkin shape.
STEP 5 - BAKE: Preheat the oven and let the Dough rest for 15-20 more minutes. Then bake it until golden in color.
PRO TIPS
- Make sure to activate the Yeast in the warm Milk. If the Milk or water is hot, the Yeast will sink & will not be activated. That will result in really dense rolls.
- Make the dinner rolls with Milk. Adding Milk to the flour will result really in soft & fluffy rolls.
- Cover the pumpkin-shaped balls with a kitchen towel or parchment paper when proofing for the second time. Otherwise, the Dough will get dry.
- Before baking, you can brush egg wash. That will make the texture of the rolls shiny.
- Once the rolls cooled down, brush some butter and serve.
- Make sure to oil the kitchen string before using it to make the pumpkin-shaped rolls. That way, it will be easier to remove them after baking.
- You can use canned pumpkin puree, or if you like, you use fresh homemade pumpkin puree.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
You can store completely cooled-down dinner rolls after wrapping them in foil or clique wrap in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. Or you can also store them in the freezer for 2- 3 months. Then, when re-using, thaw them in the fridge overnight and reheat them as needed.
Yes, definitely. You can make the Dough, cover it with plastic wrap, and leave it in the refrigerator to rise overnight. Then, before shaping the Dough, let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.
You can store in the freezer. Once the Dough is prepared, wrap it in plastic and store it in the freezer for up to 2 months. When making the rolls, leave the Dough until it comes to room temperature and then let the Dough rice and follow the instructions as per the recipe.
You can use pecans or walnut. Or pretzel sticks also work fine.
Yes, you can use fresh pumpkin puree too in the recipe. For example, use 1 cup of pumpkin puree. But to spare time, canned puree works best.
Yes, you can add stuffing to the dinner rolls. Once the Dough is prepared and is double in size. You can add filling to the Dough. You can add any filler to the Dough, like cream cheese, or flavor butter, etc.
Any kitchen thread will work. But make sure the thread is thick. When baking, a part of the thread usually goes inside the Dough. So make sure the thread is thick; that way, it will be easier to remove the thread.
OTHER BREAD RECIPES
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PUMPKIN DINNER ROLLS
Ingredients
- 1- 1 ½ cups Milk or as needed
- 2 tablespoon Butter or Olive Oil
- 1 tablespoon Instant Yeast or active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoon Maple Syrup or Sugar or Honey
- ⅓ cup Brown Sugar
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour Or Whole-Wheat Flour
- ½ cup Pumpkin Puree
- 1 tablespoon Pumpkin Spice-Mix
- 1 tablespoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt or as per taste
Equipment
Method
- Press Saute in an Instant Pot and add Milk and Butter in the pot. When the butter starts to melt, switch off the Instant Pot in around 5 minutes.(Note: Take the inner pot out of the Instant Pot when the milk is warm in order to avoid the milk getting hot.)
- Wait for few minutes for the milk to cool down and is warm. Once the milk cools down and is warm, add Honey/ Maple Syrup and mix lightly. Then add the Yeast and let it sit for 5 minutes (or as per instructions). Wait for 5 minutes until the mixture gets foamy & bubbly.(Note: Butter and Milk mixture should not be too hot otherwise, Yeast will not work).
- After 5 minutes when the mixture gets foamy, add the rest of the ingredients (including flour, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice-mix, baking soda, baking powder, brown sugar, and salt). Knead everything until a sticky dough is formed, you can also add more dough if needed.
- Close the lid and press the Yogurt button and set a timer for 1 hour. Once the timer beeps after 1 hour, the dough should have doubled in size.Or you can leave the dough for 2-3 hours at a warm place like in a microwave, or in the oven with lights on. Just make sure the oven should not be hot.
- Coat your hands with Oil/Butter so that dough will not stick in your hands.
- Now take a small amount of dough, around 1 inch in diameter, and flatten it in your hands. Now stretch all the sides and wrap them together at the center like you're wrapping a gift. Place the ball seam side down in the pan. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough.
- Now make the dough shape like a pumpkin. You can make 6 cuts on the sides or you can use thread to shape the dough. Take a thread and put the dough on top of it and tie a knot by bringing the thread on the top. Take another thread and tie a knot by bringing the threads from other sides. Keep tieing the threads until the dough looks like a pumpkin. Repeat the process for the rest of the dough.
- Poke the finger at the center of the dough to make a little indentation on the dough pumpkin's top. Repeat the process with all dough pumpkins.
- Preheat the oven at 350° for 10-15 minutes. Place the pumpkin rolls on the baking tray and cover the pan with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes
- Check the buns after 30 minutes. If they are risen and are doubled in size then brush milk over the roll and bake for 15-20 minutes until a little golden in color.
- Once baked, brush the rolls with melted butter to make them shine. Insert pecan pieces at the center on the top to mimic the pumpkin stem.
Namrata says
Tying the string to make the shape of pumpkin is a very cool and extremely creative idea! I love your blog! 🙂
SunGari says
awww thank you so much
Melanie says
Can you freeze these??
SunGari says
Yes, you can