Ingredients For Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Pumpkin Puree

In these dinner rolls I use a good amount of pumpkin but the flavor of pumpkin actually not very strong. Most of the time when you think of pumpkin flavors you think of the spices that normally complement the pumpkin and bring the flavor out. Also most fall pumpkin recipe have a lot of sugar making it seem like pumpkin is naturally sweet like fruit but its actually not super sweet, just a little…

The pumpkin in the recipe real job is to add moisture and texture to our dinner rolls. The pumpkin holds on to the moisture without making it soggy but a warm, soft dinner rolls.

You can use canned pumpkin or fresh pumpkin for this recipe. I like to cook a pumpkin or two at the beginning of the fall season and freeze my pumpkin puree for all my pumpkin recipes throughout the fall and holiday months. If you are using a whole pumpkin check out my post on how to make pumpkin puree.

Flour

In most of my recipes I like to use 1/2 all purpose 1/2 whole wheat but for these rolls I choose to use 100% All Purpose Flour. All purpose has a much lighter texture insuring a good rise and lighter dinner roll. When I’m feeding my own family I’ll use 1/2 whole wheat but if I’m making them for Thankgiving or Christmas or a potluck I’ll stick to 100% all purpose.

Yeast

Yeast is our rising agent. You could also use sourdough starter and just give the rising time 8-12 hours rather than 1-2 hours… At this time in my life I’m using yeast to rise my dough. I use Fleischmann’s Yeast, The photos say bread machine yeast but that’s just the jar I continue to refill with their larger bag of normal dry yeast. I keep the yeast in the refrigerator and activate it with warm water for about 5 minutes before adding other ingredients.

Warm Water

Warm water is needed to activate the yeast. It the water is cold you risk the yeast not activating during the rise time. If the water is hot your risk killing the yeast, stopping the rise, before its entered the oven. The yeast likes a warm temperature to do it job.

Sugar/Honey

Yeast feeds off of sugar and honey and will activate faster if you add your sugar or honey in with the warm water while the yeast is activating. To add a little more flavor as well as sweetness to you dinner rolls I prefer honey for this recipe but sugar will work just as well.

Oil

Fats actually slow down the and can even stop the activation process of the yeast so it is important to not add the oil until its already activated and right before or even while you add in the flour. We add a little oil to our dinner roll to keep them from drying out and maintaining their soft texture.

Spices

In this recipe I use ginger and cinnamon. The pumpkin flavor is not super strong in these rolls so adding these two complementary flavors bring out some of the pumpkin flavor. I like these rolls because they are not over powering with spice and pumpkin flavor but a nice complement to fall dinner.

Salt

Enhance the flavor with good salt like Redmond Real Salt. If you are looking for a unrefined natural salt with multiple minerals and electrolytes harvested in the United States of America, then look no further. Redmond Real Salt is full of flavor and nutrients and harvested out of the ancient seabed deep beneath Central Utah.

How To Make Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Activate Yeast

Add yeast, warm water and sugar/honey together in your mixing bowl to activate the yeast. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes. The yeast should get foamy and bubbly. On warm days the yeast will activate faster on cooler days it might look like the photo below. That’s okay, its still active.

Add Oil and Pumpkin

After a few minutes add the oil and pumpkin to the yeast mixture. Stir together.

Add the Dry Ingredients

Next you can add the flour, salt, ginger and cinnamon. Add the flour slowly into your bowl. If you are using a KitchenAid use the bread hook attachment and begin on low (2-4) while you add in the flour.

If you are mixing and kneading by hand, use a wooden spoon or spatula to mix in the flour slowly until its not as sticky then start using your hands but don’t forget to flour them.

Knead

Knead the dough until it forms into a nice ball at the end of your hook (or in your hands). You want the dough to no longer stick to the sides of the bowl (or stick to your hands). This can take 5-10 minutes of kneading.

Rest and Rise

In a large bowl, let the dough rest and rise until double in size. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap. In a warm house this might take 1 hour a cooler house this may take 2-3 hours.

Cut and Form Into Small Rolls

When the dough has double in size, fold it a few times over and cut in half, then cut those halves in half and those halves in thirds to create 12 equal pieces. Form each piece into a nice round ball and place on a baking sheet.

2nd Rise

Cover again with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise for a second time for an hour or until double in size.

Bake

Preheat oven to 375 and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy with butter, honey, soup or stews or a turkey sandwich!

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Yield: 12 rolls

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Additional Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 33 minutes

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Ingredients

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar/honey
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. In a bowl mix together the warm water, yeast and sugar/honey. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to let the yeast bubble up and activate.
2. After a few minutes add the oil and pumpkin puree to the mixture.
3. Add the flour, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Mix them in slowly till all combined. Knead for 5-8 minutes until the dough forms a nice round workable ball.
4. Let rise for 1-3 hours till double in size.
5. Cut into 12 pieces and form into nice round balls. Place an a baking sheet and let rise again for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
6. Preheat the oven at 375 degrees and bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown.
7. Let cool and enjoy your pumpkin dinner rolls!

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