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If you have extra time and want to impress someone with your pumpkin-shaping skills, you must make these pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls! They are fun to make, delicious to eat, and so cute to look at. You’ll be wondering whether you should eat them or just stare at them and admire your skills! Why just bake normal bread when you can spend extra time crafting them into mini pumpkin dinner rolls?
Your guests will totally notice the effort.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Flour – in this recipe, I’m using a combination of all-purpose flour and whole-grain spelt flour. You can replace spelt flour with whole wheat flour.
- Yeast – I’m using instant dry yeast in this recipe because I always have it on hand but you can also use fresh yeast, too.
- Pumpkin puree – you can use canned puree or you can make pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkin. I recommend roasting the pumpkin in the oven. Don’t use pumpkin pie filling for this recipe.
- Egg – Helps bind all ingredients, but you can omit it if you want and just add a bit more pumpkin puree instead.
- Honey – it sweetens the pumpkin dinner rolls, but they don’t end up overly sweet. It just maximizes pumpkin flavor. If desired, replace it with maple syrup.
- Milk – I’m using fresh cow’s milk, but you can use almond milk instead too. You need it for the dough and for brushing before baking.
- Olive oil – adds the softness to the dough. I always recommend using extra virgin olive oil.
- Salt – for flavor.
How To Make Pumpkin-Shaped Dinner Rolls
Check out the recipe card at the end of this post. It has the exact amounts of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions!
1. STEP: Make the dough and let it rise
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add pumpkin puree, egg, honey, milk, and oil. Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes and let it rest covered until it doubles in size.
2. STEP: Shape the dough into a log and cut into pieces
Punch the dough to deflate and transfer it to a lightly floured surface. Shape it into a log, and cut it into 14 pieces. Form each piece into a ball.
3. STEP: Shape into mini pumpkins with kitchen twine
Take one ball of dough and wrap it several times with kitchen twine to imitate the appearance of pumpkin lobes. Finally, tie a knot on the top of the pumpkin dinner roll. It is important not to tighten the twine too much around the dough, because the dough will expand.
4. STEP: Bake, let them cool, and remove the twine
Place the dough balls on the tray. Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Cover them with another, deeper baking sheet and let them rise for another 20 minutes. Brush with milk and bake for 18-20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before removing the kitchen twine. Cut the twine with small scissors, remove it slowly and gently, and insert one pumpkin seed in the middle of the pumpkin. It will serve as a stem.
Serve and enjoy!
Tips And Tricks
- For easier removing kitchen twine after baking, you can grease the twine with some oil. Also, when cutting the twine, it’s better to cut it to longer pieces because it will be easier to wrap it around the dough balls.
- The color of the dough and the pumpkin dinner rolls when they’re baked will very much depend on the type of pumpkin puree you’ll be using. Here in Croatia, we don’t have an option to buy canned pumpkin puree so I always bake pumpkin in the oven and scoop out the flesh. I usually use hokkaido or butternut squash for this recipe.
- For the stem, I suggest using pumkin seeds, but you can use cinnamon stick, too.
What To Serve With Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
These dinner rolls pretty much can be served with a whole lot of fall and winter meals, like creamy soups and thick stews. You could also use them in delicious mini-sandwiches or with some hearty goulash.
Here are some recipes from the web that will go great with these pumpkin dinner rolls:
- STUFFED PEPPERS IN TOMATO SAUCE
- PEA AND MINT SOUP
- CROATIAN BEAN AND MEAT STEW
- CHICKEN IN WHITE WINE SAUCE WITH GRAPES AND ROSEMARY
- SARMA (CROATIAN CABBAGE ROLLS)
Storing And Freezing
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Freeze in a zip lock bag for up to 2 months.
Other Pumpkin Recipes
If you love cooking and baking with pumpkin, you will be amazed with these recipes:
If you try this recipe, don’t forget to leave your comment and rate this recipe here on the web or tag @foodandmoodblog in your social media posts! Happy baking!
Pumpkin Shaped Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g whole grain spelt flour
- 7 g instant dry yeast
- 200 g pumpkin puree (room temperature)
- 1 egg (M size)
- 30 g honey
- 50 ml milk (+2 extra tablespoons of milk for brushing)
- 50 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 8 g sea salt
Instructions
- Combine both types of flour, salt, and dry yeast, and mix everything well in a large bowl.
- Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and slowly mix in the pumpkin puree, egg, honey, milk, and oil. You may need a little more or a little less milk than indicated in the recipe; it depends on the amount of water in the pumpkin puree and the protein content of the flour. Knead the dough for 5-6 minutes; it should be pliable, not sticky.
- Transfer it to a lightly floured bowl, cover with a wet kitchen cloth, and leave at room temperature until it doubles in size. It should take about 1-1,5, hours.
- Punch the dough to deflate and transfer it to a lightly floured surface. Shape it into a log, and cut it into 14 pieces. If you want bigger pumpkin dinner rolls, you can cut the dough into smaller pieces.
- Form each piece into a ball, and wrap it several times with kitchen twine to imitate the appearance of pumpkin lobes. Finally, tie a knot on the top of the pumpkin dinner roll. It is important not to tighten the twine too much around the dough, because the dough will expand. Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to remove the twine without breaking apart the rolls after they are baked.
- Cover the baking tray with parchment paper and place the dough balls on the tray. Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Cover them with another, deeper baking sheet and let them rise for another 20 minutes.
- Brush with some milk and bake for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown on top.
- Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before removing the kitchen twine. Carefully cut the twine with small scissors, remove it slowly and gently, and insert one pumpkin seed in the middle of the pumpkin. It will serve as a stem. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- These pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls can easily be adjusted to the vegan diet. Replace the honey with maple or date syrup, instead of cow’s milk use almond’s milk, and as for the egg, add a little more pumpkin puree instead. That’s it!
- If you’re afraid that the kitchen twine will get stuck inside the dinner rolls, you can always coat the twine with some olive oil. Better safe than sorry!
Nutrition
Nutritional information provided is an estimate based on ingredients data and should be used for informational purposes only. Actual nutritional content may vary based on factors such as portion size, preparation methods and ingredients used.
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