Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

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I had a work Christmas party this week. It was low key and relaxing, just how I like it. We were all asked to bring something to share. I offered to bring bread (the host was providing soup so I thought these two things would go well together). It was my day off work so I was able to spend the time to bake a two different breads. I started with my simple go-to sourdough, but didn’t want to leave it at just that so I did a quick online search and came up with these pumpkin dinner rolls.

I had some leftover pumpkin in the freezer from earlier in the fall so thought this would be a great use for it. The recipe was easy and came together very well. I did end up scaling the recipe down just a tad so I knew it would fit in my pan. I decreased all the ingredients amounts by 25% (so the recipe is 75% of the original). 15 rolls fit nicely in a 9x13 pan so that’s what I did. I baked it as directed for 25 minutes.

The pumpkin flavor was definitely present. The rolls were ever so slightly sweet but not overly rich or dessert like. The sweetness of the raisins and the hint of cinnamon made the final rolls just a little more special. The original recipe called for crystallized ginger in addition to the raisins but I didn’t have any. I would probably increase the raisins just a tad if I make these again, I’d like a little extra pop of sweetness.

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Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Ingredients

  • 425 grams all purpose flour

  • 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

  • 1/8 teaspoon ginger

  • Pinch cloves

  • 38 grams brown sugar

  • 1 1/8 teaspoon salt

  • 2 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast

  • 128 grams pumpkin

  • 1 egg

  • 128 grams water

  • 43 grams butter

  • 96 grams raisins

Directions
Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients except the fruit in the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook, until you've made a soft, fairly smooth dough, 6-8 minutes. Pumpkin varies in water content, so add extra water or flour if needed. Right at the end, knead in the fruit. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise for 1 1/2 hours, until it's almost double in bulk.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface, gently deflate it, and divide it into 15 pieces, roughly 60 grams each. Roll each piece into a ball. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch pan, 3 rolls by 5 rolls.

Set aside, covered lightly, to rise for 1 hour, or until the rolls look puffy. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the rolls for 25 until they're lightly browned and the center of one reads 190°F on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove the pans from the oven and turn the rolls out onto a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.