Soft and Fluffy Homemade Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

A yellow baking dish with squash dinner rolls.

Soft and Fluffy Homemade Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

These dinner rolls with pumpkin are soft and fluffy. Makes a small batch, perfect for two or three with a few leftover to enjoy warmed up the next day and served with honey butter.

Course Bread

Cuisine American

Keyword dinner rolls, squash

Budget Cheap

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Rise time 1 45

Total Time 2 25

Servings servings

Calories 269kcal

Equipment

Large bowl
Large greased bowl
Small baking pan

Ingredients

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons, warm milk
½ teaspoon dry yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk lightly beaten
3 tablespoons puréed squash or canned pumpkin
1.25 tablespoons vegetable shortening
1 cup bread flour (you might need a bit more) you can use all-purpose flour (see cooking note below)
½ tablespoons butter melted, plus more for pan
1 teaspoon poppy or sesame seeds

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine milk with yeast, sugar, and salt. Let stand 5 minutes, then add egg and beat well to combine.
Add pumpkin and shortening; mash with a fork until shortening is in small pieces. Add ¾ cups flour and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Gradually mix in more flour by the tablespoon until dough collects around spoon and pulls away from sides of bowl (you may not need all the flour).
Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead 2 minutes. Put dough in a greased bowl; cover with a towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 1 ½ hours.
Preheat oven to 400° and butter a small baking sheet. Punch dough down, turn out onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead until dough is smooth and supple, about 7 minutes. Cut dough into 3 balls; cut each ball into 2 pieces.
Roll each piece into a round and arrange rounds on baking sheet so they barely touch. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with poppy seeds; cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes.
Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool, then pull apart to serve.

Notes

Best results with this recipe happen with bread flour. It has more protein and results in taller, chewier rolls.

Remember to cover the dough with plastic wrap during its resting phase; it helps in the rising process and prevents the top of the dough ball from drying out.

Nutrition