Soft Pumpkin Dinner Rolls with Honey Butter

The dough

The yeast dough for these easy pumpkin dinner rolls is lightly enriched with egg, milk, and butter for great flavor and texture. It’s a soft dough that’s fairly easy to work with by hand too if you don’t have a mixer.

The dough is not quite as enriched as brioche dough but still has amazing texture and flavor and doesn’t use quite so much butter!

The dough will rise twice, once as one dough ball and the second time as the shaped pumpkin buns. The first dough rise can happen at room temperature for same-day dinner rolls or it can rise slowly in the fridge overnight.

Letting the dough have a cold rise will give it extra flavor. 

Ingredients

Note – Find the actual recipe amounts in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Here are some details about the ingredients you need for this pumpkin dinner rolls recipe.

• A strong all-purpose flour with a protein level of at least 11%. You can use bread flour too, but this will make a chewier bun.
• Yeast. Active dry yeast or instant dry yeast. The yeast used in this recipe can be instant yeast or active dried yeast. Instant yeast will rise faster than active dried yeast. Whichever one you use, it needs to be viable. Usually, the instant yeast sachets are pretty full-proof, but sometimes active dried yeast can lose viability.
• Granulated white sugar – There is a little sugar in these rolls which complements the spices and the pumpkin flavor. This can be reduced or increased depending on personal preference.
• Pumpkin puree – You can use canned puree or make your own homemade pumpkin puree.
• Spices – ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves.
• A large egg – If you want to make these egg-free you could substitute the egg with around 3 tablespoons of extra milk. However, they won’t be quite as tender.
• Salt.
• Whole milk.
• Butter – Salted or unsalted butter, just enough to bring some richness

Honey butter topping

• Butter
• Honey
• A pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)

Equipment

You will need a 9x13inch baking dish or one of a similar size.

A stand mixer is helpful but the rolls can be made by hand.

Method

Kneading in a mixer

In a small saucepan, warm the milk to around 95-104°F / 35-40°C and pour the warm milk into a bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast and half the sugar over the milk.

If using active dry yeast, let this sit for around 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy, if using instant yeast this step can be skipped.

Add in the flour, salt, pumpkin puree, spices, remaining sugar, and egg.

Fit the stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment and mix on low speed to form a thick dough.

Add in the softened butter, a few cubes at a time.

Keep mixing on medium speed for around 10 minutes until the soft dough is smooth and strong and it pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.

Kneading by hand

Alternatively, knead the dough by hand. In a small saucepan, warm the milk to around 95-104°F / 35-40°C and pour it into a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast and half the sugar over the milk. If using active dry yeast, let this sit for around 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy, if using instant yeast this step can be skipped.

Add the flour, salt, pumpkin puree, spices, remaining sugar, and egg to the mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon and mix the dough until it forms a shaggy dough ball. Once it forms a dough ball, pull it onto a floured surface and knead in the butter, a few cubes at a time. The butter will make it a bit of a sticky dough initially.

Knead by hand for around 10-15 minutes until it becomes a strong and smooth dough. If you need a break, take it. The dough responds well to resting time.

First rise

Once kneaded, form the dough into a smooth ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover it.

Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, around about 1 hour. The exact time the dough rises will depend on your room temperature.

If making overnight pumpkin bread rolls, the dough can be covered tightly and refrigerated for up to 16 hours.

Shaping

After the first rise, punch down the risen dough and pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. If the dough has come from the fridge, it will be very stiff. You can let it warm up to room temperature for 10 minutes first before shaping.

Use a kitchen scale to measure the weight of the whole dough, then divide this by 15. That’s how heavy each dough ball needs to be, and using scales ensures they are all equal pieces.

Cut the dough into 15, and use the scales to ensure they are even.

Shape each piece of dough into a tight ball and place it in a parchment paper-lined or greased baking pan.

Once all the pieces are in the pan, cover it with plastic wrap or beeswax wrap and let the rolls rise in a warm spot until doubled in size. Around 1 -1 1/2 hours depending on room temperature.

Baking

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). 

Bake the rolls for around 25 minutes until deep golden brown. If they are browning too fast, you can cover the top of the rolls loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil. 

Honey butter

While the rolls are baking, prepare the honey butter. Add softened butter, honey, and a pinch of salt to a bowl. Beat it all together with a wooden spoon or an electric beater. The honey can make the butter look a little curdled but that’s normal.

As the rolls come from the oven, brush the tops of the rolls with honey butter. The leftover honey butter can be used to spread inside the rolls when serving.

Storing

Leftover pumpkin rolls can store at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days. On the following days, gently warm the rolls in the microwave to make them soft dinner rolls again.

The baked rolls can be frozen for up to 3 months too. Thaw the rolls overnight in the refrigerator and warm them up in the microwave before serving.

More recipes for the Thanksgiving table

• Whole wheat dinner rolls
• sourdough dinner rolls
• No-bake pumpkin cheesecake
• Pumpkin streusel muffins
• Pumpkin pie with graham cracker crust

Continue to Content

Soft Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Yield: 15

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Additional Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes

These pumpkin dinner rolls are super soft and gently spiced. After baking they're coated with sweet honey butter.

Print

Ingredients

Pumpkin bread rolls

• 180g (3/4 cup) whole milk
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast
• 50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar, divided
• 500g (4 cups*) all-purpose flour
• 170g (3/4 cup) pumpkin puree
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 55g (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature.

Honey butter

• 55g (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons liquid honey
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. In a small saucepan, warm the milk to around 95-104°F / 35-40°C and pour the warm milk into a bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle yeast and half the sugar over the milk. If using active dry yeast, let this sit for around 5-10 minutes until it becomes foamy, if using instant yeast this step can be skipped.
2. Add in the flour, salt, pumpkin puree, spices, remaining sugar, and egg. Fit the stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment and mix on low speed to form a thick dough.
3. Add in the softened butter, a few cubes at a time, and keep mixing on medium speed for around 10 minutes until the soft dough is smooth and strong and it pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl.
   
4. Kneading by hand - Use a wooden spoon and mix the dough until it forms a shaggy dough ball. Once it forms a dough ball, pull it onto a floured surface and knead in the butter, a few cubes at a time. The butter will make it a bit of a sticky dough initially. Knead by hand for around 10-15 minutes until it becomes a strong and smooth dough. If you need a break, take it. The dough responds well to resting time.

First rise

1. Once kneaded, form the dough into a smooth ball. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover with a lid, plastic wrap, or beeswax wrap
2. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, around about 1 hour. The exact time the dough rises will depend on your room temperature.
3. If making overnight pumpkin bread rolls, the dough can be covered tightly and refrigerated for up to 16 hours.

Shaping

1. After the first rise, punch down the risen dough and pull it from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. If the dough has come from the fridge, it will be very stiff. You can let it warm up to room temperature for 10 minutes first before shaping.
2. Use a kitchen scale to measure the weight of the whole dough, then divide this by 15. That's how heavy each of the dough balls needs to be and using scales ensures they are all equal pieces. Cut the dough into 15, and use the scales to ensure they are even.
3. Shape each piece of dough into a tight ball and place it in a parchment paper-lined or greased baking pan.

Second rise

1. Once all the pieces are in the pan, cover it with plastic wrap or beeswax wrap and let the rolls rise in a warm spot until doubled in size. Around 1 -1 ½ hours depending on room temperature.

Baking

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). 
2. Bake the rolls for around 25 minutes until deep golden brown. If they are browning too fast, you can cover the top of the rolls loosely with a sheet of aluminum foil. 

Honey butter

1. While the rolls are baking, prepare the honey butter. Add softened butter, honey, and a pinch of salt to a bowl. Beat it all together with a wooden spoon or an electric beater. The honey can make the butter look a little curdled but that's normal.
2. As the rolls come from the oven, brush the tops of the rolls with honey butter. The leftover honey butter can be used to spread inside the rolls when serving.

Notes

*The cup sizes given are US-sized. Note that these are smaller than metric. For best results use grams.

Recommended Products

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• 
  KitchenAid KSM150PSAQ Artisan Series 5-Qt. Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield - Aqua Sky
• 
  USA Pan Bakeware Rectangular Cake Pan, 9 x 13 inch, Nonstick & Quick Release Coating, Made in the USA from Aluminized Steel

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 15 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 216Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 30mgSodium: 127mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 2gSugar: 7gProtein: 5g

This is an informational estimate only. I am not a certified Dietitian or Nutritionist