Pumpkin Bread Rolls

These cute little pumpkin bread rolls are perfect for Autumn and Halloween. They take a little time to make, but it’s easier than you might think!

Flavoured with pumpkin puree and pumpkin spice, these sweet dinner rolls are a perfect Autumnal bake. Serve warm with honey or maple butter for a delicious, cosy treat!

It was bread week on The Great British Bake off last week. I’m a little behind posting this recipe – myself and my little boy have come down with a rotten cold (my first in two years) so we’ve spent the past several days snuggled on the sofa.

I’ve been baking along with the current series of GBBO – so far I’ve made malt loaf and brandy snaps.

I was planning to post a proper milk loaf recipe, but I’ve been tempted to try these gorgeous little pumpkin shaped rolls for ages now. They always seem to pop up on Instagram around this time of year and I just love how effective they look!

On Sunday I was hit with a rush of energy, so I decided to get in the kitchen and give them a go.

These pumpkin rolls are a milk bread recipe, so they are wonderfully fluffy and soft. They are best eaten on the day you bake them, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Anyone who knows me well will tell you I turn a little pumpkin spice obsessed around this time of year, so I was pretty excited to give these rolls a go.

more pumpkin bakes to try

If you like these pumpkin rolls, have a look at my other pumpkin recipes!

• Cinnamon swirl pumpkin bread

• Pumpkin and ginger scones

• Pumpkin spice latte cupcakes

• pumpkin spice chocolate chip granola

• pumpkin spice muffins

• spiced rum pumpkin pie

• pumpkin cinnamon rolls

These sweet little pumpkin rolls are just so adorable. They are possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever baked. My little boy couldn’t stop admiring them!

They are a little more effort than your average bread rolls, but I think they’re worth it for an Autumn themed celebration.

If you’re having trouble finding tinned pumpkin, I have a post that tells you how to make pumpkin puree (spoiler alert – it couldn’t be easier.)

I made a fresh batch of my homemade pumpkin pie spice and added just a little to the dough – just enough to add a subtle hint of pumpkin spice flavour.

Lay a long piece – roughly 60cm – of food safe kitchen string on the work surface. Place a ball of dough in the middle of the string. Bring each end of the string up and cross them over the dough ball, like wrapping up a parcel.

Carefully turn the dough over (be careful not to tighten the string around the dough too much – you don’t want it to cut into it) and repeat wrapping in this fashion until you have tied the dough into either six or eight sections. Tie the string in a knot to secure and place on a lined baking tray.

step three – second rise

Cover the tray with a large piece of lightly oiled cling film and leave the dough balls to rise for about 45 minutes.

Serving suggestions

Brush the rolls with melted butter while they are still warm, if you like. Eat the rolls warm from the oven with butter – or you could go with my absolute favourite way to eat them, with honey or maple butter!

These pumpkin rolls are so good with soup – take a look at my soup archives for inspiration. They would also be perfect with chilli or a beef casserole.

recipe notes

As with all bread recipes, the rising times are an approximate guide only. Yeast can be a fickle thing – all kind of factors including the temperature of your kitchen, the weather and even the ingredients can affect how long it takes for the dough to rise. Trust your instincts.

Whatever you do, don’t forget to add the salt or your rolls will be tasteless. Yes, I am talking from experience!

To make the honey or maple butter, simply beat together 50g soft butter and 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup. I urge you to try this – it’s SO good.

If you don’t have any pecan nuts for the pumpkin stalks, you could use walnut pieces instead.

I adapted the basic recipe for these rolls from the new Great British bake off book – A bake for all seasons

Making these pumpkin rolls was so much fun – I hope you give them a try and love them too!

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Pumpkin Bread Rolls

Yield: makes about 12 rolls

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Additional Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes

Packed with pureed pumpkin and pumpkin spices, these deliciously soft and fluffy pumpkin shaped rolls are perfect for an Autumn/Thanksgiving celebration.

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Ingredients

• 500g strong white bread flour
• 7g fast action dried yeast
• 1 tablespoon soft light brown sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons fine salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 250ml whole milk plus one tablespoon for the glaze
• 150g pumpkin puree
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 beaten egg, to glaze the rolls
• 6 or 7 pecan nuts for the stalks
• 25g melted butter (optional)

Instructions

1. Lightly grease two large baking trays and line with baking parchment. Place the flour, yeast, brown sugar, salt, turmeric and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook (or if you are making the dough by hand, a large mixing bowl.) Make sure you place the salt and yeast at opposite ends of the bowl - if placed directly on top of each other the salt might kill the yeast, which will prevent the dough from rising). Stir to mix all the ingredients together.
2. Place the milk in a small saucepan and gently heat until *just* warm - don't let it come to the boil or get too hot - think baby bath water! Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the pumpkin puree and olive oil until the mixture is smooth.
3. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture. Knead on low speed for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. If you're making the dough by hand, stir the milk into the flour mixture using a wooden spoon, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes or until smooth, bouncy and elastic.
4. Place the kneaded dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover (I use cling film or a shower cap) and leave it for an hour or two until the dough has doubled in side.
5. When the dough has risen, turn out onto a lightly oiled work surface and lightly knead for a minute or two. Divide the dough into about 12 equal sized pieces (don't worry too much about them being exactly the same.) Shape each piece of dough into a tight, smooth ball.
6. Lay a long piece of string (about 60cm in length) out on your work surface. Place a ball in the middle of the string, then bring each end up and cross them over, just like wrapping up a parcel. Being careful not to tighten the string around the dough too much, turn the dough ball over. Repeat crossing the string over the dough until you mark out six or eight sections. Tie the string in a knot to secure and place the ball on the lined baking trays. Repeat with the remaining dough balls. Loosely cover the pieces of dough with oiled cling film and leave them to rise for about 45 minutes, or until almost doubled in size.
7. Preheat the oven to 180C/160Fan/350F/Gas mark 4. Beat the egg with the remaining tablespoon of milk. When the dough balls have risen, brush the rolls with the egg wash. Place in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown. Leave the rolls to cool for a few minutes before carefully snipping off the string. Break the pecan nuts into thin pieces and press each piece into the top of each pumpkin roll for a "stalk". Brush the rolls with the melted butter if desired and serve warm with honey or maple butter.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 227Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 18mgSodium: 251mgCarbohydrates: 38gFiber: 2gSugar: 6gProtein: 7g

Calories and nutritional information are provided by a third party application and should be viewed as indicative figures only.

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