PUMPKIN-SHAPED DINNER ROLLS WITH HONEY PUMPKIN BUTTER GLAZE

DINNER ROLL RECIPE … they’re gourd-geous!

Turn your table into a pumpkin patch! These rolls aren’t just about the flavor—they’re about the look, too. Picture a soft on the inside, lightly crisp on the outside roll dressed up to look like a mini pumpkin—yes, I’m talking full-on Fall vibes here. The trick? Wrap a kitchen twine around each dough ball to create those cute pumpkin ridges. Then, bake until golden. Brush on a honey butter pumpkin glaze for a glossy sweetness and finish it off with a crisp, savory sage leaf. Serve warm, and watch these dinner showstoppers disappear faster than a kid’s Halloween candy stash.

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PUMPKIN-SHAPED DINNER ROLLS WITH HONEY PUMPKIN BUTTER GLAZE

Yield: 14 Rolls

Author: Michelle Williams

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 25 MinInactive time: 3 HourTotal time: 3 H & 55 M

Ingredients

FOR THE DOUGH

• Whole Milk (1 cup, warmed to 110º)
• Instant Yeast (1/4 ounce. That is equivalent to 1 standard packet)
• White Sugar (2 tablespoons, divided)
• Unsalted Butter (4 tablespoons, room temperature)
• Salt (1 teaspoon)
• Egg (1, large)
• Bread Flour (3 cups)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil (enough to grease your large mixing bowl)
• Finishing Salt

FOR THE GLAZE

• Unsalted Butter (2 tablespoons, melted)
• Pumpkin Purée (1 tablespoon)
• Clover Honey (1 teaspoon)

FOR THE CRISPY SAGE

• Fresh Sage Leaves (15, leave some length on their stems)
• Grapeseed Oil (enough to line the bottom of your pan)

KITCHEN TOOLS

• Stand Mixer with Whisk and Hook Attachments
• Kitchen Towels OR Plastic Wrap
• Large Mixing Bowl (I like a glass bowl so I can see the rise from the side)
• Cooking Twine
• Baking Sheet (2)
• Silicone Baking Sheet Liner (2. To line your baking sheets)
• Small Mixing Bowl
• Pastry Brush
• Frying Pan
• Kitchen Tweezers
• Plate
• Paper Towel

Instructions

TO MAKE YOUR DINNER ROLLS

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer using your whisk attachment, whisk together your milk, yeast, and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Cover with your kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes.
2. Add egg, butter, salt, and your last tablespoon of sugar.
3. Switch to your hook attachment. On a low speed, little by little add your bread flour. If you add too much at once or have your speed too high, it will fly out of your mixing bowl and get everywhere. Once incorporated, bring your stand mixer's speed to medium. In about 2 minutes your dough will pull away from the wall of the bowl, check to see how sticky it is. If it's too wet, incorporate more bread flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
4. To knead your dough, simply let it continue to get beaten on medium speed for an additional 5 minutes. Your dough is ready when you can poke it with your finger and it slowly bounces back.
5. Grease your large mixing bowl with extra virgin olive oil. Roll your dough in it so its outside is fully coated in oil. Cover your bowl with a kitchen towel. Leave your bowl in a warm spot on your counter. Let it sit until it doubles in size—about 1 1/2 - 2 hours.
6. Line baking sheets with their silicone baking sheet liners. Set aside.
7. Divide your dough into 14 pieces by cutting it like a pizza. I opted for uneven pieces to give more of a pumpkin patch feel where the pumpkins are a variety of sizes but you can make them evenly sized. Roll each piece of dough into a ball. Don't overwork here or you'll end up with dense rolls.
8. Use your kitchen twine to wrap each ball to give it its signature pumpkin lines. Here's how. First, start with a piece of twine that's long enough to wrap around your ball 4 times with a little extra to have room to make a bow. Place your ball in the middle of that piece of twine. Wrap the twine so that both ends meet, then like a present, cross them again and go around your ball to ultimately make a "+" sign. Now, on an angle that intersects your plus sign, cross your twine again. Repeat that one last time in the opposite direction so that if you were just looking at those two lines, you'd have an "x". Tie the remaining twine into a bow and cut off any excess.
9. Lay each twine-wrapped ball on your baking sheet. Cover them with kitchen towels and let them sit to proof for 1 hour.
10. Preheat your oven to 350º.
11. In the middle of your oven, bake your breakfast roll pumpkins until they are lightly golden on top—about 25 minutes but check at 20.

TO MAKE YOUR CRISPY SAGE

1. Line a plate with paper towel.
2. Coat your frying pan with a thin layer of grapeseed oil. Heat it over high heat.
3. Drop each sage leaf into the oil so that they don't overlap. They should sizzle when they touch the oil. Let each one sit for about 30 seconds. If you see any browning, flip right away. Use your cooking tweezers to flip each one. Let sit for another 10 seconds. Use those same tweezers to pick each sage leaf up by its stem and transfer it to your paper towel-lined plate.

TO GLAZE YOUR PUMPKIN ROLLS

1. Once your pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls are out of the oven, carefully remove their twine. They don't just fall off, don't worry. A little gentle tugging here and there is normal. When you pull, make sure to do in the direction that the twine is going.
2. In your small mixing bowl, mix your melted butter, pumpkin purée, and honey until you have a smooth even liquid. Use your pastry brush to paint all of the visible parts of your dinner rolls. You don't need to do the bottoms.
3. Use the tip of your kitchen tweezers to poke a hole on an angle into the top middle part of your dinner roll pumpkins. Where a stem would go. Gently pick up a sage leaf by its stem and stick that stem into the hole you just made. Repeat until all of your pumpkins have a leaf.
4. Sprinkle finishing salt over all of your rolls.
5. Serve in a bowl or on a board. Eat. Enjoy!

Notes

These can be stored in an air-tight container in your refrigerator for up to a week.

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