Pumpkin bread rolls look great and taste even better. Pillowy soft, extra fluffy, and wonderfully flavorful—exactly like you want dinner rolls to be. The dough for these vegan pumpkin buns takes minutes to prep, needs no kneading, and can be made a day ahead!
The dough I use is the same as my soft, buttery cinnamon rolls, which The Pioneer Woman inspired. I added my twist by changing the dough and making pumpkin dinner rolls vegan. The method to shape the rolls into pumpkins is taken from the blog Rice & Flour.
You won't believe how low effort these rolls are! And just see how adorable they look!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- The pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls look just gorgeous. The perfect recipe for fall and Thanksgiving!
- Shaping the pumpkin bread buns is a great family activity. Little ones will enjoy it, especially.
- They taste out of the world. The pumpkin purée gives them a subtle sweetness and earthiness.
- They look fancy but are really easy to make.
- The no-knead dough comes together in no time and can be refrigerated for up to 2 days ahead of time!
Pumpkin Bread Rolls Ingredients
Pumpkin purée: Homemade or storebought both work in this pumpkin bread rolls recipe.
Yeast: I used dried active yeast. Always test the yeast before you add it to the dough ingredients.
Flour: Wholewheat flour was my choice and it worked deliciously.
Milk: I used homemade 2-ingredient almond milk because I wanted the recipe to be vegan. You can use any milk you prefer.
Oil: I am partial to olive oil. You can use any oil you prefer. To give the pumpkin bread rolls a shiny glaze, you can even brush them with cream or melted butter instead of oil.
Spices: Pumpkin pie spice, dried thyme, and fresh rosemary give the buns a lovely savory flavor. I have rosemary (and other herbs) growing in pots around my house. If you don’t have fresh rosemary, use the dried herb.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Pumpkin Bread Rolls?
Step 1: Heat milk, oil, and sugar. Bring it to a bare simmer. The temperature should only be so high that the sugar dissolves, which is well before the mixture comes to a boil. Take off the heat and add homemade pumpkin purée. Let the mixture cool to lukewarm.
Step 2: Add yeast to the wet ingredients and let it rest till frothy and bubbly.
Step 3: Mix flour, pumpkin pie spice, dried thyme, and freshly chopped rosemary with the wet ingredients to make the dough. Cover and let it rest till the dough doubles in size.
Step 4: Add baking powder, baking soda, salt, and some more flour. Mix well.
Step 5: Refrigerate for at least an hour, making the dough easier to handle.
Step 6: Take the chilled dough and divide it into equal portions to shape the bread rolls into pumpkins.
Step 7: Use a twine to shape the dough balls into pumpkins. See details below. Cover them with a damp kitchen towel. Proof for about 15–20 minutes.
Step 8: Brush liberally with olive oil. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Brush the golden crust with more oil right after you take the dinner rolls out of the oven.
Final step: Let the pumpkin bread rolls cool, then remove the twine. Add a piece of walnut in the center to make the “stem” of the pumpkin. Serve and savor!
How To Tie The Dough Into Pumpkin Shape
- Place your twine flat on a well-floured surface.
- Put the dough ball at its center.
- Pick up the two ends and wrap them around the dough as you would do with a gift wrap.
- Keep wrapping the twine till the ball is divided into 8 parts.
- Tie off the thread ends.
- Repeat for the other dough balls.
Pro Tips
- If the dough feels too soft at step 4, add another 1/4 cup flour. The dough should be a bit tacky and sticky. That's what will give you soft and fluffy rolls.
- Chilling the dough for 60 minutes makes it easy to handle. You can also make it up to 2 days ahead and let the dough rest in the fridge. I like to refrigerate overnight.
- You can eyeball when portioning the easy pumpkin bread roll dough. But weighing each piece before you roll it into balls using a kitchen scale, is easier and gives more even-sized rolls. They should weigh approximately 45 to 50 grams each.
- Use a food-safe twine. They’re easily available online. The regular thread may burn.
- Loosely tie the twine because you’re proofing the rolls again and they will puff up. Plus, the bread rolls rise during baking. You want to give enough space for the dough to expand.
How To Serve
I love the pumpkin bread rolls recipe because it's so easy to serve. They make great company for any meal. Try them with:
- Bursting with flavors of roasted sweet potato and chickpea salad
- A simple warm roasted pumpkin soup or a creamy pea soup
- Or this lovely Moroccan vegetable stew
Recipe FAQS
Peel and dice the pumpkin. Steam them in a saucepan with the lid tightly closed. In 20 minutes, the pumpkin pieces will be so soft. Mash them with a fork or a blender. I generally use a fork, so the purée has a few tiny lumps. A blender makes for a creamier purée.
Yes, absolutely! Don’t have the time or mood to make pumpkin purée at home? Buy a can of it. It works just as well in this pumpkin bread roll recipe. Make sure you are not buying pumpkin pie filling!
The first time I made pumpkin pie spice at home for my vegan pumpkin donuts, the whole house smelled like a bakery for a day. After that, I’ve always made the spice blend at home. All you have to do is mix cinnamon powder, ginger powder, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg.
The bread dough stays well in the fridge for 2 to 3 days. So, you can make a big batch in one go. When ready to bake, take it out, knead for a couple of minutes, and then shape the rolls into pumpkins and bake!
The pumpkin bread roll dough is extremely versatile. You can turn it into a savory treat by adding pistachio pesto and baking it like this braided basil pesto bread. You can make a sweet dessert and use the dough to bake the ever-popular cinnamon roll muffins.
More Dinner Roll Recipes
📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Bread Rolls
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Almond milk You can use any milk you prefer.
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 1/4 cup Olive oil You can use any oil you prefer.
- 1/2 cup Pumpkin puree
- 1.5 tsp Dried active yeast
- 2 .5 cups Wholewheat flour
- 1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp Dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp Fresh rosemary, chopped You can use dried rosemary too.
- 1/4 tsp Baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 cup Wholewheat flour
- 2-3 tbsp Olive oil, for brushing on top You can use melted butter, cream, or milk.
- 15 Walnut halves
Instructions
- Heat milk, oil, and sugar in a small saucepan. Don't let it come to a boil. Take off the heat and cool. Stir in the pumpkin puree. The mixture should be lukewarm.
- Sprinkle over the yeast. Set aside for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is bubbly.
- Whisk in the 2.5 cups of flour, pumpkin pie spice, dried thyme, and chopped rosemary. Cover and place in a draft-free place for 1 hour or until the dough is doubled in size.
- Now add in the extra 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. If the dough seems too sticky, add more flour and give a quick knead for 1-2 minutes.
- The dough is now ready for use immediately. You can refrigerate it for at least an hour or up to 2 days.
- I would recommend refrigerating for at least an hour as it firms up the dough, making it easier to work with.
- When you're ready to bake, line your baking tray with Silpat or parchment paper.
- Flour your work surface and knead the dough for 1-2 minutes.
- Divide the dough into equal-sized 15 pieces, about 45-50gms each.
- Shape the dough pieces into balls.
- Working with one dough piece at a time, place each ball seam side up and tie a cooking/ kitchen twine around it in a way that the ball is divided into 8 parts.
- Make sure not to tighten the twine too much as the dough ball will puff up more during the 2nd rise and in the oven.
- Place all the shaped pumpkin balls on the prepared tray and cover with a kitchen towel. Place the tray in a draft-free area for 15-20 minutes until the pumpkin balls get a bit puffy.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 f.
- When the pumpkin rolls are puffed up, brush with olive oil and bake at 200 C / 400 f for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Brush the rolls with more olive oil as soon as you take them out of the oven.
- Cool completely before untying the twine. Insert a walnut half in the center to make it look like a stem,
- Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
- You can find the recipe for Pumpkin Puree and Pumpkin Pie Spice in my Pumpkin Donut Blog.
- Chilling the dough for at least 60 minutes makes it easy to handle. You can also make it a day ahead and let the dough rest in the fridge overnight.
- Use a food-safe twine. They’re easily available online. The regular thread may burn.
- Loosely tie the twine because you’re proofing the rolls again and they will puff up. Plus, the bread rolls rise during baking. You want to give enough space for the dough to expand.
- Don’t eyeball when portioning the easy pumpkin bread roll dough. Weigh each piece before you roll it into balls using a kitchen scale. Should be approximately 45 to 50 grams each.
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