Pumpkin-Shaped Dinner Rolls are a perfect addition to your Halloween or Thanksgiving Dinner. These tender rolls are shaped like little pumpkins. However, don’t be fooled by the name. They contain no pumpkin. They’re easy to make with the bread machine doing most of the work.
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Ingredients – Here’s What You’ll Need for the Pumpkin-Shaped Dinner Rolls
- Wet Ingredients: For the wet ingredients, I used milk and unsalted butter.
- Dry Ingredients: The dry ingredients included all-purpose flour, instant potato flakes, granulated sugar, Kosher salt, and instant yeast.
- Decorations: To help form the pumpkin shape, I used kitchen twine. For the pumpkin stem, I used pretzel twists.
Here’s How I Made the Dough
As I previously indicated, the bread machine did most of the work for these rolls.
I added the wet ingredients to the pan of the bread machine, followed by the dry ingredients, ending with the yeast.
I programmed the bread machine to the dough cycle and walked away!
Here’s How I Formed the Pumpkin-Shaped Dinner Rolls
Being the nerd that I am, I wanted each roll to be the same size. Therefore, once the dough cycle ended, I weighed the dough. The total weight was 27.3 ounces.
Because I was making 12 rolls, I divided 27.3 ounces by 12 with the result that each piece of dough should weigh 2.28 ounces.
- I transferred the dough to a floured surface and cut the dough into 12 equal-sized pieces. Then, I rolled each of the pieces of dough into tight balls.
- Next, I cut the kitchen twine into four 8 to 10-inch pieces. Then, I crisscrossed four pieces of twine over a center point into a star formation. Finally, I placed one of the dough balls, smooth side down, onto the center point.
- After that, I firmly tied each piece of twine into a knot over the center of the roll. Finally, I snipped off the excess twine using scissors. I repeated this with the remaining rolls.
- I placed six of the pumpkin dough balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and put the other six pumpkin dough balls onto a separate parchment-lined baking sheet.
I let the pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls rise for about 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, the dough had slightly risen, and it was time to bake the pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls. I baked the rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes the Pumpkin-Shaped Dinner Rolls were golden brown.
- After removing the rolls from the oven I let them cool until they could be safely handled, about 15 minutes. Next, I cut the twine off each roll, peeling down carefully and slowly to remove the twine. Then, I placed a piece of twisted pretzel in the top of each roll for the stem.
I ended up with 12 adorable pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls. The rolls were not only cute but also delicious. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
You can make the rolls a day or two before you’re ready to serve them. I like to store them in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator. Reheat them at 350°F for about 5 minutes before serving.
Use your favorite yeast dough recipe for these pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls.
If you don’t have a bread machine, you can make the dough in a stand mixer or even in a food processor.
Other Roll Recipes
You should try these amazing recipes if you’re a fan of homemade rolls like I am.
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Pumpkin-Shaped Dinner Rolls
Equipment
- Bread Machine
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups (10 ounces) milk
- 6 Tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 ½ teaspoons Kosher salt
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ½ cup (1.5 ounces) instant potato flakes
- 2 ½ cups plus 1 Tablespoon (12.8 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast (See Tip 1)
- 48 pieces of kitchen twine, each cut into 8 to 10 inch lengths.
- 6 pretzel twists, broken in half
Instructions
- Add milk, butter, salt, sugar, instant potato flakes, flour, and yeast to the pan of a bread machine. Program on the dough cycle.
- When the dough cycle finishes, transfer the dough to a floured surface. Cut into 12 equal pieces (about 2.3 ounces each) and roll each piece into a tight ball.
- Crisscross four pieces of twine over a center point into a star formation. Place one of the dough balls smooth side down, onto the center point. Firmly tie each string into a knot over the center of the roll. Snip off excess string using scissors. Repeat with remaining twine and dough balls.
- Place six of the pumpkin dough balls onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and place the other six pumpkin dough balls onto a separate parchment-lined baking sheet. Allow to rise in a warm location for about 30 minutes. (See Tip 2)
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Bake the pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes or until the rolls can be safe to handle.
- Cut the twine off each of the rolls, peeling down carefully and slowly to remove. Then, place a piece of twisted pretzel in the top of each of the rolls for the stem.
- Yield: 12 Pumpkin-Shaped Dinner Rolls. (See Tips 3 and 4)
Tips/Notes
- May also use bread machine yeast in place of instant yeast.
- I like to use Julia Child’s method of creating a perfect environment for proofing dough. To do this, I turn on my electric oven for 1 minute and 45 seconds and then turn the oven off. I don’t worry about setting a temperature. All I’m doing is warming the inside of the oven.
- The rolls can be made in advance and reheated.
- If you don’t feel like making the dough for the Pumpkin-Shaped Dinner Rolls, you can use store-bought frozen yeast rolls or pizza dough.
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