Sourdough Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
These soft, fluffy sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls are made with pumpkin puree and a touch of thyme for a warm, subtle flavor that's perfect for cozy fall dinners or holiday gatherings. You can use active starter or sourdough discard for this recipe to keep the process simple. The holidays are already stressful, but your baking doesn't have to be.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Food scale I really recommend measuring out ingredients for any bread recipe for accuracy. This will also be helpful in making sure all of the dinner rolls are the same size.
- One large bowl
- Whisk
- Cutting board
- Bench scraper
- Square baking dish
- Tea towel To cover the rolls during proofing
- Silicon brush To brush melted butter before baking.
Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
- 3¾ cups (450g) All-Purpose Flour
- ¼ cup (50g) Granulated sugar
- 1 tsp (10g) Salt
- 1½ tsp (5g) Yeast: If you're using sourdough discard
- 1 tbsp each Pumpkin Spice & Thyme
Wet Ingredients
- 3 tbsp (37g) Melted butter: (let the butter cool to room temp). This amount of butter will go in the dough.
- ½ cup (100g) Active starter or discard
- ½ cup (110g) Pumpkin puree
- ⅔ cups (150g) Milk
- 2 Eggs
- ¼ cup (60g) Melted butter: This will be brushed on top before baking
Instructions
- Add your melted butter, active starter or discard, pumpkin puree, milk and eggs to your stand mixer. Mix all of the wet ingredients well.
- Next, add your flour, sugar, salt, yeast, pumpkin spice, and thyme all to a bowl and mix well.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in your stand mixer until the dough starts to form. If the dough is dry, add milk until it starts to form. If it's too wet, add flour.
- Once the dough has formed, place your dough on top of a cutting board and start cutting 10 sections of dough with your bench scraper.
- Weigh each dough section and make sure they weigh about 90g. Form the dough into a ball and place into the small baking pan.
- Once all the dough is shaped, cover with a tea towel and let it sit for 20 minutes.
- While the dough is proofing, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and melt the rest of the butter.
- After 20 minutes, brush the rolls with butter and top with salt. Bake the rolls at 375 for 25 minutes.
Notes
Storage: These sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls can be stored in the fridge for about a week and in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Tips:
- Use yeast for a quicker rise: Adding yeast to your dough means you'll only have to wait about an hour before the rolls are ready to bake, not the entire day.
- Use your favorite spices: A lot of people love using sage with pumpkin flavored recipes because they pair so well together. I included thyme because it gives the rolls a warm, savory flavor, but feel free to swap out for any spices you like.
- Adjust hydration if needed: Since pumpkin puree varies in moisture, add flour gradually if your dough is a bit wet, or gradually add milk if your dough is dry and not coming together.