The pumpkin dinner rolls are lightly sweet and swirling with warm spices–cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. What I love most about these rolls are their texture. The crumb is light and feathery because the dough contains tangzhong, a flour and water paste/roux (I’ll explain this further below). For extra richness, I recommend brushing a layer of salted honey butter over the rolls. Serve these rolls warm with softened salted butter or salted honey butter. They will be a crowd pleaser!
COOKING NOTES FOR PUMPKIN DINNER ROLLS
USING TANGZHONG FOR DOUGH
To get this incredibly airy crumb, I add tangzhong (湯種) to the dough. Tangzhong is an Asian technique of heating flour and water together to form a paste that is then added to the dough. The paste allows more water to be absorbed into the flour, yielding bread with softer texture. I made a version of these pumpkin dinner rolls without tangzhong. The rolls were soft when they were fresh out of the oven, but not quite as fluffy as the rolls made with tangzhong. Moreover, these rolls without tangzhong started to feel dense once they cooled. My preferred version is the pumpkin rolls made with tangzhong. However, if you find making tangzhong to be a hassle, feel free to refer to the tangzhong-free version of the recipe.
ADJUSTING LEVELS OF SWEETNESS
These pumpkin dinner rolls are lightly sweet, and I thought the sweetness brought out the flavors of the spices. If you prefer rolls with minimal sweetness, feel free to reduce the amount of brown sugar used by 2 tablespoons.
EGG WASH
Before baking the rolls, I suggest brushing a thin layer of egg wash over the rolls. That way, the pumpkin dinner rolls will look extra glossy with the honey butter on top. Even if you decide to skip the honey butter topping, the rolls will still look very nice. However, you can leave out the egg wash if you think it’s too much hassle. You will have leftover egg wash, which you can use to make an egg scramble.
CAN YOU MAKE THE PUMPKIN DINNER ROLLS AHEAD?
Yes! You can either refrigerate the dough right after you knead it (before the first rise) or after you’ve shaped the rolls (before the second rise). If you’re refrigerating the dough before the first rise, transfer the dough to a greased bowl, cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap, and refrigerate. When you are ready to shape the rolls, just take the dough out of the refrigerator and start working with it right away. You don’t need to wait for the dough to reach room temperature. If you plan to refrigerate the shaped rolls overnight, place the rolls in a lined 9×13-inch baking pan. Then, cover the baking pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. When you are ready to bake the rolls, preheat the oven, take off the plastic wrap, and inspect the rolls to see if there are any large air bubbles. Use a toothpick or cake tester to deflate the large air bubbles to ensure the rolls have a smooth and even surface once baked. Brush a thin layer of egg wash over the rolls and bake. Again, you don’t need to wait for the rolls to reach room temperature before baking. However, you may need to add 1 to 2 minutes to the cooking time.
CAN YOU FREEZE THE DOUGH?
Yes! After shaping the dough into small rolls, freeze the rolls on a plate for 1 to 2 hours, until they harden. Then, transfer the rolls to a freezer bag. When you are ready to bake the rolls, place them in a lined baking pan. Let the rolls thaw and rise until they double in size. It can take about 4 hours before they’re ready to bake. Finally, bake the rolls like you would in the recipe. One important note: the rolls seemed tighter and less soft when I baked them from frozen dough.
WHAT TO SERVE WITH PUMPKIN DINNER ROLLS
Baked Butternut Squash Mac & CheeseFall Quinoa SaladInstant Pot Mashed PotatoesButternut Squash Mashed PotatoesAir Fryer Green BeansKung Pao Brussels Sprouts
