These are the best homemade pumpkin dinner rolls to slather in butter and serve up this fall. This recipe, made with onion and poppy seeds for extra flavor, will make a delicious addition to your bread basket.
They are special enough to serve at Holiday Meals but easy enough to accompany Chihuahua Beer Chili or Guinness Beef Stew. They freeze beautifully so you can make them part of your Make-Ahead and Freeze Thanksgiving Side Dishes.
Jump to:
Move over jack o’lanterns and Pumpkin Pie, this squash can do even more great things. Orange and squatty, the pumpkin is a member of the gourd family and can be prepared any way that you use winter squash—that is to say, it can be sweet and it can be savory.
Proof right here: Pumpkin Dinner Rolls.
Dotted with onion and poppy seeds, these yeast dinner rolls fall on the savory side, but with plenty of pumpkin flavor to keep things interesting.
Why Make This
Pumpkin Dinner Rolls go with anything! They are delicious served with butter alongside chili, soup, or on a holiday plate with all the trimmings. My kids have even made sandwiches with the leftovers.
They are freezer-friendly. There’s something so luxurious about going to the freezer for freshly baked bread. Make extra Pumpkin Dinner Rolls and stash them in the freezer for later.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make homemade Pumpkin Dinner Rolls:
buttermilk – Buttermilk gives these Pumpkin Dinner Rolls a light, fluffy interior. Remember you can culture buttermilk yourself or freeze extra buttermilk in the carton to save money.
oil – Use a neutral oil, such as sunflower or avocado. You can also use melted butter if you like for extra richness.
egg – One egg adds another layer of richness to these Pumpkin Dinner Rolls.
pumpkin puree – There is a difference between canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie filling. You want just the pumpkin, with no added sweeteners or flavors.
dry onion flakes – Dry onion flakes add just the right amount of onion flavor to the rolls. You can also use finely chopped sautéed onion if fresh is what you have. And if you don’t care for onion, it’s fine to omit it as well.
sugar – Just a bit of sugar is added to help the yeast, but it doesn’t make the rolls sweet.
flour – This recipe for Pumpkin Dinner Rolls calls for both unbleached all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. It’s important to have some white flour with the whole wheat to keep the texture light. If you don’t have whole wheat, it’s fine to use all white.
salt – Salt really does make a difference in baked goods. Don’t omit it.
yeast – active or instant will work just fine in this recipe. Active may just take a little while longer to rise than instant.
Step-by-Step Instructions
There are three different ways to prep the dough for Pumpkin Dinner Rolls. Choose the one that works best for what tools you have in your kitchen.
To make the dough in a stand mixer:
1. Combine the buttermilk and sugar in a medium-size saucepan and warm slightly over medium heat. Transfer the mixture to the mixer bowl and add the yeast. Stir and allow the yeast to proof for 5 minutes.
2. Add the oil, egg, and pumpkin puree to the milk mixture and stir to combine.
3. Add the flour, onion flakes, salt, and poppy seeds. Attach the dough hook and run the machine on low until the dough ball forms around the hook and cleans the side of the bowl.
4. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and turn the dough ball to coat. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
To make the dough in a bread machine:
- Assemble the ingredients in the bread pan of your bread machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Set on dough cycle.
To make the dough by hand:
- Combine the buttermilk and sugar in a medium-size saucepan and warm slightly over medium heat. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the yeast. Stir and allow the yeast to proof for 5 minutes.
- Add the oil, flours, egg, pumpkin puree, onion flakes, salt, and poppy seeds. Stir to combine well.
- Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes to create a smooth, elastic dough, adding more all-purpose flour as necessary.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and turn the dough ball to coat. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
To form the rolls:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat mat.
- When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured surface and divide into 16 portions.
- Form each portion into a tight round and place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet. Allow the rolls to rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 ° Bake the rolls for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool the rolls briefly on a rack. Serve warm.
Freezing Instructions
Freezing baked rolls: You can freeze these after they are baked. Just let them cool completely before freezing them. Place them in a freezer bag and remove as much air as possible.
Freeze baked rolls for up to 3 months. Simply thaw them at room temperature, and reheat in the oven.
Freezing unbaked rolls: You can also freeze these unbaked. Freeze unbaked rolls for 1 month, otherwise any longer and the yeast has trouble rising.
Go through the first rise. Then shape the rolls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet and pop in the freezer. Once frozen you can pop them into a freezer bag for up to a month.
When ready to bake them let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, let the rolls go through the second rise as normal and then bake as directed.
Tips for Success
- Make sure your milk mixture isn’t too hot. If it’s too hot then it will kill the yeast! And dead yeast = rolls that won’t rise.
- Rising time may vary. If you have a cold kitchen then it may take longer for your rolls to rise.
- Check those dates on the yeast packages you are using. Yeast can expire, and that means rolls that won’t rise. So check the date. If you’re unsure, then double check that your yeast is bubbly and active before you proceed with the rest of the steps.
- Don’t add too much flour. If you’re kneading by hand, and the dough is sticky then dust lightly the surface and your hands. But be careful to not add too much as this can end up being a tough, dense roll in the end.
FAQs
Roll up sheets of aluminum foil into balls. Place them in the oven while your rolls bake. Then place the tinfoil balls in the bottom of your bread basket. Place a cloth over them and add the rolls. Cover to keep warm.
Reheat your rolls in a preheated 300F oven for about 7-8 minutes until warmed through.
If you are unsure whether or not your yeast has expired or not (and therefore, still active) you can add a small amount of yeast to warm water and wait to see if it bubbles. If it does, then you’re good to go!
Recipe Costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- buttermilk – $1.04
- oil – $0.06
- egg – $0.15
- pumpkin puree – $0.25
- dry onion flakes – $0.24
- sugar – $0.04
- flours – $0.65
- salt – $0.02
- yeast – $0.33
While your costs may vary depending on where and how you shop, you can expect to pay about $2.78 for a big batch of Pumpkin Dinner Rolls, about $0.17 each!
How to Save Even More
You know I don’t typically want to make something if I can’t make it good as well as cheap. Here are some of the strategies you can use to make this recipe more economical:
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. When I find regular kitchen staples on sale, I buy a lot. I’m currently using a price book to track prices and that’s saving me money. For this recipe, keeping an eye on the price of pumpkin and buttermilk can help keep the price down.
- Buying in bulk—It’s rare that I would buy small bags of flour. I also have gotten into the habit of buying cases of flour from Bob’s Red Mill or VitaCost so that I always have baking supplies on hand. The same goes for yeast. Get a large pack and store it in a jar in the freezer rather than buying those small packets.
More Great Bread Recipes
Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup buttermilk
- ⅓ cup neutral oil
- 1 egg
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 3 tablespoon dry onion flakes
- 3 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (can use all-purpose if needed)
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Optional topping:
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon Everything Seasoning , optional
Instructions
To make the dough in a bread machine:
- Assemble the ingredients in the bread pan of your bread machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Set on dough cycle.
To make the dough by hand:
- Combine the buttermilk and sugar in a medium-size saucepan and warm slightly over medium heat. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the yeast. Stir and allow the yeast to proof for 5 minutes.
- Add the oil, flours, egg, pumpkin puree, onion flakes, salt, and poppy seeds. Stir to combine well.
- Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes to create a smooth, elastic dough, adding more all-purpose flour as necessary.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and turn the dough ball to coat. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
To make the dough in a mixer:
- Combine the buttermilk and sugar in a medium-size saucepan and warm slightly over medium heat. Transfer the mixture to the mixer bowl and add the yeast. Stir and allow the yeast to proof for 5 minutes.
- Add the oil, flours, egg, pumpkin puree, onion flakes, salt, and poppy seeds. Stir to combine well.
- Attach the dough hook and run the machine until the dough ball forms around the dough hook and cleans the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and turn the dough ball to coat. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
To form the rolls:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat mat.
- When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured surface and divide into 16 portions.
- Form each portion into a tight round and place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Allow the rolls to rise for 30 minutes.
- If you'd like, add the optional topping. In a small bowl, combine the beaten egg and water. Brush this egg wash over the rolls. Sprinkle generously with everything season.
- Bake the rolls for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Cool the rolls briefly on a rack. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on November 23, 2011. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Angela
Made these today for my guys – some topped with the everything seasoning, and some plain – and both were a hit! Thanks for another winner. 🙂
Christopher
Can you make these without a bread machine? Also, how far in advance could you make them and/or how would you freeze them?
Jessica Fisher
Yes, I made them without a bread machine last week. Warm the buttermilk and add the sugar and yeast. Allow to proof for five minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until a thick dough is formed. Turn it onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Place in a greased bowl until doubled in bulk. I used my stand mixer for this because I don’t like sticky hands.
I baked and froze them last week. I’ll be thawing at room temperature and warming them in the oven next week for Thanksgiving. You could bake them a day in advance if you don’t want to freeze them.
Erica
Does this recipe work using a mixer instead of a bread machine? I used to have one, but gave it up years ago and am hesitant to buy another appliance that will sit on my kitchen counter!!
Jessica
Yes, just mix the dough as you would in a mixer.
KimH
What a sweet hubby… 🙂
Fedora
I love my bread machine and look forward to trying these. I keep pumpkin in the RV (I RV full-time) for when the dogs (2 Giant Schnauzers) get upset tummies. So I’m always glad to see new ways of using pumpkin.
Sheila
I’ve tasted some onion rolls before and it was delicious! I would want to try and taste this pumpkin onion rolls. Will you still be hosting WOYP next year?
Jessica
@Sheila, I’m not sure yet. It hasn’t turned out exactly as I intended, so I’m still thinking. I’ll let you know!
Sheila
Awww! I hope you will continue it. I linked up to it a couple of times before and would want to continue doing so because I want to be motivated in learning new recipes and cooking food for my family from scratch (or at least a majority of it) instead of eating all-processed foods. But I know you have good reasons if ever you decide to stop. I will still be checking out your blog to try some of your recipes. Godspeed!
Pamela J
Just curious… are these sweet or savory? They look wonderful and a great way to “sneak” in some veggies. I will miss this series for the next month!
Jessica
@Pamela J, thanks for your kind words.
These are more savory than sweet.
LizAndrsn
I love my bread machine, too. Thanks you for another recipe — I can’t wait to try it on Friday with leftovers!
Thrifty Mom in Boise
Another pumpking recipe! I will totally have to try this. Sounds wonderful. Thanks for sharing this.
Jen Blacker
Thank you for hosting. I shared the compound butter I rub on and under the turkey skin. It helps to make a yummy gravy too.