Near the end of the year, I start stockpiling pumpkin puree from the market. The cans appear and I can’t help myself but grab an armful and start thinking about all the things it’ll find its way into: pancakes, waffles, pies, and of course, bread. This year, I wanted to take the puree into a softer, chewier direction: sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls.
Pumpkin acts very similar to adding potato to a dough. It brings copious tenderness and a melt-in-your-mouth quality that’s utterly addictive. But the pumpkin also adds such a beautiful color—the rolls almost look like gold nuggets. The rich luster heightens the eating experience, a golden hue of shining expectation.
The flavor is slightly reminiscent of pumpkin pie in a way, but not totally so, as the usual mix of spices (ginger, allspice, nutmeg, etc.), dare I say pumpkin spice, are not invited to this party. The recipe also calls for a large percentage of honey, which brings sweetness, sure, but also richness and floral notes. The aroma of the baked rolls hints at the pumpkin contained therein, but in a very remote way; my 4-year-old son put it best: “these rolls remind me of Thanksgiving.”
Let’s look at how to make these chewy sourdough pumpkin rolls.
Flour and ingredient selection
Flour
This recipe calls for 100% higher protein bread flour to help support the added pumpkin puree, butter, milk, and even honey. I’ve found King Arthur Baking Bread Flour works really well with this recipe, it has plenty of strength for support, and the slightly chewy texture is welcome in these soft dinner rolls.
Pumpkin puree
Any plain pumpkin puree will work well with this recipe. I tend to go with Libby’s Pumpkin Puree, but any variety you have access to will work.
Another option: sweet potato puree
If you wanted to take a different approach, roasted, cooled, and pureed sweet potato would work very well in this recipe.
Baking schedule
These sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls can be made in a single day or spread over the course of two. This is a rather slow-moving dough (and made worse if your kitchen is cold in the winter) and the rolls need extra time in bulk and proof. Be sure not to rush the proof, the rolls need to be very, very soft to the touch before they’re baked.
The benefit to cold proofing the rolls in shape is if you’re making these for Thanksgiving, you can prep the rolls all the way until just after you shape them, then cover and place the pan into the refrigerator. The next day, take them out in the morning and let them finish proofing on the counter (for me this took about 3-4 hours) and bake them early in the day on Thanksgiving to have them fresh for the big day.
Cold proofing this dough brings added flavor complexity, but the overall flavor is still quite balanced and the rolls don’t become overly sour.
Sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls formula
Vitals
| Total Dough Weight | 1,200 grams |
| Pre-fermented Flour | 8.00% |
| Levain in final dough | 26.09% |
| Yield | Sixteen 70-gram rolls |
Total formula
Desired dough temperature: 78°F (25°C). See my post on the importance of dough temperature for more information on dough temperatures.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 597g | High-protein white flour (12.7% protein, King Arthur Baking Bread Flour) | 100.0% |
| 119g | Pumpkin puree | 20.0% |
| 113g (one stick) | Butter, unsalted | 19.0% |
| 90g | Whole milk | 15.0% |
| 42g | Honey | 7.0% |
| 179g | Water | 30.0% |
| 12g | Fine sea salt | 2.0% |
| 48g | Ripe sourdough starter | 8.0% |
Sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls method
1. Prepare the levain – 8:00 a.m.
Mix the following ingredients in a container and leave them covered to ripen at a warm temperature, about 74-76°F (23-24°C) for 3 1/2 to 4 hours until ripe.
| Weight | Ingredient | Baker’s Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 48g | High-protein white flour | 100.00% |
| 48g | Water | 100.00% |
| 48g | Ripe sourdough starter | 100.00% |
2. Mix – 11:30 a.m.
There is no autolyse step for this dough. See my guide to the autolyse technique for when and why I like to use the technique (and why it’s not strictly necessary).
I used my KitchenAid stand mixer to mix this dough.
| Weight | Ingredient |
|---|---|
| 549g | High-protein white flour |
| 119g | Pumpkin puree |
| 113g | Butter, unsalted |
| 90g | Whole milk |
| 42g | Honey |
| 131g | Water |
| 12g | Salt |
| 143g | Levain (see Prepare the levain, above) |
First, take out your butter and cut it into 1/2″ pats. Set the butter on a plate to warm to room temperature and reserve until the end of mixing.
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the water, milk, flour, ripe levain, honey, pumpkin puree, and salt. Mix on speed 1 (STIR on a KitchenAid) for 1 to 2 minutes until the ingredients come together and no dry bits remain. Switch to the dough hook attachment and mix on medium speed (2 on a KitchenAid) for 4-5 minutes until the dough starts to strengthen and clump around the hook. This is a firm dough at this point, it will clump to the dough hook and completely clear the sides of the mixing bowl.
Let the dough rest in the mixing bowl for 10 minutes.
Your butter should now be at room temperature; a finger will easily slide in and leave an impression. Turn the mixer on to speed 1 and add the butter, one pat at a time, waiting to add each pat until the previous one is fully absorbed. Adding all the butter might take 5 to 8 minutes.
In the end, the dough will still be very soft and not completely removed from the sides of the mixing bowl—we will continue to strengthen the dough during bulk fermentation.
Transfer your dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover.
3. Bulk fermentation – 12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (4 1/2 hours)
At a warm room temperature, around 74-76°F (23-24°C), bulk fermentation should take about 4 1/2 hours. If your kitchen is cooler, place your bulk container in a small home dough proofer, or extend the bulk fermentation time to give the dough more time to ferment.
Give this dough two sets of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation at 30-minute intervals. The first set starts after 30 minutes from the start of bulk fermentation. For each set, wet your hands, grab one side and stretch it up and over the dough to the other side. Rotate the bowl 180° and perform another stretch and fold (this forms a long rectangle in the bowl). Then, rotate the bowl 90° and do another stretch and fold. Finally, turn the bowl 180° and do one last stretch and fold. You should have the dough neatly folded up in the bowl.
After the second set, let the dough rest, covered, for the remainder of bulk fermentation.
4. Divide and shape – 4:30 p.m.
At the end of bulk fermentation, your dough should have risen in the container, but not a great deal. You should see signs of strong fermentation: a smooth texture, and an increase in elasticity (strength), and general puffiness.
First, butter your baking pan (even if it’s nonstick) to ensure the rolls remove cleanly after baking. I like to use my 8 x 8-inch USA pan (which is also nonstick) for this recipe, but you could also use a round pan or any pan you’d like to fit the rolls.
Lightly flour the top of the dough in the bulk fermentation bowl and your work surface. Gently scrape out the dough to the work surface and divide it into sixteen 70-gram pieces.
Because of the dough texture, I prefer using my bench knife to help shape each roll. Use the knife to drag the dough toward your body as your other hand rounds the dough, tucking the edge down under the ball. Repeat this dragging and tucking with the knife and your other hand until you have a uniformly round ball.
See the following video and my guide to shaping buns and rolls for shaping help.
7. Cold Proof – 4:45 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. (next day)
Cover the pan with a large, reusable plastic bag and seal it shut.
Cover the pan and place it into the refrigerator. The next day, take them out about 3-4 hours before you want to bake them and let them proof on the counter until they’ve risen all the way to the rim of the pan and are extremely soft to the touch.
Same day bake option: For a milder flavor profile and to bake them the same day, proof them in a warm spot in your kitchen and skip the cold-proof. My kitchen was on the cooler side, around 72-74°F (22-23°C), and the dough took about 3 hours to fully proof when doing a same-day bake. Use the same cues as below to determine when they’re finished proofing.
8. Warm Proof – 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (temperature depending)
Take the covered pan out of the refrigerator and proof at warm room temperature, 73-74°F (22-23°C), for 4 to 5 hours. Give the rolls plenty of time to proof at this stage, it will take them time to warm from the cold refrigerator and finish proofing.
Be sure to give these rolls plenty of time to proof, they need to be very soft to the touch before baking.
When they’re ready to bake, the dough will have risen to the rim of the baking pan and be very soft to the touch.
9. Bake – 12:00 p.m.
Preheat your oven, with rack in the middle, to 425°F (220°C).
Uncover your dough and gently press the tops of a few rolls. You shouldn’t feel any dense spots or tight areas—the dough should be very light and airy. If you do, cover the pan and give your dough another 30 minutes to proof and check again.
There’s no need to steam the oven for this bake because we’ll use an egg wash to top the dough. In a small bowl, whisk together a whole egg and a splash (about 1 tbsp) of whole milk.
Once your oven is preheated, remove your pan from its bag, evenly brush on the egg wash, sprinkle on coarse sea salt (optional) and white sesame seeds, and slide the pan into the oven.
Bake at 425°F (220°C) for 10 minutes. After this time, rotate the pan 180° in the oven and reduce the temperature to 350°F (175°C). Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until the tops of the rolls are golden, and the internal temperature is around 204°F (95°C). When finished, remove the pan from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Then, remove the rolls from the pan to a wire rack to finish cooling.
These are wonderful warm from the oven, but I like to let them cool for at least 30 minutes before eating. These rolls are best the day they’re made but are still great the day after (if stored according to my post on storing bread).
Sourdough Pumpkin Rolls
- Prep Time: 25 hours
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 25 hours 35 minutes
- Yield: 16 rolls
- Cuisine: American
Description
Super soft and ultra tender, these sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls are a little buttery and a little savory, perfect for family gatherings (especially Thanksgiving!).
Ingredients
Levain
- 48g high-protein white flour (King Arthur Baking Bread Flour)
- 48g water
- 48g ripe sourdough starter
Main Dough
- 549g high-protein white flour
- 120g pumpkin puree
- 113g butter, unsalted and at room temperature
- 90g whole milk
- 42g honey
- 131g water
- 12g salt
- 143g ripe levain
Topping
- one whole egg and splash of whole milk for egg wash
- coarse sea salt (optional)
- white sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Levain (8:00 a.m.)
In a small bowl or jar, mix the Levain ingredients. Cover the jar and keep it at a warm temperature for 3 1/2 to 4 hours until ripe. - Mix (11:30 am)
To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the 549g high-protein white flour, 120g pumpkin puree, 90g milk, 42g honey, 131g water, 12g salt, and 143g ripe levain. Mix on low speed for 1 minute until incorporated. Then, switch to the dough hook attachment and mix on medium speed (KA Speed 2) for 4 for 5 minutes until dough clumps around the dough hook and clears the sides. Let the dough rest in the mixing bowl for 10 minutes. Next, add the 113g butter, one pat at a time, while the mixer is running on low speed. Continue this for 5 to 8 minutes until all butter is added and the dough is cohesive and soft but still tacky to the touch. Transfer the dough to a bulk fermentation container and cover. - Bulk Fermentation (12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
This dough will need 2 sets of stretches and folds during bulk fermentation where the first set starts after 30 minutes into bulk fermentation and the subsequent set is 30-minutes later. After the second set of stretches and folds, let the dough rest, covered, for the remainder of bulk fermentation. - Divide and Preshape (4:30 p.m.)
Butter your 8×8-inch square pan. Divide the dough into sixteen 70-gram pieces and shape each as a very tight ball. Place the balls in the buttered pan to proof. - Cold Proof (4:45 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.)
Cover pan with reusable plastic and seal shut. Place the covered pan in the refrigerator until the next day (take out of the fridge and let proof on the counter for 3 to 4 hours, temperature depending). - Warm Proof (8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.)
Remove the covered pan from the refrigerator and proof at warm room temperature (73-74°F/23-24°C) for 4 to 5 hours until the rolls have risen to the rim of the pan and are very soft to the touch with no dense or tight spots. - Bake (12:00 p.m.)
Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C). For the egg wash, whisk together one egg and a splash of whole milk. When the oven is preheated, brush on the egg wash, sprinkle on coarse sea salt and white sesame seeds(optional), and bake for 10 minutes. Then, rotate the pan 180° in the oven and reduce the temperature to 350°F (175°C). Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until the tops are well-colored and the rolls have reached around 204°F (95°C) internally. Remove from the oven and let cool in the baking pan for 10 minutes. Then knock the rolls out to cool on a wire rack. Let rest for 10 minutes, then enjoy.
Notes
- Instead of pumpkin puree, a sweet potato puree would also work well with this recipe.
What’s Next?
Check out my sourdough pumpkin bread with cinnamon and raisins (and optional spices) for another outlet for that pumpkin puree you may or may not be stockpiling.
My classic super soft sourdough rolls with tangzhong are perhaps the softest dinner rolls I’ve ever made.
And, of course, during this time of year sourdough pumpkin pancakes are happening just about every weekend (and are perfect with the leftover pumpkin puree from this recipe!).
Buon appetito!
140 Comments
Just pulled these out of the oven. They look and smell fabulous! Thank you. Also thanks to Dragan Djurovic for the hints for colder climate/lower elevation.
happy they worked out for ya, Susan!
Tout à fait excellent. Merci.
Thank you!
I made these a couple times already, and absolutely amazing!
I used some rye in the levain and let it sit overnight before mixing in the morning (colder climate here ;-)).
And I let them proof on the longer side of Maurizio’s recipe, ~5h, as I’m in the low elevation / colder climate.
And they turned out absolutely awesome! I even cut back on butter and honey (for calorie concerned guests) and still turned out great.
Maurizio, all I can say you is Thank You for sharing such awesome recipes!
Ah so glad to hear these turned out well for your, Dragan! I love your mods, too. Enjoy and thanks for the comments!
Hey Maurizio! Thanks for fielding questions around the holidays. My question is: can you cold proof for multiple nights? I was thinking about prepping the buns today for Christmas morning, but I’m not sure if that would retard the rise too much. Thanks!
So sorry for the delay, Jordan! Yes, I’d say these could last a night longer in the fridge.
You answered my question here – should have looked before posting a question. Thanks for all your awesome recipes!
Maurizio, I am making these rolls today and realized after mixing my levain I used my starter flour mixture which is 1/2 rye and 1/2 bread flour. Do you think the levain will be ok for this recipe?
That’ll be ok! I hope they turned out great, Kim, sorry for the delay.
I Hi Maurizio
So I wanted to make these beautiful looking dinner rolls for Christmas day lunch so I made a test batch first because I had never made dinner rolls. Only loaves of sourdough bread. Anyway they are not rising like one of your other members wrote. My starter is over a year old and very active. But I did notice when I went to use the Levain for this recipe I’m not sure it was ready at this time allotted. Could that be the reason they’re not rising? I wish I could take a pi
Everything is at the right temperature. I have a proofing box in my kitchen is at 73°. So should I just let them sit out longer? Thank you I love your recipes and your website. I use it all the time. My favorite recipe is the country loaf with less LeVain and longer autolyse
That’s really interesting, Lisa! I wonder, did they turn out ok?
Hi this recipe looks great! How would you recommend mixing the dough if you don’t have a stand mixer? By hand?
Yes, and I’d use the slap and fold technique.
Hi,
Sorry but you seem to reply here vs. social media.
In your sourdough soft pretzel recipe you mention you are 5,000+ feet above sea level.
Would that affect the proof times you give? I tend to have to bump my temps up to get the results you seem to get in the amount of time you give.
Love your stuff but didn’t understand why I wasn’t getting the rise I should be getting so I’ve been making adjustments.
Hey, Robert! I reply to both areas, but I get a lot of message on social that get lost, unfortunately. Yes, my altitude might be affecting things for you, but there are also many other factors (temp in general, starter “strength,” when you time your starter/levain, etc). I try to give ample cues throughout my recipes here to help bakers judge for themselves based on how their dough is progressing that day in the kitchen. If you need to add more time in bulk and/or proof definitely do so! Another way to adjust things is to include a few percentage points more preferment in my formulas to see if that helps speed things up.
Hope that helps and sorry for the delayed reply, Robert!
🙋
I mentioned to my wife that you put out a sourdough pumpkin dinner roll recipe and as soon as she heard “Maurizio” it was added to the thanksgiving menu (you’re already on a first name basis in this household). One in a long line of delicious recipes that I’ve made from your blog. Came out amazing, was a universal hit at the dinner! Next time I’ll need to make a double batch though…
https://photos.app.goo.gl/nEsGR53XsH8SqP8GA
Hah! Huge compliment, thank you (and your wife)! Those came out just wonderful, you totally nailed that bake. It was the same here, I should have doubled up, they went far too fast at Thanksgiving. Thx for the comments and happy baking, Sean!
Yummy! These did not last. I made a half batch – probably would have done better doing by hand, there wasn’t enough dough in the mixer to catch the hook. They needed extra time to rise – about 5 hours – were still not to the top of the pan but the meal was being served at 2 pm. They were fine, soft, tender, and warm from the oven! I’m going to try them again with some of the fine suggestions here from your readers. Thanks again!
Glad to hear they mostly came out well, Susan! I’d say definitely go with mixing the whole batch, then freeze half after they’re baked 🙂 Happy baking!
Mario not sure what went wrong. I used King Arthur flour, hit the DDT, but when I removed them from the refrigerator to proof (in proofing box set to 78) no rise at all after 5 hrs. Had to leave for dinner and the rolls stayed at home. When I returned (this is approx 12 hr proofing) finally some rise. Baked and was good but could definitely taste sourness from proofing so long I think. My starter was ready when I made the Levain. All I can think of is maybe the Levain was not quit ready when I mixed everything together. Any ideas. I was so bummed out to show up without the rolls. Thanks in advance!
Ah so sorry to hear that, Robin! It does sound like either the levain wasn’t sufficiently ripe or the dough didn’t ferment enough before placing it into the fridge… And, in fact, it could have been a combination of the two as well.
The dough fermented for the length of time indicated in prodding box. I think it was the Levain. I made the mistake of mixing the Levain in a crock I can’t see through. I am use to visual clues. Oh well might try it again.
Yes, that will certainly delay the entire rest of the process 🙂 It’s ok though, easy to fix next go!
Hey Chef- These rolls were hands down, one of the best bread recipes I’ve ever made. I served them at our Thanksgiving dinner with a Sichuan-inspired chile butter and the pairing was phenomenal. Thanks for all you do!
So wonderful to hear that, Kate!
We upped the honey by 25% and upped the pumpkin by 50% to make those flavors more present. The rise was slightly less, but the flavor was heavenly, causing spontaneous praise all around the table. Either way, this recipe is a keeper.
Right on, Michael! Yes, you can definitely push that pumpkin even farther for a more intense flavor—can’t go wrong with that. Thanks for reporting back and glad they worked out so well for you guys!
I made the rolls for today. I increased the recipe (1 1/2). They turned out kind of dense. I’m not sure what I did. I thought the dough looked and felt great. Maybe I was too rough shaping them?
It’s ok to be rough when shaping these, they’ll puff back up. I’m wondering if something went wrong with the math in scaling up or perhaps they need more rise time?
Technically they should be 75g/ea and not 70g. #maths #numbers
But at 70g each, there’s enough left over to make one to eat in secret.
Hahaha!! Yess!!! That’s what I did but I was found out! :((((
We did a trial run last week. Well, I forgot to add the water till after the butter was all mixed in. Worked it in after the fact and hoped for the best.
Just delightful. My wife and I devoured the entire pan.
Double recipe for company tomorrow. Yes, I added the water when required.
Getting ready to make this recipe. Thinking it through it may be difficult to get the desired dough temperature when using a mechanical mixer not sure what friction factor to use and also I think I would need to heat the milk to try to get that temperature how critical dough temperature with these rolls. Thanks!
Awesome, Robin! You can warm the milk gently in the microwave if needed! I hope you like them and Happy Thanksgiving 🙂
Should I change the FF to 20 you think for mechanical mix? Otherwise I fear the dough will get too hot. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family too.
20 is pretty typical for the KA! I think that’ll work.
I’ve noticed that in some of your latest recipes for enriched doughs you use small amount of sugar in the levain. Here you don’t use it. Can you explain what are the benefits of adding sugar to the levain and when it’s desired? Should I subtract sugar for the levain from the main formula? or the sugars in the levain are completely fermented and they don’t contribute any sweetness in the final dough. I’m trying to refine my recipe for sourdough challah.
Hey, Konrad! Adding sugar to the levain affects the bacteria and yeast ratios in the levain, preferring the latter over the former. In the end, it can result in a less sour final product if the rest of the bake is in line to support that. Note that sugar has an inhibitory effect on fermentation overall, but more so towards bacteria (thus the reduction in sour flavor).
I would like to make these for Thanksgiving, but I will not have the oven space on Thursday. Do you think they would still be good if I bake them on Weds and serve Thursday? Any tips for how to keep them fresh?
And I just found the answer in the comments!! Will reheat prior to serving!
Made a batch of these for a family dinner and they lasted for about 5 minutes because everyone gobbled them up immediately. So delicious!
Awesome to hear that, Holly!! My kiddos love these as well 🙂 Enjoy!
This is one of the most delicious things I have ever made. Thank you for brining this perfect recipe into my life!!
Ah that’s amazing to hear, Brock! So glad you liked them. Enjoy and thanks for the comments!
Hi, back again because the gang at home keeps asking for these and I did some modifications. By the way, I forgot to mention, I just knead in the KA until windowpane and forego the S&Fs. Just because it works in my schedule better.
I really love adding replacing some bread flour and water with sourdough discard (90g of additional discard is just nice for me), they’re so nice and tangy! I cut the dough into half, and added a soaker I made with raisins, water and orange juice into one half, then alternated raisin and plain buns in the pan. So now I have half sweet buns and half plain buns, and lemme tell you, the kid cousins go crazy over the raisin ones (I’m just a big kid myself, so I joined them in tearing into the hot steaming bread >_<).
I had some extra dough, so I put them into ramekins and cling-wrapped them. Will bake one every day for the next few days for breakfast.
That’s a good sign! And yes, you can totally skip the S&Fs if you develop it far enough, like you said. 🙂
Raisins + OJ sounds amazing. Almost like a hot cross bun, in a way (minus the spices). Raisins and pumpkin go so well together (hence my other recipe!) I can understand why they’re after em!
Always love your modifications. Thx for the comments and enjoy!
I absolutely love you other dinner roll recipe and can’t wait to try this one! Just curious: why did you choose to not use the Tangzhong method of this recipe?
*your 😉
Hey, Joe! I was going for a different texture on these, more chewy and less super-soft 🙂
Wow! These will definitely be on the table at Thanksgiving. I’m giving thanks for Maurizio.
I hope you guys enjoy them, Glenn! Happy Thanksgiving 🙂
I have one question about proofing steps. After you shape, you suggested overnight cold proof first then warm proof for 4 hours next day. If I proof at room temperature for 4 hours first , then put the proofed bread in the fridge for overnight. Is it okay to put the cold dough in the oven right from the fridge? So I can eat for breakfast. Or cold proof then warm proof works the best? I always appreciate your comments!
Yes, you can do that, but I do find with this dough it does like some warm proof time in the AM before baking. If you push the proof farther the day before, you won’t need to proof as long the next day.
Hope that helps! If you take your approach, please report back!
You are right. It turned better with some warm proof time in the morning before baking. I guess it because of the butter in the dough? Thank you so much for your suggestion!
Possibly but I think it’s that this dough needs to be nice and warm for plasticity, but also because it needs that super-full proof. Glad to they turned out well, Anna!
If you’re mixing this by hand, do you just recommend slap and fold until the dough is well-kneaded, and then add in the butter by hand?
Yes, that’s the way to do it!
Another family favorite!
One comment on baking time. The blog portion has a 10 @ 425 / 20-25 @ 350 baking time while the print version on the bottom (grey box) has a 20 @ 425 / 20-25 @ 350 min baking time. 10 minute difference
I followed more of the 10 / 20-25 and went by color and temp.
Thanks again for great recipes!
Glad to hear they worked out for ya, Nathan! I fixed the recipe, should be updated soon, sorry about the confusion. You’re very welcome and enjoy!
Step 5 is a little confusing. “Baskets” may be a typo and I’m not clear if/when I should do the 3-4 hour proof on the counter prior to the warm proof.
These are in the fridge now. Looking forward to baking tomorrow!
Sorry about that, it should read “place the covered pan”–fixed! You can place the covered pan into the fridge or continue proofing on the counter. Tomorrow when you take out the dough, let it finish proofing on the counter, covered, as indicated. Let me know how they turn out, Jamison!
They were good, though I’ll use a younger starter next time. Dough was soft and great to work with too. result
(Note though step 5 still doesn’t look right above). Thanks for the recipes and techniques.
They look really nice, Jamison! I just cleared out the cache so step 5 should be fixed now with a reload. Thanks for reporting back and enjoy 🙂
I baked these this morning and they came out perfectly. I made as directed and left them for the full 5 hour warm proof ( in my oven on the defrost setting 75 -79 degrees) this morning. I baked for 20minutes on 425 and 15minutes at 350 and it was perfect. My levain weighed 133g vs 143 g so I did add 10g of my ripe starter ( not sure if I needed to but just in case). It always takes me a bit longer to incorporate the butter, about 12minutes. Half the pan is gone and I cant wait to share them on Thanksgiving!
Thanks for the feedback and all the details, Peggy! And I loved seeing them in the Discord chat. Great job with all of the adjustments, too, it sounds like you know what to expect to adjust for your location and baking situation! Enjoy 🙂
I was SO excited when you teased us with this so I had all the ingredients on standby and just made it today!
Notes for other fellow bakers:
– Used soy milk rather than whole milk
– I replaced 40g of water and 50g of bread flour with 90g of two-week-old discard (I have so much discard…)
– Found myself having to add a couple tbsp more flour (might be humidity or my puree has a lot more water, etc etc)
– I found myself having to mix almost 20 mins at low speed before I developed a decent windowpane on the dough.
They came out exactly as pictured, a gorgeous golden-yellow hue with a tiny peak of brown from the egg wash, and are pillowy soft. My rolls had a tangier flavour due to the discard, but that is exactly the way I like them (I didn’t want an overly sweet roll since we were having them at dinner). It gave me so much pleasure to watch my family dress them up in different ways…Mum added cream cheese and smoked salmon to make a slider sandwich, Dad was dipping them in pumpkin soup (which I made with the remainder of the pumpkin puree can) and as for me I had some homemade apricot and fig jam and Kerrygold.
Thank you for being part of our Sunday dinner <3
Ahh, I just love all of this, thank you so much for sharing! Super interesting to hear you used your discard for some of these, glad to hear it worked out well. Yes, the dough really does take a long time to mix up, that pumpkin puree makes for a very soft and tacky dough. It didn’t take that long for me to mix these up, but great job on adjusting.
Sharing bread is the best part of baking it! Happy to be a part of your family’s dinner, thank you!
Recommendations for doing this by hand and not using the KitchenAid? I tried this tonight with my stand mixer and I wayyy over mixed. So much gluten now— my dough feels like a bowling ball made of silly putty! Tempted to try it by hand instead. Could I melt the butter and mix it in, or would that mess up the final texture?
Very interesting! I would still use the stand mixer, but reduce the total mix time if you found the dough strengthened too fast—I have honestly never seen this happy with this type of dough, the pumpkin puree and butter really soften it. You could definitely mix by hand using something like the slap and fold technique.
Thoughts on making today and freezing, and reheating on Thanksgiving?
Would probably work!
Do you think I could substitute Central Millings Organic Artisan Bakers Craft Plus, its 11.5% – its their organic bread flour – thank you, excited to run a test run this week to prep for thanksgiving !
Hey, Jon! Yes, I think ABC will work just fine with this recipe. Be sure to mix it to full development in the mixer!
If I were to bake these one day before Thanksgiving, do you think the rolls would still be okay?
Yes! I’d keep them covered after they fully cool, or leave them out and then gently reheat on Thanksgiving just before serving. They stay really soft.
Great! Thank you. Can’t wait to make these.
Thanks for sharing it. Will try it out this weekend but will use sweet potato puree tough
You’re very welcome, Martin! Will be great with sweet potato. Let me know how you like it and happy baking!