PUMPKIN SEA SALT DINNER ROLLS
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PUMPKIN SEA SALT DINNER ROLLS
Amy Hunter
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One of my favorite parts of holiday dinners are the dinner rolls, especially if they’re homemade. You never see homemade rolls for any other meal, but for some reason, around the holidays when you’ve got a million other foods to prepare, lots of people decide now is the time to add homemade bread to the mix. At least in my family anyway.
Homemade bread is one of those things that seems complicated and intimidating, so many home cooks never try it. Maybe it’s the unfamiliarity of working with yeast, or the time it takes for bread to rise, but the truth is you can turn out a delicious and easy bread with the right equipment and a little time.
This recipe is one that is perfect for a Thanksgiving table. It’s got the seasons favorite ingredient, turns out a soft, lightly sweet dinner roll perfect for the most carb heavy meal of the year, and you can make the rolls a day or two in advance and bake off just before its time to eat.
The pumpkin in these rolls helps keep them soft, while the addition of sage and crunchy sea salt after baking brings out the flavor and sweetness. These are rich, buttery rolls with almost zero health benefits. So, perfect for holiday eating.
If you have a stand mixer with a dough attachment, these rolls are so easy to mix, shape, and bake. You can make them by hand, although it will take a bit longer and somewhat of a workout. You can bake them the day you make them, but if you can refrigerate the dough overnight, they’ll taste better, as a long cold rise in the fridge brings out the yeasty flavor even more. Serve them with soft butter, or mix up a batch of Avocado Oil Butter to spread on your holiday rolls, vegetables, and whatever else you slather butter on during the holidays.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)
- 1/4 cup warm milk (100-110 degrees)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 5 – 5 1/2 cups All Purpose flour
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1 tablespoon extra-virgin avocado oil
- Colima Sea Salt
- Chopped fresh sage
Directions
- Put the warmed water, milk, sugar, and yeast in a bowl and stir. Let sit for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is bubbly and smells strongly of yeast.
- Put the eggs, salt, melted butter, pumpkin, and about 4 1/2 cups flour in the bowl of your stand mixer (or large mixing bowl if no stand mixer) and stir. Add in the yeast mixture and mix with a dough hook on low until flour is incorporated.
- Increase the speed to about medium and continue mixing until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Add more flour about a tablespoon at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, but still sticks to the bottom. This process will probably take about 10 minutes or so. The dough will be smooth, soft, and tacky.
- Lightly sprinkle about a tablespoon of flour on a clean work surface and transfer the dough to it. Knead the flour into the dough, while forming into a ball.
- Drizzle the avocado oil into a large mixing bowl and transfer the ball of dough to it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit in the warmest spot in your kitchen for about an hour, until dough doubles in size.
- Cut the dough into 18 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place in a casserole dish or cast iron skillet. Cover with plastic. If you’re going to bake the rolls immediately, leave out for another hour. Otherwise, put the dough in the refrigerator overnight. When ready to bake, remove from the fridge and let sit at room temperature for about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes, until they are lightly browned on top. Remove from the oven and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle lightly with Colima Sea Salt and chopped sage.
Recipe Note
You want your liquids to be warm, but not too hot as this will kill the yeast. Just put the milk and water in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup, and heat in the microwave. You don’t have to use a thermometer if you don’t have one; just stick your finger in the liquid and make sure it’s not scalding hot.
The amount of flour you’ll use will vary. This is due to the moisture in your pumpkin, as well as the level of humidity in the air. I added about 4 1/2 cups, and just added a little bit at a time until my dough was soft, stretchy, and pulled away from the bowl a bit, for a total of about 5 cups.