Pumpkin Dinner Roll

Hello Everyone. Holiday season has just begun and I love being festive as usual.  A few days back I had made  Pumpkin puree from scratch that I would use in making either pie or cheese cake and dinner roll for our Thanksgiving dinner. I made slightly sweet pumpkin cranberry bread couple of years back as trial and tasted delicious. This year I will be making pumpkin shaped dinner roll and they will look fabulous on our Thanksgiving dinner table.

Thanksgiving is just a few days away. This is the time of the year everyone wants to gather with friends and family. Our children always want traditional Thanksgiving meal. My son kindly says "Ma, no Indian/Bengali food please for Thanksgiving" and I wholeheartedly accept his simple request. 

When school is not in session I pay more attention to my baking. We will have more get together during this week and my plan is to serve some special dishes. Pumpkin Dinner Roll is one of them. I am so looking forward to serve these lovely Pumpkin shaped rolls to my dear ones.

 Let's get ready. They are quite easy to make. The whole process didn't take that much time. These orange yellowish mini pumpkin shaped rolls are totally festive.

 Ingredients~

*1cup all purpose or bread flour(8oz cup)

*1cup whole wheat flour

*Some extra flour for dusting

*3/4  tsp. active dry yeast
*1/2 tsp. salt
*1/4 cup melted unsalted butter

*1/4 cup brown sugar

*1 large egg at room temperature

*1 egg white, beaten for egg wash

*1/2 cup thick pumpkin puree, homemade or store bought

*1/4 cup warm water or as needed

*Some pretzel sticks cut into small pieces for stem

Method~
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with 1/4 tsp sugar. Give it a quick stir and set aside until it becomes foamy for about 5 minutes. In another big bowl, add in egg, melted butter, sugar,salt and pumpkin puree. Add in yeast mixture and mix well.

Now add in flour 1/2 cup at a time. Mix the dough with a wooden  spoon until forms a rough ball. On a floured board, knead the dough sprinkling extra flour for 5-7 minutes. Put the dough in a oiled bowl covering with a damp cloth. Let it rise in a warm place for one n half hour or until doubled in  size. Punch dough down.

Turn out again on to a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes. Divide the dough into 10 equal parts. Take each dough, knead it lightly in you hand forming a smooth circular shaped ball. Then tuck the edges under itself. Put the ball onto a lightly floured surface and press it down a bit. With a knife or scissors cut 8 slits all the way through but leaving the center uncut. It will look like a  flower. Now make a dent in the center of each roll  using your little finger or a handle of  wooden spoon. Lift them carefully on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow them to rise almost doubled in size for about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. For glossy look,brush with egg wash all over the rolls. If you want your rolls egg free, brush melted butter. Place pretzel stick into the indentation of each roll to create a look for stem. Bake them for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack. Your rolls are ready to be served.

Happy Thanksgiving!