Classic dinner rolls are great, but these sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls are amazing. They are extra soft, tender, full of flavor, and contain just enough moisture from the pumpkin to hit all the marks to qualify for an amazing, dare I say, every day, dinner rolls. Seriously, I could eat these every day from breakfast to dinner. They are the best just slightly cooled down after the bake, where I usually find myself munching on them until a quarter of them are missing.
These sourdough pumpkin rolls are so light it feels like eating tasty air.
They also hold quite well and don’t dry out, so the next day, they are excellent straight from the bread container without any need for preheating or toasting.
Adding some butter and flaky sea salt makes for an excellent little snack. If you crave something sweet, tear or slice the rolls and smother them with some homemade jam or honey. With some tea or fresh coffee, you have got yourself a nice little treat in no time.
If you, by some miracle, have any leftovers on the third day, do make some french toast—it makes for one fantastic breakfast!
RELATED RECIPES
With this recipe formula you can also make these two variations, the pumpkin like buns or the crescent rolls.
THE PUMPKIN PUREE
Making the dough for these sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls is quite similar to making the cinnamon rolls. But first, you need to have some pumpkin puree. For this recipe, I used butternut squash. The method of making pumpkin puree is as follows:
- Cut the pumpkin in half; avoiding cutting through the stem. Be careful when cutting since the pumpkin is wobbly and quite hard to cut through. So cut slowly and in increments. To make the pumpkin sturdier, you can cut a small portion along the long edge and then place the pumpkin on that cut part. The “liquid” that the pumpkin releases will kind of stick to the wooden board and help in the process.
- Scoop out the seeds. You can roast the seeds later. They are great for munching while you work or read a book.
- Sprinkle some kosher salt on the pumpkin’s cut sides and place the cut side down on a roasting tray. Bake in a preheated oven at 245°C (473°F) for 45 minutes or until the thickest part of the pumpkin is soft.
- Scoop the pumpkin flesh out from the skin, add to a food processor, and process it until creamy. If you don’t have a food processor some muscle work and a fork will do the job as well.
- Transfer the pumpkin puree to a clean jar.
- Store it in a fridge for about a week. You can also store the pumpkin puree in plastic bags in the freezer for several months.
Of course, you can always buy some good quality pumpkin puree.
THE SOURDOUGH STARTER
Once you have the pumpkin puree ready, the second task is to make the sourdough starter for the dough. The sourdough starter has to be vibrant enough to reach the mature state in the shortest time possible at standard ambient temperature. A vigorous starter is very frothy in structure.
The recipe calls for a mature sourdough starter, which means that you should use it right before it reaches the peak and starts to collapse.
I find that the best time to use it is while still slightly concave on top. When you smell it, it should have a creamy note and not be acidic at all. If unsure, you can also taste the starter at different points of its rising time.
In this recipe, a 100% hydration starter is used, which means that the starter is fed with equal amounts of water and flour.
To make the dough in the early afternoon, you need to prepare your starter in the morning. Adjust the times according to your starter’s schedule and behavior. If the starter is ready (reached the peak) before you intend to start making the dough, you can put the starter in the fridge, which will slow the fermentation process. On the other hand, if it is taking too long (due to low ambient temperature) you can put it in the oven with the light on.
THE BAKING SCHEDULE
The aim is to bake these soft rolls either for dinner or brunch on the weekend. Since this is the sourdough recipe and we want to ferment the dough properly using time, you should make the dough and shape the rolls the day before the planned bake. Such make-ahead tasks also make it easier for the whole meal planning.
To visualize the process, here is the proposed baking schedule, which of course, you can adjust to your needs and schedule:
MAKING THE DOUGH
Making the dough for these sourdough pumpkin soft rolls is very similar to the process we used for the sourdough cinnamon rolls. Please refer to that post for the details on forming the gluten and the importance of adding butter after the initial formation of gluten. Also, the post describes in great detail the changes in the dough structure during the mixing process from start to finish.
Note that the mixing is done using the stand mixer. The dough can be mixed by hand, but it isn’t easy and requires quite a lot of dough handling experience since it is a softer dough.
Next, let’s summarize the steps of the baking schedule shown in the figure above:
- INITIAL DOUGH MIX
- Mix all the wet ingredients using a dough whisk.
- Sift the flour into the bowl with wet ingredients.
- Add salt and mix everything just enough to incorporate all the ingredients.
- Let it rest for 1 hour.
- DEVELOP GLUTEN & ADD THE BUTTER
- Mix the dough on speed 4 (KitchenAid) until the dough starts to come together and form a uniform mass. It should take approximately 12-15 minutes. The dough is ready when the sides and the bottom of the bowl are clean, and the dough makes a thumping sound as it is mixed.
- With the mixer on speed 3, start adding butter incrementally. The dough will soften. After you add all the butter, increase the speed to 4. Continue to mix until the sides and the bottom of the bowl are clean. It should take approximately another 6 minutes.
- Using a dough scraper, transfer the dough to a lightly buttered large mixing bowl. Perform 2-4 coil folds to shape the dough into a ball. Cover and let it rest for 1 hour. The dough temperature should be 26°C (78.8°F).
- BULK FERMENTATION
- During the bulk fermentation, you will do two sets of coil folds during the first two hours of bulk fermentation, each 1 hour apart. The dough temperature should be 26°C (78.8°F).
- SHAPING THE ROLLS
- Transfer the dough to a clean work surface.
- Using the dough scraper, cut the dough into 20 pieces, each weighing 64g. You can brush the top of the kitchen scale with butter to prevent the dough from sticking to the surface too much.
- Lightly brush the dough scraper with olive oil to prevent the dough from sticking and form the balls. Place the dough balls in the baking pan so that they are just touching.
- COLD FERMENTATION
- Cover the baking pan and place in the fridge overnight.
- PROOFING THE ROLLS
- Take the rolls from the fridge and let them prove on the kitchen counter for 2 hours. The ambient temperature should be around 24°C (75°C).
- BAKING
- Brush the rolls with the egg wash.
- Bake the rolls for 25 minutes at 200°C (392°F) in a preheated oven (preheating is done at 240°C (464°F)).
Sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls
Equipment & Tools
- Baking pan 25cm x 30cm x 6cm (9.8in x 11.8in x 2.4in)
- Stand mixer with the hook attachment
- Kitchen scale
- Dough whisk (optional)
INGREDIENTS
Sourdough starter
- 30 g mature sourdough starter
- 110 g water (non-chlorinated)
- 110 g T00 flour (organic)
The dough
- 85 g whole milk (cold from the fridge)
- 270 g pumpkin puree (Butternut)
- 1 egg (~ 55g)
- 35 g maple syrup (organic)
- 250 g sourdough starter (mature)
- 500 g T00 flour (organic)
- 12 g kosher salt
- 85 g unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 small egg (for the egg wash)
INSTRUCTIONS
Prepare the sourdough starter
- Place the clean glass jar on the kitchen scale and measure the mature sourdough starter. Press tare and measure water directly into the jar (Note 1).Mix until there are no visible lumps of the sourdough starter.
- Press tare on the kitchen scale and measure the needed amount of flour directly into the jar.Mix until there are no dry patches of flour visible and the dough is uniform in structure.Clean the sides of the jar, level the dough, cover, and place in a warm area (25°C; 77°F)
- Gather all the ingredients needed for the dough.
Initial dough mix (2:00 PM)
- Add whole milk, pumpkin puree, an egg, maple syrup, and sourdough starter to the bowl of a stand mixer.Using the dough whisk mix the ingredients until well incorporated.
- Sift in the flour and add the salt.Using a spatula combine the flour and the wet ingredients until there are no more flour bits visible.Cover and let it rest for one hour.
Forming the gluten (3:00-3:30 PM)
- Attach the bowl to the mixer and mix the dough on speed 4 (KitchenAid) until the sides of the bowl and the bottom come out clean (Note 2).This should take approximately 12-15 minutes.
- Start adding the butter incrementally, approximately 1 tbs at a time. As you add the butter the dough will noticeably soften.Continue mixing until again the sides and the bottom of the bowl are clean (Note 3)This should take approximately 6 minutes.
- Transfer the dough to a clean lightly buttered bowl. Fold the dough several times using the coil method to form a ball. The desired dough temperature should be around 25°C (77°F).Cover the dough and set aside.
Bulk fermentation (3:30 PM – 7:30 PM)
- Rest for 1 hour.Fold the dough twice using the coil method. Cover and set aside. The desired dough temperature should be around 25°C (77°F).
- Rest for 1 hour.Fold the dough twice using the coil method. Cover and set aside. The desired dough temperature should be around 25°C (77°F).
- Let the dough rest for another 2 hours.
Shaping the rolls (7:30 PM-7:45 PM)
- Lightly butter the baking pan.
- Divide the dough into 20 pieces each weighing 64g. From each dough piece form a ball using the dough scraper (Note 4)
- Place the shaped bowls in the baking pan so that they are barely touching. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.
Final proof (next day 7:00 AM)
- Take the rolls out from the fridge and let them prove on the kitchen counter for at least 2 hours. The ambient temperature should be around 24°C (75°F) (Note 5)
- Around 30 minutes before the baking time start preheating the oven to 240°C (464°F).
Baking (9:00 AM)
- Once the rolls are ready to bake, brush them with the egg wash (whisk one egg) and place them in the oven to bake. Immediately, turn down the oven temperature to 200°C (392°F) and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. The tops should start to get golden brown (Note 6)
Serving and storing
- Serve the dinner rolls after they have cooled down a bit.
- You can store the rolls in the bread container as you would with bread. They are excellent 2 days after the bake and don't require toasting or preheating.
NOTES
- You can measure the wet ingredients separately as it can be a bit of a challenge to take out the extras from the bowl.
- It is essential to form the gluten bonds before adding the butter as this will ensure we don’t end up with a cake-like dough structure when baked, but instead with an airy and light crumb. Note that if the butter is added before the gluten is formed, it blocks the proper formation of the gluten. The butter kind of coats the gluten forming proteins (gliadin and glutenin) and prevents them from forming a nice bond.
- The dough will soften as the butter is added. By the time the mixing process is finished the dough should be soft, silky, shiny, and very extensible, but not breaking.
- Use some olive oil to brush the dough scraper and for your fingers if the dough is a bit sticky. Just make sure to not oil the dough as it will prevent it from forming the nice round shape. You can also brush the top of the kitchen scale with some butter to prevent the dough from sticking.
- These 2 hours are with an ambient temperature of around 23°C (74°F). If it is warmer in your kitchen it will take less time or longer if it is colder.
- Take care not to overbake the buns as they will become dry. It takes about 5 minutes longer to overbake them and they loose that bit of moisture. That extra moisture makes them extra delicious but they are in no way moist per se.
