Pumpkin Rosemary Dinner Rolls
These fluffy pumpkin dinner rolls are amazing! The addition of pumpkin and rosemary take the flavor and texture to the next level. SO GOOD!
It might be hard to believe that the world could really need one.more.dinner.roll recipe, but one taste of these fluffy pumpkin dinner rolls, and you’ll be a believer.
These rolls are so fantastic! The pumpkin flavor is subtle (my kids say they can’t taste it at all), but it lends a beautiful hue AND a magically soft texture to the rolls that is unparalleled.
Pumpkin + Rosemary
For the pumpkin, you can use every day canned pumpkin puree or a homemade pumpkin puree.
Because homemade pumpkin puree can sometimes be more watery than store bought, if you use homemade, drain as much liquid as possible and also realize you may need to add a bit more flour than the recipe calls for, which is totally fine!
For the rosemary, try to use fresh if you can find it. It makes a world of difference in the fresh, fragrant flavor. Fresh rosemary is usually pretty easily available in most grocery stores.
You can also leave the rosemary out for a still-delicious, plain pumpkin dinner roll.
Basic Roll Dough
Other than the addition of rosemary and canned pumpkin, this is a pretty basic yeast roll dough.
As with all yeast doughs, remember that it’s ok if you have to add more or less flour than called for in the recipe.
The exact amount of flour will depend on many different factors, like elevation, humidity, how you measure flour, etc.
Judge the flour amount by the look and feel of the dough. It should be soft and slightly tacky to the touch while still forming a ball and clearing the sides of the bowl.
Let it Rise
I am a major lazy pants these days, and I usually let the dough rise right there in the mixing bowl (covered). If that makes you uncomfortable for any reason, you can transfer the dough to a greased bowl and let it rise there. Either will work.
After the dough has risen and doubled in bulk, divide it into pieces (20-ish), roll each piece into a cute little sphere, and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Thanks to the pumpkin in the recipe:
- this dough will rise more slowly than some other yeast dough recipes
- this dough has the most phenomenal silky smooth texture (it’s like playing with playdough except waaaay better because you can eat the final result once it is baked)
Bake and Butter
Once the rolls have risen and are noticeably puffy, pop them in the oven and bake until they are golden. (Spoiler alert: your house is going to smell amazing while these bake.)
Right out of the oven, butter the tops of the warm rolls.
You don’t have to get fancy here. Cutting off a chunk of butter and precariously holding on to the papered end is totally acceptable. Melted butter + pastry brush also works.
Just get butter, and lots of it, on top of those rolls as soon as they come out of the oven.
At this point, you can also sprinkle with a touch of sea salt and/or fresh rosemary if you’d like.
If you want to level up your homemade roll making game, these fluffy pumpkin rosemary dinner rolls are the answer.
Perfect for a holiday meal, they are also fantastic with a simple soup or as a side dish for any other meal that could benefit from a homemade dinner roll. In my world, that basically means any and every meal. 🙂
The soft and fluffy texture makes them ultra-special. I cannot wait to sandwich them with mustard, leftover turkey, and a slice of sharp white cheddar cheese (my go-to after Thanksgiving leftover meal…for days).
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Pumpkin Rosemary Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 cup pumpkin puree, canned or homemade, warmed (see note)
- ¾ cup warm water
- ⅓ cup melted butter or oil
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1-2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary (see note about leaving out)
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast (see note)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 5 1/2-6 cups all-purpose flour (see note)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add the pumpkin, water, melted butter or oil, sugar, eggs, rosemary, yeast, and salt. Mix to combine.
- Add 2 cups of the flour and mix to combine. With the mixer on low speed, continue to add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until a soft dough forms. The exact amount of flour needed will depend on the texture and feel of the dough. It should be soft and slightly tacky to the touch but should form a ball and clear the sides of the bowl. Add additional flour as needed.
- Knead the dough in the mixer for 5-6 minutes.
- Let the dough rise until doubled, 1-2 hours. (You can place the dough in a greased bowl and cover or leave the dough in the mixer to let rise there.)
- Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease the parchment paper with cooking spray.
- Gently deflate the dough. Cut off pieces of dough and roll into balls (I use about 2.5 ounces for each piece of dough). Place the rolls about 1/2-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place an oven rack in the center position (or just slightly higher than center). Bake the rolls for 18-22 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and butter the tops while still warm.
Notes
Recipe Source: adapted slightly from this recipe (after a reader, Loretta, sent it to me – thanks, Loretta!) – I omitted milk, increased water, increased yeast and rosemary, altered mixing method, and a few other changes.
My husband loves them with the rosemary, I prefer the plain pumpkin flavor.
I used fresh pumpkin. It was watery enough from being pressure cooked that I just used 2 cups pumpkin (instead of the 1 cup canned pumpkin and 3/4 cup water.)
I made these for Thanksgiving, and while still incredibly delicious, mine came out a bit flat and were more like biscuits. Do you have any advice? I’m thinking maybe my water temperature was too warm? Still, they were amazing and also really great for lunch today with some leftover turkey & mayo!
Hi Sara – if the rolls flattened, it’s likely that they need a bit more flour to help hold their shape (was the dough overly sticky)?
We needed dairy free for one of our guests this year… using oil in the dough made these fit the bill — and they are delicious! ( Just pulled a batch out of the oven and couldn’t resist trying one — Yum! Thanks, Mel!
These rolls look amazing! Do you think winter squash would work as a substitute for the pumpkin? I have some freshly made buttercup squash and am going to give these a try tomorrow!
I haven’t tried it, but I’m guessing it would work just fine!
Really delicious!
My five-year-old’s reaction: “MMM! That’s good!!”
They really are great!! I used the instant pot method to make pumpkin purée.
Thanks for ANOTHER WINNER, Mel!!
Yay, Hillary! So happy you (and your 5-year old!) liked these!
These are amazing. We ate them at thanksgiving. BEST ROLLS EVER!
Every once in a while, I come back to make this recipe. I am currently a college student at BYUI, and without a stand mixer, I am left to knead all of my dough by hand. Being the passionate bread lover that I am, it gets quite exhausting to hand knead dough for 5-10 minutes.
This is so worth it. I made these tonight (just came out of the oven at 3 AM) and I am in heaven. I have never felt happier than in this moment, as I sit on my couch watching a Enola Holmes 2, and eating this pumpkin roll at 3 in the morning with nothing on my to-do list for tomorrow. I have surpassed college student. I am now simply thriving, with no concerns in the world, other than how I will possibly manage to eat all these rolls tonight so I don’t have to share with my roommates.
These rolls bring joy. These rolls are divine. Works of art. This recipe is my reason for being at this very moment in time.
If you are hesitating to make this recipe, stop. In the words on Nike (don’t copyright me), Just Do It.
If you are Mel and are reading this, thank you. You have blessed me, and my roommates, and the neighbors in the next apartment over because they get to smell the divinity pouring from my apartment. It does not get better than this.
Ah, Elle! You are simply the best. I loved reading this. 🙂
I did not make enough last year, this year I am making them all fall. They freeze beautifully. Yum Yum
I make bread with roasted butternut squash and call it Golden Bread so as not to scare the kids. It’s a hit. Can’t wait to try these rolls! Hopefully they won’t shy away from pumpkin in the rolls… though it should be fine because the word “squash” isn’t involved.
Everything about these are SO good!! I can’t wait to eat them with some of your soups! yum! Thank you!
Could this recipe be made in a loaf?
I haven’t tried this as a loaf, but I think it would probably work quite well!
These rolls are delicious. The pumpkin is subtle. I love the rosemary flavor. They are perfect for the holidays. They aren’t too difficult to make. I definitely recommend them!
I’ve made these twice now. Easy and delicious. Family raves about them. Great sandwich roll too!
So happy you and your family love these rolls!
Hi Mel!
I just wanted you to know that I did a test run on these, since I’m going to be baking them to take to my parents home three hours away on Christmas Day. I made the dough, let it rise in bulk, shaped it into the rolls, placed them on a parchment lined cookie sheet, and popped the rolls into the freezer until they were completely firm. After they were frozen I put them all into a Ziploc bag except for two. I put each of those into greased muffin tins and let them defrost, covered in plastic, in the fridge overnight. Next day I let them rise at room temp. It took about three hours. I just pulled them out of my oven and brushed butter on them and OH MY these are wonderful! I’ll be using the rest of the frozen ones to take to my parents’ home! If I thought they wouldn’t deflate I’d let them rise in the car, but that won’t work. So I’m gonna have to bake them just before leaving home. Not such a bad thing; they’ll still be wonderful after popping them back into the oven to reheat when I get there! Thank you for this recipe and I hope you have a very Merry Christmas!
Amazing feedback, Lori! Thanks for including all your details on making these ahead of time, freezing and baking. Merry Christmas to you, too!
I made these and the fold over rolls for Thanksgiving. Prepped both the day prior and put in the fridge after shaping. They both turned out very well. ALL the adults LOVED the pumpkin rolls. Like really really loved them. These were so flavorful and the texture was perfect.
Ooops! Sorry! I forgot to rate the recipe. Perfect, as always. :p
OMG, these are wonderful! Made some today with a homemade puree from a thin-skinned pumpkin we call “potimarron”. Clean out the seeds, cook to soft in 30 minutes and eat the skin too. Put in extra rosemary that I had to dig out of the snow. 😀 Absolutely delicious, light & fluffy! Will definitely make them again. Thanks for sharing!
I made these this morning. Lovely. Fun color from pumpkin without a huge pumpkin flavor. And a lovely hint of rosemary. Everyone really enjoyed them. Making them again on Saturday for another family get together. Fun to make something new. Of course I made the French Bread Rolls for a second option which were also a hit as usual. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!!
Glad you liked these for a diversion from “regular rolls” Kelli!
I would bet pumpkin honey butter would be great on these. You could use what’s left of the pumpkin puree instead of just throwing it away.
would these work to wrap with baking string to shape into “pumpkins”? I would assume they’d need to be spaced further apart, would that affect baking at all?
I honestly don’t know as I’ve never tried that, but it would certainly be cute. Good luck if you experiment!
Hi Mel! I want to make these to take to my folks at Christmas! I’m in charge of quite a few side dishes this year since my parents are aging. Would it be ok to make the dough in advance, let it rise, shape the rolls in a foil pan and then cover and freeze them at that point? Then maybe let them thaw and begin to rise during the two hour trip, and bake them after I get there? Your thoughts? Or maybe thaw in fridge Christmas Eve, let them rise as soon as I get up Christmas morning, and bake just before leaving (and keep them loosely covered w a towel during the trip? What to do?
Hi Lori, I definitely think these have great make-ahead potential. I have never tried freezing the dough, but it *should* work just fine. I think you’ll need more like 6-8 hours for them to thaw and then rise before baking. I think baking them just before leaving could work, too, although if the day is crazy, I’d say go for the method of freezing and then taking them out to thaw and rise and then bake when you get there. Good luck!
I like to try these rolls but have never worked with yeast. Hoping I can get the right consistency.
For Thanksgiving are these rolls best made the day of or can they be made a day before
I think most rolls are best baked the day of, but you could make the dough for these, shape the rolls and place them on the pan, and then refrigerate overnight and bake Thanksgiving day if you have fridge/oven space. Otherwise, they’d probably be ok made the day before (although might be just a tad bit more dry than being baked the day of).
I sure did, just finished eating 1. Made them exactly as recipe says, putting in 1 TB of chopped rosemary. Will use 2 next time, even though the 1 TB is good. These are wonderful rolls, the dough is so easy to work with, nice texture. I didn’t notice a pumpkin taste, subtle taste of the rosemary. I was testing them for Thanksgiving and I will make them.
Thanks for letting me know, Maureen! So happy you liked them!
I want to eat these so bad ! So four years ago, I made the perfect (for my family) Thanksgiving dinner. I have not deviated from that menu since. It includes your spinach gratin and Parker house rolls..except I roll them like regular rolls, I can’t deal with flattening and folding them lol. Every bread recipe you have posted is amazing..my kids insist on the buttery pull apart bundt bread on Christmas now, but I digress. I know these will be awesome too, but I’ll have to wait until after Thanksgiving to try them out ! Thank, Mel…Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for all of the hard work you put into helping us make these rock star worthy meals…BTW, my kids also insist your cinnamon rolls and candied pecans make their appearance on Christmas. I can’t imagine my holiday menus without your recipes.
Thank you so much, Gigi. I always love seeing your comments pop up. Thanks for being here! 🙂
I can’t wait to make these. I absolutely love everything on your site!
Does this recipe use a 15 oz can of pumpkin? It didn’t specify.
Hi Janay, it uses a little more than half of a 15-ounce can of pumpkin.
In my haste to get everything planned and all kids where they needed to go, I misread “cup” as “can”. Thanks for responding with kindness instead of with a sarcastic “maybe you should have read the ingredient list for your answer”.
I doubled this recipe and I’m glad I did! They were delicious!
One issue I had was they didn’t rise up a lot – perhaps my kitchen was too cold? Will make them again so I appreciate any advice. Thanks Mel!
Hi Ashley – did they puff at all after being shaped and on the pan? If your kitchen is chilly, you can try putting them in a warm oven or other warmer spot. That should help! Also, make sure not to over flour the dough. That can sometimes make it so they don’t rise quite as well.
These rolls are AMAZING!!!!
Thank you for the incredible recipe.
I just did pumpkin then when they came out of the oven I brushed with butter & sprinkled cinnamon sugar on top.
Wow!!!
So happy you loved these, Crystal! Sprinkling them with cinnamon and sugar is a great, unique idea!
These rolls really are delightful. The pumpkin is subtle as is the rosemary but the combination is tasty! I baked them yesterday using the butter option (is there much difference in taste between butter and oil in these rolls?). I enjoyed them very much. My littlest ate hers with strawberry jam 🙂
There isn’t a huge difference between using the oil and butter in the rolls. I’m glad you liked them! Loretta, who sent me the recipe, reminded me that they are apparently AMAZING with honey butter!
Honey Butter
1/2 c. butter, softened
Scant 2 T. honey
2-3 T. powdered sugar
Beat butter until fluffy. Add honey and powdered sugar. Refrigerate. So good on these rolls!
These rolls are divine, so soft and fluffy. I doubled the recipe and the dough was easy to work with even without a mixer. I left out the rosemary since I didn’t have any on hand. It was a great way to use some of my over abundance of pumpkin that our garden blessed us with this year.
Thanks for leaving a review, Jordan! I’m happy you tried these and loved them! Glad they worked out as a double batch and with homemade pumpkin puree!
You mention milk in the notes about measuring the pumpkin, but I don’t see milk in the ingredients list. Error?
It was meant to say water. Just fixed it. Thanks!
These look amazing! Do you butter right away if you want to make them a day ahead?
I would, yes.
These are gorgeous, and I am a *huge* rosemary fan. I might only have 6 people coming for Thanksgiving, but I think we’ll be having 2 dinner roll options (these and traditional). Can’t wait to try them!
Two different roll recipes is never a bad idea. 🙂
These look perfect, i have fresh rosemary on my patio — at what point could I freeze them? Looking to get some stuff done before the Wed Thurs cooking marathon.
I would love to know the answer to this too!
Hi Margie, I have the best luck freezing dinner rolls after they are baked and cooled. You can try freezing them once they’ve been rolled into balls – I haven’t tried with this recipe and don’t know how they’ll fare, but that might work as well.