Pumpkin Shaped Dinner Rolls

5 from 29 votes

Pumpkin Shaped Dinner Rolls will be the star of the show at Thanksgiving dinner this year. By tying kitchen string around bread dough you get a pumpkin shaped dinner roll.

Prep Time30

Cook Time25

Rising Time1 30

Total Time2 25

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Flour, Honey, Milk, Yeast

Servings: Rolls

Calories: 170kcal

Author: Angela Morris

Equipment

Kitchen string
Baking sheet
Parchment paper

Ingredients

1 cup warm milk
1 package active dry yeast .25 ounce
1 tablespoon honey or more to taste
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
Butcher’s twine
1 egg
vegetable oil or as needed

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Mix warm milk, yeast, honey, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or a regular mixing bowl. Add salt and most of the flour—save some for dusting. Mix or stir it into a sticky dough.
On a floured surface, knead the dough until smooth, adding flour as needed. Shape it into a springy ball and let it rise in a greased bowl, covered, for about 1.5 hours.
Cut 12, 2 foot long pieces of Butcher’s twine and coat them in oil. Set aside.
Punch down the risen dough. Reserve some for "stems" and divide the rest into 12 balls. Let them rest for 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
Start by laying the string across the roll and then turn it over, cross the strings over each other, turn the roll 90 degrees and wrap the string around the other side.
Turning the roll and wrapping the string until you get 8 even sections. Tie the string in a knot and trim the edges. Turn the rolls over so the knot bakes under the roll.
Arrange the rolls on the baking sheets, knotted-side down. Form stems form the extra pieces of dough and place them on the baking sheet next to the rolls.
Allow the rolls to rise for 30 minutes. Whisk the egg and brush the tops of the rolls gently with the egg wash. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
Cool for 15 minutes, then remove strings and insert stems. Transfer rolls to a platter.

Notes

You can use homemade or store-bought dough.
Make sure your yeast is active before proceeding to add the flour to the dough. If your yeast is dead, the rolls won’t rise. It will start to bubble in the milk mixture if it’s active.
Be sure to get the strings as even as possible on the dough because you can’t fix it once they’re tied.
If you want to skip the egg wash, dust the rolls with a bit of flour before baking.

Nutrition