Pumpkin-shaped Dinner Rolls

What’s better than freshly-baked rolls served straight out of the oven? How about deliciously festive pumpkin-shaped dinner rolls? Using simple kitchen twine, we transform regular rolls into an excellent addition to an autumnal feast or whenever you want to add some whimsy to a meal. 

It doesn't get much easier than this recipe: all you need is milk, water, yeast, flour, sugar, salt and butter for the dough and a few hours for proofing. The secret to the shape here is to overlap twine strings around the dough before baking to create segments resembling a pumpkin’s. We also brush the rolls with butter and sprinkle them with flaky sea salt for extra flavour and that coveted golden colour. 

Once baked, the rolls are brushed again for more buttery goodness, and as a finishing touch, we poke a hole at the top and gently insert a cinnamon stick to mimic a pumpkin stem. Tasty, visually pleasing and downright fun, these rolls will surely be a crowd-pleaser. 

For more seasonally-inspired, check out our recipes for Brown Butter Skillet Cornbread and Butternut Squash, Ricotta and Fried Sage Pizza.


Pumpkin-shaped Dinner Rolls

Note

While we’re partial to cooking these dinner rolls in a Volt for more even heat distribution, you can also use a Karu 16, Karu 12G, or your conventional oven for just-as-tasty results.


Two hands holding the ends of kitchen twine strings beneath a dough ball on a table next to more dough balls. Two hands tying the ends of kitchen twine strings over a dough ball on a table next to more dough balls. One hand removing kitchen twine strings from a baked pumpkin-shaped dinner roll above a cooling rack next to a baking tray filled with more baked rolls.