Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

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Pumpkin Dinner Rolls are egg free and filled with pumpkin spice flavor. This quick and easy pumpkin recipe makes the perfect bread for Thanksgiving dinner.

One of our most popular recipes are our buttery soft rolls, but today I’m sharing with you a pumpkin dinner rolls recipe that is giving that fluffy dinner roll a little competition!

Meet my favorite new recipe…Pumpkin Yeast Rolls that are egg free, soft, and have a lightly pumpkin spice flavor. If you’re hesitant to work with yeast, this is the recipe to start with. I promise they are easy!

pumpkin dinner rolls on a table

About this Pumpkin Dinner Rolls Recipe:

  • Flavor: Lightly sweet, filled with cinnamon and pumpkin flavor.
  • Texture: The pumpkin bread rolls are soft and tender. The pumpkin purée keeps the rolls soft the next day, too.
  • Method: Mix this dough in a stand mixer or by hand, but you can also make the dough in a bread machine, then shape and bake them in the oven.

Ingredients

ingredients for pumpkin dinner rolls on a table

A few notes about the ingredients:

  • I use instant yeast, but active dry yeast will work as well. Either way, I activate the yeast in the warm milk before adding the other ingredients.
  • Buy solid-pack pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling, which is already seasoned and sweetened. Or, you can use homemade pumpkin puree.
  • I recommend bread flour for the pumpkin rolls. Bread flour gives the rolls more structure than all-purpose, which is important when they are no eggs in the recipe. All-purpose flour will work in a pinch.

Make the dough.

There are 3 ways to mix the dough.

  • By hand: Mixing dough by hand is the most traditional method and allows you to develop a feel for the dough’s texture as it comes together.
  • With a stand mixer. A stand mixer, equipped with a dough hook attachment, is a popular choice for mixing bread dough, as it requires less manual effort and can be more consistent.
  • Bread machine on dough setting. By far the easiest method (which means it is my favorite 😉 ) is using the bread machine’s dough setting. Add the ingredients to the machine’s bread pan in the order recommended by the manufacturer, typically starting with the wet ingredients followed by the dry ingredients and topped with yeast. The press the “dough” button.

Although the bread machine is the method I use the most, the process I’m showing today is with using a stand mixer.

  • Warm the milk in a bowl in the microwave for just about 1 minute until it is reaches 115ºF. Pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and allow it to activate for 3-4 minutes.
  • Add in the sugar, pumpkin, softened butter, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and vanilla. Use the beater blade on low speed to mix this just until combined. About 30 seconds.
  • Add in 2 cups of flour and the salt. Mix about 30 seconds until combined. Then add in the remaining 2 cups of flour. Mix just until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes.
  • Remove the beater blade and place the dough hook on the stand mixer. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes on low speed. Add more flour a tablespoon at a time as needed during kneading. The dough should still feel sticky and tacky to the touch, but it should not be so wet that it sticks all over your hands. As the dough turns in the stand mixer bowl, it will pull away from the sides, but may stick to the bottom slightly. This is ok and shows the dough is not too dry.
collage of how to make pumpkin dinner rolls dough

Let the dough rise.

If the dough is in a warm place, it should only take 30 minutes or so for the first rise until nearly double. Is your house cold? Try one our tips for getting dough to rise.

Shape the rolls.

Once the dough has risen, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut the dough into 12 dough balls of the same size.

Roll them into round balls and place them into a greased 9×13″ baking pan.

Final rise and bake.

Cover and rise in a warm place for 15-20 minutes while the oven is pre-heating to 375ºF. It’s ok if they don’t rise too much at this point. They’ll pop up during baking.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with butter when they come out of the oven. Even better yet? Brush with honey butter or cinnamon butter. 😋

butter spreading on the top of a warm pumpkin roll

How do you keep dinner rolls warm?

Keeping dinner rolls warm is easy if you have some dry beans on hand. Here’s how to do it:

  • Wrap dry beans in a cloth napkin and heat in the microwave until the beans are very warm.
  • Place another large cloth napkin in a bread bowl and allow the edges to overhang the bowl.
  • Place the wrapped beans on top of the napkin in the bowl.
  • Pile the rolls in the bowl, then cover with the cloth napkin that is overhanging the bowl. This will keep your rolls warm without drying them out.
half of a pumpkin dinner roll with butter

How do you reheat dinner rolls?

To reheat dinner rolls, set the oven to 300ºF. Brush the top of the rolls with melted butter and place them on a baking sheet. Warm for 7-8 minutes or until the rolls are warm. The butter helps the tops from getting dried out.

pumpkin dinner rolls on a white piece of paper
pumpkin dinner rolls on a white piece of paper

Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

4.77 from 47 votes
Pumpkin Dinner Rolls are egg free and filled with pumpkin spice flavor. This quick and easy pumpkin recipe makes the perfect bread for Thanksgiving dinner.
Servings 12
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 18 minutes
Rise time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 23 minutes

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Ingredients
 

  • 1 cup warm milk 115ºF, 8 ounces
  • 1 package instant yeast 7 grams
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar 105 grams
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree 119 grams, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup salted butter softened, 4 ounces
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 5 grams
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon 4 grams
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 8 grams
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 grams
  • 4 to 4 1/2 cups bread flour 520 grams + up to 65 grams more as needed

Instructions
 

  • Warm the milk in a bowl in the microwave for just about 1 minute until it is reaches 115ºF. Pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the top and allow it to activate for 3-4 minutes.
  • Add in the sugar, pumpkin, softened butter, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon and vanilla. Use the beater blade on low speed to mix this just until combined. About 30 seconds.
  • Add in 2 cups of flour and the salt. Mix about 30 seconds until combined. Then add in the remaining 2 cups of flour. Mix just until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Allow the mixture to rest for 5 minutes.
  • Remove the beater blade and place the dough hook on the stand mixer. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes on low speed. Add more flour a tablespoon at a time as needed during kneading. The dough should still feel sticky and tacky to the touch, but it should not be so wet that it sticks all over your hands. As the dough turns in the stand mixer bowl, it will pull away from the sides, but may stick to the bottom slightly. This is ok and shows the dough is not too dry.
  • Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover it with plastic wrap or a towel. Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until it has almost doubled, about 30 minutes.
  • Split the dough into 12 balls. Shape them into smooth round balls.
  • Place in a greased 9×13 pan glass pan. Cover and rise in a warm place for 15-20 minutes while the oven is heating. Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
  • Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with butter when they come out of the oven.

Video

Notes

  • Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. The rolls also freeze well for up to 6 weeks.
  • Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.
The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 9 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of cake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. The information in the nutrition box are calculated through a program and there is room for error. If you need an accurate count, I recommend running the ingredients through your favorite nutrition calculator.**

Nutrition

Calories: 294kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 170mg | Potassium: 124mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 1861IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 51mg | Iron: 1mg
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Calories 294
Keyword pumpkin bread, thanksgiving dinner, thanksgiving dinner rolls, yeast dinner rolls

Other Thanksgiving Dinner Recipes

About Julie Clark

I'm Julie Clark, CEO and recipe developer of Tastes of Lizzy T. With my B.A. in Education and over 30 years of cooking and baking, I want to teach YOU the best of our family recipes.

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Elizabeth Walker
3 years ago

I had left I’ve sweet potato, and used that in place of pumpkin- fingers crossed

Meera
3 years ago

4 stars
Yeah i made it. It came out so good. I got 18 rolls. Very easy. Very tasty. Thanks for sharing. I am glad it does not contain eggs. I have photos. Will be making it again. Will use less sugar since my hubby wants it less sweet. Oh…i used organic fresh pumpkin not canned pumpkin. I puree it in the blender with little water. It was all good.

Bethany
4 years ago

5 stars
Made them tonight as a test run before Thanksgiving. They were great. Cooked about 20 minutes. Will add them to the Thanksgiving bread basket. Excellent!

Chi
5 years ago

Have you tried this with bread flour?

Jennifer
6 years ago

What is pumpkin purée? Can you use canned pumpkin?

Amanda
1 year ago

Hmmm mine don’t have any flavor at all! Was it supposed to be salted or unsalted butter? My first time baking bread not sure what I did wrong.

Stephanie Daugherty
1 year ago

I noticed that the video and the instructions on the recipe are different… which should I follow?

Kelly
2 years ago

4 stars
Any thoughts on why my bread didn’t rise? I used a new package of instant yeast.

Alexandra Steinberg
2 years ago

Hi! If I have Fleischmann’s quick rise instant yeast, how many teaspoons should I use in the recipe??

Savannah
3 years ago

Can I use Kroger Active Dry Yeast? It does say to dissolve in water, I’m not sure if I should do that because your recipe doesn’t

Kayzee
4 years ago

Sounds delicious, do you know if these can be frozen for a few weeks?

Mikayla
4 years ago

5 stars
Made these the other day. Really great, soft rolls. Very good, easy to follow recipe. The pumpkin flavor is pretty light, so I recommend some extra spices if you really want that flavor to pop.

Emily
4 years ago

5 stars
I amazed by these rolls! They are incredible! I will be making these regularly from now on. Everyone loved them! If I could give more than 5 stars I would!

Kern
4 years ago

5 stars
Love this recipe it works,
Families complained about the bread not being too sweet.
So making it for thanksgiving!

Renee Ziaya
5 years ago

5 stars
In the recipe it mixes salt with the yeast! I was always told never to do this when rising a yeast dough because salt kills yeast!