Pumpkin Bread Rolls

Pumpkin Bread Rolls

I’m very much into seasonal cooking and baking, both from a culinary and decorative perspective. In fact, as soon as autumn rolls around, my ceramic pumpkins are already dotted around the home, much to my husband’s dismay ???? And my Staub pumpkin cocotte is also on permanent display on my stove, ready for all sorts of delicious meals, whether they feature pumpkins or not.

As much as I love eating pumpkins, sometimes I go a bit overboard and buy more than we can eat, so I end up having to store chopped pumpkin pieces in the freezer (which I can easily add to soups and stews later), or I steam the pumpkin to use in various recipes at a later time. And one such recipe are these soft and pillowy Pumpkin Bread Rolls.

Pumpkin Milk Buns

These Pumpkin Bread Rolls are made using my Japanese Milk Bun recipe, so they are soft and fluffy and the perfect accompaniment where you would use dinner rolls. Not only are the bread rolls shaped as pumpkins, but some pumpkin purée is added to the dough to give them a wonderful orange hue.

The buns themselves do not taste overly of pumpkin, but they certainly bring an autumnal charm to the table.

Pumpkin Bread Rolls Recipe

This Pumpkin Bread Roll recipe uses Japanese milk bread as a base, which makes the bread rolls very soft and tender. Most of the liquid in the recipe is replaced with homemade steamed pumpkin, but you can also use canned pumpkin purée.

You can make the Pumpkin Bread Rolls following my recipe for Japanese Milk Buns to make dinner roll-style buns, or you can transform them into these pretty pumpkin-shaped buns. I have kept these buns plain, i.e. they are not filled with anything, but these buns are inspired by Japanese Kabocha Buns which typically have a sweet filling.

Japanese Kabocha Buns

Japanese Kabocha Buns are pumpkin-shaped buns filled with a pumpkin paste or a Red Bean Paste. The buns are shaped into pretty pumpkin shapes simply using kitchen string. As the buns start to puff up, the strings form the lines to create the pumpkin shape.

To make these buns, I loosely followed the instructions from Shihoko at Chopstick Chronicles. She also provides an authentic recipe for Japanese Kabocha Buns, if you want to try that instead. Her website is actually a wealth of information for anyone interested in Japanese cuisine – I highly recommend you visit!

The recipe below uses my recipe for Japanese Milk Bread but shaped into unfilled pumpkin-shaped buns.

How to Make Pumpkin Bread Rolls

Step 1

Make the Tangzhong by whisking together the ingredients in a small saucepan. Place the saucepan over low heat, and continue whisking until the mixture forms a thick paste. You want a thick enough consistency so that, as you whisk the mixture, the whisk leaves lines which do not move.

Scrape the Tangzhong into a small bowl and set it aside to cool. Once cooled, cover the bowl with clingfilm and place it in the fridge overnight.

If you are in a hurry, you can use the Tangzhong as soon as it has cooled to room temperature. But leaving the Tangzhong overnight allows it to develop more flavour.

Step 2

Measure the flour, yeast, salt and sugar into the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Lightly mix the ingredients together.

Step 3

Add the egg, Tangzhong and pumpkin purée. Use the dough hook to start to incorporate everything together. It may take some time for the dry ingredients to fully incorporate the wet ingredients and form a dough. If the mixture looks too dry, slowly add 1-2 tablespoons of milk until everything comes together in a ball of dough. Then add the butter, one tablespoon at a time.

Step 4

Knead the dough on medium speed for 10-15 minutes until you have a dough which passes the windowpane test.

To perform the “windowpane test”, pinch off a small piece of dough, roll it into a ball and use your hands to gently stretch the dough. If the dough can stretch to form a thin sheet and be almost translucent so that you can see the light through it, your dough has passed the “windowpane test”. This means that you have kneaded the dough sufficiently and that the dough is ready to be proofed.

At this stage, the dough will be somewhat sticky and tacky, mostly because of the butter and high liquid content. But the dough should be coming away from the sides of the bowl during the mixing. Once the dough has had its first proofing, it will be less sticky to the touch and easier to handle.

Step 5

Lightly oil a large mixing bowl. Roll the dough into a smooth-ish ball and place it inside the bowl.

Cover with a clean tea towel, and set it aside somewhere warm for about 1 hour, or until it has doubled in size.

Step 6

Once the dough has doubled in size, gently remove the dough from the bowl. The dough will deflate as you handle it.

Step 7

Divide the dough into 9 equal portions (I recommend using a digital kitchen scale). Roll each portion into a smooth ball. Place the balls of dough into a square baking pan lined with baking paper.

Step 8

Shape the buns to form little pumpkins.

Cut 9 pieces of kitchen string measuring 80 cm in length.

Fill a small bowl with some vegetable oil. Dip one piece of string into the oil, and then blot it between some sheets of kitchen paper.

Lay the string in front of you horizontally, and place a piece of dough in the middle (the top of the dough should be facing up). Bring the pieces of string together to loosely tie a knot in the centre of the dough.

Then angle the strings across the buns, flip them over, and loosely tie a knot on the other side.

To create buns with 8 segments, tie a knot at 4 cross-sections (this is easier for beginners).

To create buns with 6 segments, tie a knot at 3 cross-sections.

Repeat the above steps with the remaining pieces of dough.

Remember to only secure the string loosely to give the dough some space to expand. If the strings are too tight, the resulting buns will lose their shape.

Step 9

Cover the pan with plastic wrap and leave it somewhere warm for about 30 minutes, or until the buns have puffed up slightly.

Step 10

Gently brush the buns with some milk, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the buns are lightly golden.

If the buns are browning too quickly (check at 10-15 minutes), loosely cover them with a sheet of foil for the rest of the baking time.

Tips for Making Bread Dough Ahead of Time

I love baking bread, but I don’t love getting up extra early to get started on the dough. So I typically make the dough the night before and allow it to rise slowly in the fridge overnight. The longer proofing time has the added benefit of allowing the dough to develop more flavour and a better texture. Come the morning, the dough will have at least doubled in size, and it will be ready for shaping as per the recipe.

To make the dough the night before:

1. Make the dough as per the recipe.
2. Place the dough into a large oiled bowl.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a reusable bowl cover.
4. Place the bowl into the fridge.
5. Let the dough rise overnight, or for at least 8-10 hours.
6. The next morning, the dough should have at least doubled in size.
7. Gently remove the dough from the bowl.
8. The dough is ready for shaping and the second proof as per the recipe.
9. As the dough will be cold from the fridge, the second proof may take slightly longer.