Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I actually have ancestors who came over on the Mayflower so I know all about this holiday.  The goal is to gain as much weight as possible, so the extra layer of fat will keep you warm during the cold New England winter. 

These are pumpkin seeds!  Another thing about Thanksgiving is to eat pumpkins.  Preferably in some sort of sweet dish with caramel sauce (see next post).  Pumpkins always remind me of the Scarlet Letter because there is a passage where Nathaniel Hawthorn describes a pumpkin vine outside of a house.  I had to read it in English and my teacher went on and on about the symbolism of the pumpkins (like the roundness of a woman's belly, blah blah).  I though it was so stupid.  I think Hawthorn was just long winded.

So, not a fan of symbolic pumpkins in literature but I am a huge fan of pumpkins baked into things, like dinner rolls with pumpkin seeds.  These were great, a subtle flavor and really soft and moist.  We only had one small oven and a very large turkey so I made the dough the night before an my lovely aunt (at who's house were had Thanksgiving) put them in the oven first thing.  I think they were a big hit, although the rule at Thanksgiving is everyone has to be nice to the cooks who just spent hours in the kitchen and get very grouchy if their cooking is criticized.

Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely, family and friend filled holiday.

Double Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

1 cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup pumpkin purée
1 egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon instant yeast
2 teaspoons salt
5 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted
4 tablespoons melted butter
1. Combine the milk, sugar, pumpkin purée, egg, butter, yeast, salt and flour. Mix until combined, then knead for 5 to 10 minutes. The dough should be soft, but pull away from the sides of the bowl. If it is too sticky, add a bit more flour.
2. Add the pumpkin seeds and mix until incorporated throughout the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
3. Coat two 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide in two. Divide each of the halves into 12 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Arrange 12 balls in each cake pan (they can touch), then cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise for another 45 minutes to an hour, or until puffy.
4. After the rolls have risen for 30 minutes, heat the oven to 350 degrees.
5. When the rolls have finished rising, remove and discard the plastic wrap, brush the tops of the rolls with half of the melted butter. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. After removing them from the oven, brush with the remaining butter. Allow to cool in the pan.

Recipe from The Seattle Times

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