Pumpkin shaped dinner rolls are a festive and delicious dinner roll to serve up this Thanksgiving dinner. A pumpkin-shaped sweet dinner roll made with pumpkin puree, flour, yeast, and a pretzel rod for the topper of the pumpkins.

This dinner roll recipe is crazy simple, and you will find that these mini pumpkins will be a highlight to the Thanksgiving table or holiday dinner.

These Pumpkin Shaped Dinner Rolls are perfect for any family gathering or Thanksgiving celebration because they can be served warm from the oven as an appetizer along with other goodies!

Our pumpkin dinner rolls recipe can be used or tweaked to make them your own! Make sure to keep an eye on these while they bake because depending on how large your dough is rolled out, they may cook faster than towards the end of baking time. This will ensure that they’re cooked through golden brown without being too crispy at their edges!

Ingredients You Will Need for Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

Flour. All-purpose flour is what I used for this bread recipe. Now, you are welcome to use bread flour if you prefer when making dinner rolls. You will use extra for working the dough.

Pumpkin Puree. Canned pumpkin puree is just pumpkin pureed. Make sure to grab this instead of buying a pumpkin pie mix. These are two different things.

Milk. Grab your milk to use for this dinner roll. You could use plant-based milk or Lactaid if you need it.

Sugar. The sugar adds sweetness and helps the yeast to activate as well.

Yeast. Active dry yeast is what I used; you will want to make sure to allow your yeast to activate before you move on to mixing up the dinner roll mixture.

Butter. I do recommend using butter instead of margarine. Make sure that if you use salted butter, omit the salt in the recipe.

Pretzel Rods. The pretzel rods are the top stem of the rolls. These are going to look like the wooden stem of a traditional pumpkin.

Oil. You are welcome to use canola, olive oil, or even vegetable oil.

Twine. The twine will be used to create the dents in the rolls to mimic the shape of the pumpkin. Make sure you are using food-safe twine as you will bake the rolls with the twine.

There are different ways to make this recipe, including maple syrup, egg wash, honey, molasses, and brown sugar. However, we share a recipe below that skips those ingredients for just milk, sugar, butter, egg, flour, and pumpkin puree. Find the recipe below.

How to make Pumpkin Bread Rolls

Yields: approx 16 rolls

Time: Approx 2hrs 45mins

Ingredients

4 ½ cups flour (more if needed)
1 – 15oz can pumpkin puree
½ cup milk
¼ cup white sugar
2 ½ teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
¼ cup butter, melted
1 Large Egg
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
8 large pretzel rods
2-3 Tablespoons oil
Food safe twine

Directions for making pumpkin dinner rolls

In a small bowl or measuring cup, warm the milk to 100-110 degrees.
Add the yeast and a spoonful of the sugar to the warm milk. Gently stir, then let sit for 5 minutes to bloom.
Add the pumpkin puree, the remaining sugar, salt, melted butter, and egg to the stand mixer bowl.
When the yeast has bloomed, add to a large bowl the pumpkin mixture—then using a paddle mix on low until combined.
Slowly add in the flour, about halfway through, switch to a dough hook, then continue to add in the remaining flour.
This dough will be soft and sticky; it should pull away from the edges after kneading for a couple of minutes. If it does not, add in a little extra flour.
Knead the dough for 7-10 minutes.
Pour a little oil into the bottom of a large bowl. Form the dough into a ball and roll in the oil to coat. Leave the dough ball in the oiled bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour until doubled in size.
While the dough is rising, cut 64, 10″ pieces of food-safe twine. Place the cut twine into a small bowl with 1-2 Tablespoons of oil, let soak.
After the dough rises, doubling in size, dump the dough out onto an oiled work surface. Cut the dough into 16 equal pieces. Take each piece and shape into a ball by pulling all of the edges to the center and pinching to seal, set aside.
Take 4 pieces of the oiled cut twine. Arrange the twine so that the center of each piece crosses each other and fans out to look like a cut pie, making sure the sections are all equal in size.
Take one of the dough balls and place it seam-side up on top of the twine. Take the ends of one of the pieces of twine and gently tie it together over the top of the dough ball. Repeat this with each of the 4 pieces of twine. Trim any excess twine. Place the dough ball onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, knot-side down.
Repeat the tying process with all of the dough balls, placing them on the prepared baking sheet with plenty of space between them (you will need 2 baking sheets to fit 16 rolls).
Cover the tied rolls and place in a warm area to rise for 30-60 minutes or until almost doubled in size.
Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 20-30 minutes.
Remove rolls from the oven and let cool.
Once cooled, gently cut and remove the string from the rolls.
Cut the ends of the pretzel rods off, so the end pieces are about 1.5″ each.
Gently press the cut-end of the pretzel rod into the center of each roll from the top down.
Serve and enjoy!

How to Serve These Pumpkin Shaped Dinner Rolls

Serve with a cinnamon butter
Serve with plain butter
Pair next to soup for dipping in your soup
Eat the rolls plain
Serve with some cranberry sauce for the holidays
Dip them in maple syrup
Etc.

How to Know Your Yeast Is Activated

Activating or blooming your yeast means allowing it to foam up, showing it is live and activated. You will use warm milk, yeast, and a spoonful of sugar.

Let the yeast sit for 5-10 minutes once you mix it up. Then you will see the mixture begin to foam. If the yeast foams, it means it is live and activated. Otherwise, if it doesn’t, the yeast is dead and won’t allow your rolls to rise the way you need. Then you will need to re-start.

How The Rolls Keep the Pumpkin Shape

They keep the shape because you leave the twine on as you bake the dinner rolls. Then once you are done cooking, you will cut them free with some kitchen scissors.

Storing Dinner Rolls

Room Temperature. You can store these dinner rolls at room temperature in an airtight container or bag. Make sure the rolls are thoroughly cooled before you store them.

Freezer Friendly. If you want, you can freeze your dinner rolls for 2-3 months. Freeze in an airtight container or freezer bag. Then thaw on the counter when you are ready to eat. Or you can wrap tightly in foil and warm up in the microwave for a fresh-out-of-the-oven roll.

There are so many tasty ways to serve up these pumpkin rolls. Give it a try today, and let me know your favorite way to eat these dinner rolls.

Pumpkin dinner rolls are perfect for family gatherings, fall harvest party ideas, or Thanksgiving side dishes. This may soon become your family’s favorite dinner roll recipe.

Find more Thanksgiving dinner recipes below:

Air Fryer Hand Pies Recipe Using Thanksgiving Leftovers

40+ Basic Thanksgiving Recipes For A Simple Thanksgiving Menu

Easy Mashed Potatoes Recipe

Creamy Collard Greens with Bacon

Easy Cornish Hens Recipe