• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
My Sequined Life logo
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • About
  • Contact
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipe Index
  • About
  • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ร—

    Home ยป Recipes ยป Breads

    Garlic and Herb Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

    Published: Oct 8, 2018 ยท Modified: Jul 4, 2020 by Alyssa ยท This post may contain affiliate links.

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe Share via Email

    This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #PrepSealSave #CollectiveBias

    Garlic and herb pumpkin dinner rolls are perfectly flaky and fluffy, and make the best addition to a fall dinner. These pull-apart, yeast-based rolls are flavored with garlic and fresh herbs and are easy to make.

    Pull-apart pumpkin rolls in a round cake pan topped with fresh thyme sprigs

    It's no secret that I do a lot of cooking and baking. My husband will tell you that I have a knack for using every work surface in our kitchen and somehow dirtying most of our utensils and kitchen gear after preparing a few recipes. It just comes with the territory, you know?

    Something that may come with the territory but I'm always fighting against is food waste. We're a household of two, so more often than not we have considerable leftovers. Our freezer is usually maxed out, so it can be hair-raising trying to store everything for the longer-term so it doesn't go to waste.

    A picture of the boxes of the FoodSaver and the Combo Pack of rolls and bags

    Enter, FoodSaver® FM3941 Vacuum Sealing System and FoodSaver® Bags and Rolls Value Pack. FoodSaver® is the solution for saving food, time, and money, and is the number one vacuum sealing solution in the US.

    On the food front, it keeps food fresh for 5x (!) longer than ordinary storage methods like foil, zipper bags, plastic wrap and containers. Ever get burned by freezer burn? It has built-in features to easily preserve food in the freezer or refrigerator. For instance with meat, by taking all of the air out you can ensure your meat will be cooked evenly throughout.

    FoodSaver® also saves time by making entertaining a breeze. You can marinate in minutes instead of hours, and cook ahead with batch-cooking and meal planning.

    And then, less waste = saving money. You can save up to $2,700 yearly based on buying in bulk and/or on sale and preventing waste. Lots of benefits to make your kitchen life easier here.

    An arm showing the steps to creating a vacuum bag in the FoodSaver.

    FoodSaver® FM3941 includes vacuum seal bags, vacuum zipper bags and containers designed to work together with vacuum sealers for optimal performance. Plus it's easy to use!

    Here are the steps I took to seal fresh rosemary from my garden in minutes.

    1. Turn the latch on the righthand side to "Open". Open the lid, and place a roll in the designated space. Pull out enough of the roll so that the bottom is over the sealing strip (right below where my thumb is).
    2. Close the lid and turn the latch to "On". Press the "Seal" button, and wait until the red seal indicator light is off. This will form the bottom seal of a bag. Open the lid and pull out enough of the roll to comfortably seal whatever it is you're sealing. Close the lid and turn to latch to "On" again.
    3. Press the "Seal" button again. This is forming the bottom of the next bag on the roll. While it's sealing you can use the built-in slide bag cutter to cut the current bag off.

    A side-by-side image of fresh rosemary sprigs in a sealing bag before being vacuum sealed and after

    Once I placed my rosemary into the bag, I arranged the open end of the bag along the sealing strip, closed the lid, and turned the latch to "On". This time I pressed the "Vac/Seal" button and watched as the bag quickly became vacuumed. And there you have it, fresh rosemary with an extended shelf life.

    I made sure to keep some rosemary out so I could make these garlic and herb pumpkin dinner rolls. Pumpkin puree adds a delicious element to a yeast-based dinner roll recipe, and is an extra-festive treat for fall meals.

    This recipe yields eight rolls, and is baked pull-apart style in a 9" round pan. While the total recipe time appears quite hefty, the majority of it is made up of inactive rise time, so you aren't on the go for the entirety.

    A side-by-side of the dough in a mixing bowl before rising (left) and after (right) as it doubled in size

    How to make these rolls

    The first step of these pumpkin dinner rolls is to combine the ingredients, yeast and all, in a bowl. You'll want to start with your milk (use your favorite variety, I'm partial to 2%) around 105°F-110°F, and then sprinkle the yeast over top. This gives the yeast a chance to activate a bit as you're measuring out the rest of the ingredients.

    As the dough comes together, it's likely that you'll need to add additional flour to firm it up some and mitigate the stickiness. I added ยผ cup (four tablespoons) at this point, but I suggest adding it one tablespoon at a time until the dough is cohesive and just a little bit sticky. It may take less/more for you.

    Rolls in the round cake pan before the second rise where they're not touching (left) and after when they have expanded to touch (right)

    The dough rises two times: once as one big ball and then again once the rolls are shaped.

    The first rise takes about an hour. It's not crazy necessary that the dough doubles in size as is a common metric you might see with yeast-based bread recipes, but you'll want the dough to fill out and become smoother and puffed up.

    Then the dough is divided into eight equal sections, each formed into a ball and placed in a pan. You'll want the pumpkin dinner rolls to be equally-spaced (they won't be touching yet). After another forty-five minutes or so of rise time, the rolls should be touching one another.

    Bake them until golden-brown, then pull apart to see the fluffy, flaky layers inside. The pumpkin adds a subtle flavor that pairs so well with garlic and fresh herbs. What a great addition to a fall dinner table. ๐Ÿ™‚

    A close up of the pull-apart rolls in a cake pan garnished with fresh thyme sprigs

    Make-ahead tip

    Homemade rolls are always a special treat for entertaining and dinner parties, but between the two rises and bake time, they take up a fair amount of your day-of prep time.

    With FoodSaver® FM3941, you can prolong that fresh-baked flavor and prep these rolls in advance! As these pumpkin dinner rolls are soft, I flash-froze them until fully firm, then placed them in a FoodSaver® bag that I had made. The multi-layer, BPA-free vacuum-seal bags are flexible enough to hug food and seal effectively without gaps.

    Once vacuumed and sealed, they can be stored in the freezer or at room temperature while maintaining freshness.

    A side-by-side of the rolls in a sealing bag before sealing (left) and after (right)

    Recipe notes

    • These rolls are nicely-sized, so they would make a great bun for burgers or a roll for sandwiches.
    • It's better to add additional flour later on as needed than start out with too much. Start with adding 2 ยฝ cups as the dough first comes together, and then be prepared to add extra (two to four tablespoons) if needed.
    • Be sure you are using 100% pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. The cans are usually next to each other on the shelf, but the pumpkin pie filling contains sweetener and spices that wouldn't work in these savory pumpkin dinner rolls.
    Pull-apart pumpkin rolls in a round cake pan topped with fresh thyme sprigs

    Garlic and Herb Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

    Garlic and herb pumpkin dinner rolls are perfectly flaky and fluffy, and make the best addition to a fall dinner. These pull-apart, yeast-based rolls are flavored with garlic and fresh herbs and are easy to make.
    4.45 from 9 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Breads
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 25 minutes
    Rise Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
    Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
    Servings: 8 rolls
    Calories: 199kcal
    Author: Alyssa

    Ingredients

    • ยผ cup warm milk (between 105 - 110°F)
    • 1 ยพ teaspoon active dry yeast
    • 1 ยฝ tablespoon granulated sugar
    • 2 tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 egg
    • โ…“ cup plus 1 tbsp pumpkin puree
    • 1 teaspoon diced fresh rosemary
    • 1 teaspoon diced fresh basil
    • ยฝ teaspoon diced fresh thyme
    • 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
    • 2 ยฝ cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Instructions

    • Add all ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Mix on medium to high speed as the dough comes together. Add additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time (as needed) until the dough is pliable and not too sticky. I added an additional ยผ cup (4 tablespoons) during this step.
    • Grease a separate bowl with olive oil and turn out dough into it. Pick the ball of dough up and turn it over to coat all sides of it with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. The dough will fill out and puff up some, but it doesn't need to double in size.
    • Grease the bottom and sides of a 9" round pan with olive. Once the dough has risen, turn out dough onto a greased surface and cut into 8 equally-sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and place equally-spaced in the greased pan.
    • Spray a piece of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it over the rolls in the pan, spray-side down. Let rolls rise again for another 40-45 minutes, or until they touch one another. Preheat the oven to 350°F near the end of this rise time.
    • Bake rolls for 25-30 minutes, or until they are golden and firm to the touch. If needed, loosely drape a sheet of aluminum foil over top of the pan to prevent the rolls from browning too much before they are done.
    • Remove rolls from the oven and brush with olive oil or butter. Serve while warm.

    Notes

    Milk: I like to use 2%, your preferred variety works.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 199kcal | Carbohydrates: 33.8g | Protein: 5.5g | Fat: 4.7g | Saturated Fat: 0.9g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 304mg | Potassium: 97mg | Fiber: 1.6g | Sugar: 3.2g | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 2mg
    Tried this Recipe?Tag @mysequinedlife - I love to see what you're making!

    Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.

    Food Safety and Nutrition Disclaimer

    A fluffy dinner roll on a small appetizer plate next to a butter knife

     

     
    « Vanilla Chai Macaroons
    Skillet Rosemary Balsamic Pork Chops »
    • Facebook
    • Email

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Rosie says

      November 14, 2020 at 5:19 pm

      5 stars
      WOW! So flavorful and DELICIOUS! Super easy too! I will most definitely make these again! Hoping to add them to our Thanksgiving menu!

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        November 15, 2020 at 10:17 am

        So glad you like them! Thanks for letting me know how they went. ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    2. Han says

      September 16, 2020 at 12:30 pm

      3 stars
      Good recipe, I love the combination of flavors and opportunities to use some fresh herbs from the garden! I started by putting the milk, sugar, and yeast in a separate bowl to activate the yeast while I got the rest of the ingredients together. When making bread, I found that it works better when you add the flour last as it helps add the right amount of flour and allows the other ingredients to combine better. I definitely did not use all the flour and probably only used about 2 cups. The dough rose excellently and I definitely filled the 9โ€ pan. The dough was already touching when I put them in the pan before the second proof. If I make these again Iโ€™ll probably use a baking sheet and make more rolls with the dough. These would make a great addition to Thanksgiving dinner!

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        September 22, 2020 at 9:21 am

        Thank you for your review! I'm glad you were able to tweak the recipe to your liking. And you're right - they would be an extra festive touch for Thanksgiving! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    3. Wilhelmina says

      October 18, 2018 at 6:32 am

      5 stars
      These rolls are heavenly!!!

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        October 18, 2018 at 8:10 am

        Thank you!

        Reply
    4. Brandi says

      October 18, 2018 at 5:15 am

      5 stars
      Savory and so flaky! Our family favorite fall dinner rolls. oh and pumpkin makes it so flavorful!

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        October 18, 2018 at 12:25 pm

        Glad you like them, Brandi! ๐Ÿ™‚

        Reply
    5. Jane says

      October 17, 2018 at 11:06 am

      3 stars
      Just wondering...what about using bread flour?

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        October 17, 2018 at 8:51 pm

        Hi Jane, you can use bread flour if you like. I use all-purpose because that's what I reliably have on hand, but subbing in an equal amount of bread flour should work just fine, too.

        Reply
    6. Sica says

      October 15, 2018 at 4:51 pm

      What if I donโ€™t have a stand up mixer with dough attachment

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        October 16, 2018 at 2:47 pm

        Hi Sica, I'd start by mixing together the ingredients your preferred way (by hand, with a hand mixer, or by using a regular paddle attachment for a stand mixer). Then I'd knead the dough on a floured surface (and with extra flour, as needed) until it's elastic and smooth. Then you should be able to continue on with step #2. I hope that helps!

        Reply
    7. Allynne says

      October 08, 2018 at 11:48 am

      Omg perfection in a roll!

      Reply
      • Alyssa says

        October 09, 2018 at 8:25 am

        Thank you!!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    A picture of a woman smiling with a text overlay reading well, hey there.

    Hi! Iโ€™m Alyssa and welcome to my food blog. Here you can find a variety of food and drink recipes, running the gamut from better-for-you main dishes to holiday fare, and from lighter bites to some serious desserts. All with the occasional cocktail recipe thrown in for good measure, too. ♥ Learn more โ†’

    As Featured In...

    A collage of publication logos.

    Simple, Tested Basics

    • The Best Homemade Taco Seasoning
    • Oven Roasted Sweet Potatoes
    • Oven Roasted Frozen Broccoli
    • How to Caramelize Onions
    • How to Make Croutons
    • Easy Homemade Pizza Dough
    • Air Fryer Baked Potato
    • How to Roast Garlic

    Popular Recipes

    • Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken
    • Healthy Peanut Butter Cookies
    • Italian Baked Turkey Meatballs
    • Southern Instant Pot Collard Greens
    • Italian Anise Cookies
    • Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

    Footer

    โ†‘ back to top

    About

    • About Me
    • Contact

    Policies

    • Privacy Policy & Disclosure
    • Accessibility Statement

    More

    • Recipe Index
    • Dinner Hall of Fame
    • Instant Pot Recipes
    • Air Fryer Favorites

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright ยฉ 2013 - 2023 My Sequined Life