Pumpkin Yeast Rolls

I've chattered on about not being a baker.  I used to do a good bit of baking - particularly Christmas cookies.  Back in the day when I made 4000 and delivered them to all of my clients.  They'd take two days just to deliver.  And, we won't talk about how long it took to bake all those cookies.  Since my financial planning practice has grown, the time to bake cookies has waned.  But, none of that stopped me from reading the Tate's Bakeshop cookbook cover to cover the night I got it in the mail.  There was also the little matter of the inhalation of their incredible cookies.  I think we ate half of them that first day.  Wow are they ever good.  I know I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again.  That's what cookies should taste like!  Just an fyi - they're a wonderful gift.  If you need a thank you or an I'm sorry or a hostess gift.  Order a box of Tate's cookies. 

What does that all have to do with Pumpkin Yeast Rolls?  In the Tate's Bakeshop cookbook is a recipe for Squash Yeast Rolls.  It totally caught my eye.  Mom's always made my great-grandmother's recipe for yeast rolls.  I've actually made them a couple of times.  They're SO much better than the frozen stuff you get at the grocery.  As I planned the Christmas Eve menu, I knew I was going to make Bernard's buttermilk bread (we'll talk about that later.)  But, to my sister-in-law's family, a meal is not a true meal unless rolls are included.  I kept thinking about the squash rolls. Boy did that sound good.  Pumpkin and yeast rolls all rolled into one.  I just had to try them.

Once again, the recipe was very easy to follow.  I wasn't certain if the dough felt right or I'd added too much flour or too little, but all of that comes with practice.  That's not something you can tell someone in a recipe. 

So, what did we think?  If I had time, these would be on the menu every night.  I don't think I'd get tired of them, they're that good.  The flavor was amazing.  The texture was perfect.  Can you tell I loved these rolls?

Pumpkin Yeast Rolls

Ingredients:
1 1/4 oz package active dry yeast
1/4 c warm water
1/2 c milk
1/2 c pumpkin
1/3 c sugar
1 t salt
4 T butter (salted)
2 1/2 to 2 3/4 c all purpose flour

Directions:
Dissolve the yeast in the water.  The water temperature should be about 105 degrees.  Set it aside for now.

Scald the milk. 

Add the pumpkin, sugar, salt and butter, then remove the pan from the heat.  The butter melted from the ambient heat of the pan.

Add the yeast and water to the pumpkin mixture.

Put 2 1/2 cups flour in a large bowl. 

Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour and mix it well. 

Put the roll dough on a floured board and knead it until is smooth and elastic.  Add more flour as needed.  I didn't measure the flour I added but it was almost certainly the full extra 1/4 cup then some.  The dough was still pretty sticky when I stopped adding flour.

Oil a medium sized bowl.  Put the dough in there,

cover it and put it in a warm place to allow it to rise.  Once it's doubled in size,

punch it down and move it to a floured board.  Divide the dough into twelve equal portions (24 if you want smaller rolls) and shape into rolls. 

I found the easiest way to do this was to cut the dough with a knife into the size pieces I wanted then take each piece and create a smooth top by pulling the edges under.  Place the rolls in a greased 9x13 pan. 

Cover the pan and allow the rolls to double in size.  They'll touch and that's fine. 

Preheat your oven to 350.  Bake the rolls for 20 minutes.
adapted from Tate's Bakeshop cookbook.