Pumpkin brioche rolls taste like a cross between dinner rolls and pumpkin pie. They proof twice, bake golden, and come out soft enough to pull apart warm.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
This is a brief summary of the recipe. Jump to the recipe to get the full details.
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Proof Time
1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time
2 hours 5 minutes
Servings
12 rolls
Difficulty
Intermediate
Calories *
186 kcal per serving
Technique
Mix and knead dough, proof twice, score tops, brush with egg wash, and bake.
Flavor Profile
Buttery brioche rolls warmly spiced. Think pumpkin pie meets dinner roll!
* Based on nutrition panel
So delicious! Cold-proofed overnight, so I made the recipe with 1/2 the amount of yeast. Perfectly delicious, not too spiced, perfect hint of sweetness. Thank you! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Alex
Think of this recipe as the result of the fact that a) I love carbs and b) because of my carb love, I couldn’t decide between pumpkin pie and dinner rolls. So I combined them.
Genius/crazy/this is my brain on Thanksgiving? It’s probably all of the above.
Thanksgiving has looked a little different for us every year for the last five or so years. While growing up it was always at my parents’ house, since Elliott and I got hitched it’s also been in our tiny apartment in Iowa, at his parents’ place and this year, we are hosting again. Except on Saturday, instead of Thursday (because the husband has to work on the holiday, boo).
Another new tradition that’s popped up somewhat unplanned-ly is the fact that I always end up making the dinner rolls and at least one of the desserts. It’s not like we even decided, “Hey Steph, these are the things you make.” It just happened that way — which means those are just the things I tend to make for funsies. Someone else can be in the charge of the turkey; I’m very good at eating that, though.
This year, these pumpkin pie brioche rolls will obviously be gracing the Thanksgiving dinner table as the dinner roll portion of the evening’s eating festivities. If they can make it that long. I’ve already polished off three of them for testing purposes, ahem.
Brioche continues to be one of my favorite types of breads to bake because the dough is so soft and the results are SO FLUFFY. And there are not many better things than a warm, fluffy roll with melty butter on top of these or my sally lunn bread. In this case, I highly suggest maple butter. Trust.
These rolls seemed to be extra fluffy and soft, though, and I think that’s because of the pumpkin (and because I baked them with love, dawwwwww). Combine that with pumpkin pie-ish spices like cinnamon and nutmeg and an ever-so-slightly-crusty crust on account of the egg wash, and my friends, you’ll be doing a dinner roll dance in your kitchen as I did. I mean, no I didn’t. I mean…
Nope. I did. And I’m doing it again right now.
If there is any reason to break with Thanksgiving tradition, it’s these rolls, or sweet potato dinner rolls. Either, you will not regret. And yes, this does mean you can still have pumpkin pie for dessert, OBVI.
Recommended Fall Recipes
Fall
Quick Breads
Fall
Cookie Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a star rating and let me know how it goes in the comments below! I love hearing from you and your comments make my day!
Pumpkin Brioche Rolls
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- ⅛ teaspoon cloves
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
- ½ cup canned pumpkin
- ¼ cup warm water, about 110 to 115 degrees F
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
- 2 large eggs
Egg wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1 ¾ cups flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and yeast. Add pumpkin, warm water, butter and eggs. Stir, adding just enough of remaining 1 ½ cups flour until a dough forms that pulls away from sides of bowl.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead dough by hand 10 minutes until smooth, soft, elastic and only slightly sticky; OR, knead dough with dough hook attachment in stand mixer on medium speed 5 minutes until smooth, soft, elastic and only slightly sticky. Shape dough into a ball, then place in a large lightly greased bowl; turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place 1 hour until doubled.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Punch down risen dough, then divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, then place on prepared baking sheet spaced at least 2 inches apart. Cover with a tea towel or lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes until doubled.
- Just before baking, use scissors or a sharp serrated knife to score tops of rolls about 1/4-inch deep. Brush tops and sides of rolls with egg wash. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this recipe? Rate & comment below!P.P.S. And in case you need more Thanksgiving carb/dinner roll ideas, here are a few more!
Brown Butter Sweet Potato Buttermilk Rolls
Brown Butter Apple Cheddar Pie Crescent Rolls
Croissants, Step by Step
Garlic Cheddar Brioche Buns
Oatmeal Pan Rolls
Pumpkin Cranberry Twists
Parker House Rolls
Meghan — Yep, that’s exactly what you’d do!
Thanks Stephanie! If I were to prep them the day of, would I do the same thing–bake them completely, bring them in a ziploc and then just warm them up when ready to eat?
Thanks and sorry for all the questions!
Meghan — You can make these the day before and leave them out at room temperature overnight (covered, in a plastic zip-top bag, ideally). The next day, you can heat them up on a baking sheet in the oven at 300 degrees until warmed through. Hope that helps!
Hi Stephanie,
These look awesome. I’m planning to make these for Thanksgiving at my mom’s house. We probably won’t sit down to dinner for a couple hours after we arrive. Any suggestions as to what can be “made ahead” and what I should do at Mom’s to ensure these rolls stay fresh and soft? I’m not too familiar with breads and whether the dough is ok to “sit” for longer than prescribed in the recipe.
Thanks so much!
Meghan
Abigail — I’m so glad you made them and liked them! Can I come over for that Thai butternut squash bisque? 😉
I love to cook. And that is what I usually do.
Other than a classic quick bread, I have never made any sort of dough. These were fantastic! The key was to give them their time to rise and shine. I paired these with a quick coq au vin from half baked harvest and later this week they are going to be paired with my thai butternut squash bisque. SO yummy! Thanks for making it so easy!
Yessss! Carb lovers unite! I adore pumpkin scones but I’ve never tried it in roll form before. What buttery, fluffy, delicious goodness. WANT! xx
Carolyn — I wouldn’t say they are savory, but the sweetness is very mild!
These look so good! I’m so used to having pumpkin in sweet stuff though – would you say these are more on the savory side?