Fluffy Pumpkin Sourdough Dinner Rolls

I'm a sourdough fanatic. You may already know this about me. I've been converting some of my favorite bread recipes to sourdough starter only recipes in order to eliminate the use of any commercial yeast.

If you've been thinking of jumping on the sourdough band wagon, do it! It is so incredibly rad - and rewarding. You can get started on making your own sourdough starter with instructions from King Arthur Flour.

Lemme just take a second to get a little real with y'all. I used to be intimidated by recipes using yeast, much less a sourdough starter. Trust me when I say that it isn't rocket science. Also, bread dough is VERY forgiving. Keep reading to see some of my bread making imperfections.

These Fluffy Pumpkin Sourdough Dinner Rolls are just perfect alongside any soup or stew.

These Fluffy Pumpkin Sourdough Dinner Rolls are soft and fluffy with subtle hints of pumpkin and spice, and a sourdough flavor that really shines through! They are tremendous slathered with salted butter and go perfectly with any soup or stew you can throw at 'em.




I like to start my process the night before. The longer the dough ferments, the more sourdough flavor your bread will have. I mix up my sponge, cover it tightly, and leave it on the counter to do its thing overnight. The sponge will about double in size and smell delectably yeasty in the morning.




Knead in the pumpkin, the pumpkin pie spice, and enough flour to make a workable dough. I ended up adding 2 more cups of flour. It just depends on how wet your pumpkin puree is.




Cut the dough into 4 "equal" pieces (as with most things, I just eyeball it). Then, cut each piece into 3 for a total of 12 rolls. My rolls were not all exactly the same size or shape - more or less is good enough for me.

With floured hands, roll each piece into a ball.



Place your rolls in a buttered pan, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours, or in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size. Again, the slower the proof, the more sourdough flavor your rolls will have.




As you can see, my kneading didn't get the pumpkin as thoroughly mixed in as it could have been. No biggie. The swirl is pretty and the rolls end up just as fluffy and pumpkin flavored as a thoroughly mixed dough.




Bake the rolls at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes and then brush with melted butter.

Hope I've calmed any sourdough or bread making jitters. Give it a try! Experiment! You won't regret it.

Just look at the fluffiness of these Fluffy Pumpkin Sourdough Dinner Rolls!

Fluffy Pumpkin Sourdough Dinner Rolls
(makes 12 large rolls)

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup sourdough starter
3/4 cup water
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 to 2 cups more flour
2 Tbsp melted salted butter

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix the first 5 ingredients to make the sponge. Knead a few minutes until ingredients are well incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and a clean towel and leave to rise on your countertop overnight or for 7 hours.
2. Knead in the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and enough flour to make a workable dough. I used about 2 cups more flour.
3. Use a sharp knife or a bench scraper to cut dough into 4 equal pieces. Then, cut each piece into 3 to make a total of 12 equal portions.
4. Roll each piece into a ball with floured hands.
5. Place rolls with the smoothest side up in a buttered 9 x 13 inch baking pan or dish, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise 2 to 4 hours, or until doubled in size. The rolls will rise faster in a warm place, but will have more sourdough flavor if they rise slower at room temperature.
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 25 minutes.
7. Immediately brush tops with melted butter.