Bread Alone: BOM - Pumpkin Knot Yeast Rolls

 

      My blogging buddy Phyl runs BOM (Bread of the Month) on FB and I joined in last month for Nick Malgieri's Fig and Almond Bread.  This month is a recipe for Pumpkin Knot Yeast Rolls.  I am ever so happy that I decided to make these rolls, despite not being fond of pumpkin, as they are gorgeous in color and delicious with a rich buttery taste.  The recipe suggested serving them warm or room temperature with butter or honey butter, but trust me, these rolls were just lovely without a single other thing.

      Ingredient list:  flour, pumpkin, milk, butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and yeast.  (I know, I know...pumpkin is not my favorite ingredient but everyone assured me that the pumpkin flavor is not all that pronounced and I weighed the obvious benefits of adding pumpkin to the recipe from a nutrition standpoint and figured I would give it a try.) 

      The dough came together quickly and beautifully, the kneading time was about 8 minutes of pure joy as the dough is absolutely buttery silky smooth to knead.  It rose for 1.5 hours (directions said about an hour but my kitchen was a little cool), dividing the dough into 12 pieces and rolling it into 10" ropes was fun.  I'm not an expert at shaping dough by a long shot but the knots seemed fairly easy to make, I'm sure I could do better the more I practice. 

      The knots rose for another half hour, baked for 15 minutes and smelled absolutely wonderful.  I could not resist a warm roll, so I sampled.
      Did it taste like pumpkin?  No, not really...it was delicious and rich-tasting but not pumpkin-y at all.  Love these rolls.  I'm so happy I made them and I will make them again...easy, fairly fast, delicious, and just a little more nutritious with that pumpkin in there!  Thanks for the pick, Phyl, we loved them.   

      If you would like the complete recipe, click here.  I highly recommend giving these rolls playing time at your place, I think you will be very happy with the results.