It’s pumpkin season, so these savoury pumpkin and potato bread rolls are a must! These fluffy rolls are naturally coloured with paprika and turmeric, and they're filled with a creamy and spicy pumpkin and potato filling. These bread rolls are perfect served with soups, salads and dips, or they’d make a lovely Halloween snack.
Pumpkin and potato stuffed bread rolls are my favourite thing to bake during pumpkin season! They’re a fun way to incorporating pumpkin into your baking and the realistic pumpkin appearance is sure to impress at any party! These pillowy, soft pull-apart savoury bread rolls are stuffed with a mildly spicy pumpkin and potato filling and are surprisingly easy to make. What’s more, they are very filling and more nutritious than plain bread rolls, so they’d be perfect for breakfast.
Why Make These Pumpkin and Potato Bread Rolls?
You don’t need any fancy baking equipment to make these bread rolls
It’s a great way to incorporate seasonal pumpkins into your baking
They’re aesthetically pleasing so they’d be perfect for serving at parties
Easy to customize the fillings
Made with easily available store-bought ingredients
Are the Pumpkin and Potato Rolls difficult to make?
These savoury bread rolls are surprising easy to make. The only part that can get a little fiddly is tying the thread around the buns to create the pumpkin shape. The key thing to remember when making any kind of yeasted bread is to use lukewarm liquid when making the dough, and letting the dough prove at room temperature, which will ensure the dough rises properly. It’s also important to allow the filling to cool down before shaping the rolls, as it’ll make it much easier to handle.
List of Ingredients
Here’s everything you’ll need for this recipe – consider it your shopping list!
For the Bread Dough, You will Need:
Flour - Bread flour is always preferable when baking bread as it has a higher protein content, but you can use all-purpose flour if you can't get your hands on bread flour.
Yeast - I used instant dry yeast as it is easier to find in supermarkets.
Sugar - A little bit of sugar will help to activate the yeast.
Salt - Salt is needed to season the dough. You can’t make flavourful bread without salt!
Milk - Unsweetened almond milk is my go-to plant-based milk when it comes to cooking and baking. Depending on which brand you use, the taste is quite mild so it’s great for both sweet and savoury dishes. You could substitute almond milk with other neutral tasting, unsweetened plant-based milks such as oat or soy milk.
Sweet Paprika and Turmeric - A combination of sweet paprika and turmeric is used to give the dough it’s orange colour. If you’d like to intensify the colour of the dough, you can add a few teaspoons of vegan orange food colouring.
For the Savoury Pumpkin and Potato Filling, You will Need:
Pumpkin and potato - I would recommend using a using Yukon gold potatoes as they have a naturally buttery and creamy taste, but if you’re unable to find them, any yellow fleshed potato will do. As for the pumpkin, I’d recommend you use small, sugar pumpkins as they have a more dense and creamy flesh.
Spring onions - The spring onions go beautifully with the creamy potato and pumpkin filling. If you’d like a milder oniony taste, you can use the same quantity of fresh chives or 1 tsp onion powder instead.
Parsley - The fresh parsley adds a delicious, fresh herby taste. If you’re not a fan of parsley, you can leave it out.
Olive oil - The olive oil adds of bit of richness to the filling. If you’d like a creamier taste, you can use a bit of melted vegan butter instead.
Corn Starch - The purpose of the corn-starch is to help the ingredients bind together and to make them less watery. If you’re unable to find corn-starch, you can use tapioca or potato starch instead.
Aleppo Chilli Flakes - The Aleppo chilli flakes add a slow-building heat and a delicious earthy, fruity taste to the dish. You could use different types of chilli flakes, but bear in mind that different types of chilli will have different levels of heat, so make sure to add it accordingly
Vegetable Bouillon - The vegetable bouillon adds an additional layer of savouriness.
Salt and Pepper - Taste the filling before shaping the buns and add as much salt and pepper to suit your personal taste.
To Shape and Decorate:
Thread - You will need some cotton thread to create the pumpkin shape. I’d recommend using some thin sewing thread as it’ll give the baked rolls a more realistic pumpkin appearance.
Bell pepper stalks - I’ve used the stalks that I’ve cut out from some bell peppers as they look very similar to pumpkin stalks, also known as peduncles. If you don’t have any bell pepper stalks at hand, you can use some thin breadstick pieces or you can insert pumpkin seeds into the tops.
How to Make Pumpkin and Potato Bread Rolls
STEP 1:
Add the warm almond milk, instant dry yeast and sugar into a large measuring jug, give it a whisk and let it sit for about 2 minutes, or until the yeast starts to bubble up. Add the flour, salt, turmeric and paprika to a large bowl, then pour the water and yeast mixture into the bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together.
STEP 2:
Lightly dust a clean counter with flour and transfer the dough onto the surface. Knead for about 10 minutes to form a smooth and elastic dough, or until the dough is not sticking to your hands. Transfer the dough to clean bowl, cover the top with cling film and let it prove for about 30 minutes, or until it has doubled in size.
STEP 3:
In the meantime, prepare the filling. Steam the pumpkin & potatoes for 25 minutes until they're soft. Place them into a large bowl and use a fork to roughly mash them. Add the chopped spring onions, parsley, olive oil, corn-starch, vegetable bouillon, salt, pepper and Aleppo chilli flakes and combine. . Aleppo chilli flakes are really mild, so If you're using a different type of chilli flake, then make sure to add less.
STEP 4:
Once the dough has risen, divide it into 10 even pieces. Roll one of the pieces of dough out on a lightly floured surface to create a 13cm (5 inch) circle.
STEP 5:
Add 1 tbsp of the filling in the centre of the dough and pinch the edges into the centre until the filling is sealed. Make sure not to add too much filling because it'll make it difficult to create the pumpkin shape. Roll the filled dough to create a smooth ball. Repeat the process with each piece of dough.
STEP 6:
To shape the rolls using cotton thread, take a long piece of thread and find the halfway point. Place the half way point on top of the ball of dough and flip the whole thing over. Pull the two pieces of thread together and cross them over to create a cross on the bottom of the dough. Flip it over again and do the same thing until the bun is divided into 8 segments. It is important to make sure that the thread isn't too tight as the dough will continue to rise. Tie the thread at the top and cut off any excess.
STEP 7:
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Brush the rolls with melted vegan butter and leave them to prove for a further 20 minutes.
STEP 8:
Place them in the oven to bake for 15- 20 minutes, or until lightly golden on top. Leave the baked rolls to cool down before carefully cutting and removing the thread from the rolls. This step is optional, but if you’d like your rolls to look more like pumpkins, you can push a bell pepper stalk into the top of each roll. I’ve used the stalks that I’ve cut out from some bell peppers as they look very similar to pumpkin stalks, but If you don’t have any bell pepper stalks at hand, you can use some thin bread stick pieces instead, or you can insert pumpkin seeds into the tops.
Tips for Making Pumpkin and Potato Bread Rolls
I’d highly recommend you use the gram measurements rather than the cup conversions. When it comes to baking, accuracy is key, and cup conversions are never as accurate as grams.
I’d recommend using some thin sewing thread to shape the rolls as it’ll give the baked rolls a more realistic pumpkin appearance. I’ve tried using cooking twine to make these rolls, but because of its thickness, it can end up making the rolls look like flowers rather than pumpkins.
Customize the savoury filling: if you’re not a fan of some of the ingredients or you don’t have them at hand, you can play around with the fillings - try various combinations of fillings such as: pumpkin with sweet potato and coriander, pumpkin with curry spices or pumpkin, potato and vegan cheese.
Although bread flour is recommended for this recipe, you can easily substitute it for regular all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour.
Storing Pumpkin and Potato Bread Rolls
Store these rolls in an airtight container and they’ll stay good for up to 3 days at room temperature, or store them in the fridge and they’ll keep well for up to 5 days. To reheat, place them in the microwave for 30 seconds or bake in the oven at 180C for 10-15 minutes.
Can these Rolls be Frozen?
If you’d like to prepare these rolls in advance, follow the instructions, then freeze the rolls in a baking tray. Once frozen, they won’t stick together anymore, so you can place them in a freezer bag and put them back into the freezer. Let them thaw and rise for about 3-4 hours, then bake. You can also freeze the baked pumpkin rolls and then store them in the freezer for up to a month.
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