Pinned ‘n’ Tested–Honey Butter Pumpkin Rolls

I love the smell of baking bread.

And the lovely anticipation of sinking my teeth into the morsel of fresh-from-the-oven tastiness.

The taste, the texture, the ‘don’t-talk-to-me-while-I’m-eating-this-deliciousness’ focus.

Truth be told–if it came down to either saving you from the clutches of a fire-breathing dragon or waiting until the timer goes off indicating that the bread is ready to be consumed–the bread would win.

I made these tasty Honey Butter Pumpkin Dinner Rolls.

[There are a couple of things I did differently because I didn’t have the brands she had on hand.  I’ll show you the modifications later.]

Here’s my stack of three.  Well–two and most of a third.  When the picture was taken, it was tasty morsel eating time.  They were freshly from the oven and needed to be consumed.

They are perfectly and absolutely yum.  The flavor is mellow and wonderful and won’t frighten those who cringe when someone mentions pumpkin-flavored anything.  This recipe is THE perfect size for Handsome Dude and me.  We have to (have to) give dozens and dozens of rolls away when we make a regular family size recipe.  They don’t stay tasty forever. 

[I should just mix a bunch of those irresistible spices in a little muslin pouch and tie it around my neck–then every time I want a whiff of the wonder–I’ll just whack the pouch on my nose or something.  Maybe not my nose.]

Here’s what I used instead of the King Arthur All Purpose Flour.

The Pillsbury Doughboy Guy has my confidence.

[How does that fluffy, cheerful guy stay so young looking? That is my question.  Or one of them.  How does he have such a good sense of humor about everything?  Does he object in any way to the poking?  Seriously.  He giggles when they poke his tummy, but I’m wondering if he doesn’t have some real issues with the way that goes down. It would drive me nuts.  I would bop people with the rolling pin he’s holding if they poked me at all. Don’t poke me.
 
My Halloween wish for you is for you to never poke me.]

Handsome Dude and I couldn’t even find the RED STAR Platinum Superior Baking Yeast.  We wanted the superior baking yeast. We wanted superior rolls made from superior baking yeast.

That part happened anyway.

Here’s what we used (and were ever so happy with).

Have I mentioned that the blog that this wonderful recipe comes from has pictures?  If you’ve worked with yeast breads before–it might be too many pictures.  BUT–if you haven’t worked with yeast breads before–it is a very specific and clear tutorial. 

I followed the instructions carefully–gleefully almost.  I put the first little lump of dough into a bowl that was lightly covered in nonstick spray–and made sure to flip-flop the dough so it was covered with the spray pretty evenly.  I slapped a piece of plastic over the top of the bowl and put it into the non-heated oven to rise. 

When it doubled in size (it took ~60 minutes), I punched it down and made 8 (you can make up to 10) little identical balls of dough.  We don’t own a 9×9 pan, so we used two smaller ones.  Yes sir with the aluminum foil placed in both pans and lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

Knead the little balls as you sing some of your favorite tunes.
Place them in the pans.

Cover them with plastic wrap and put them back into the oven to double in size.

It’s working.

Joy and jubilation and skipping–because now the house will smell absolutely divine and you will do your dance of celebration while they are cooking.

Except, make sure that you generously brush, pour, or spoon around the honey-butter o’er top of the rolls before you stick them in the oven.  If you have extra–lament not my blogging friends.  Wait until they come out of the oven and brush, poor, or spoon around the remaining honey butter mixture.

They are delicious.
[As in incredibly good to eat.]

The recipe is the perfect size.
[One for you and one for me and one for you and two for me and–well–fine.  My roll math stinks.]

It’s not a heavy pumpkin-tasting recipe.
[Which means YUM for the population in general.] 

Yum.