ABC - Pumpkin Buns

The ABC challenge for the month of November wouldn't be complete without a pumpkin recipe. When I saw these cute Pumpkin Buns, shaped like little pumpkins, I couldn't resist adding them to the list.

Only made two pumpkin shaped buns with an almond for a stalk :)

So light and fluffy!!

If you'd like to join the ABC bakers in their monthly baking adventures, please go to the ABC blog for more information.

As usual, the dough was made in my bread machine, using the 90 minute Dough Cycle. After the first rise, the dough went into the fridge for an overnight retardation. It was very easy to handle the cold dough the next day.

I made the entire recipe which turned out to be quite a bit of dough. Instead of using it to make all buns, I used half of it for buns and the other half to make a faux braid with a fig jam and golden raisin filling. The latter I took with me to work where it was "devoured" :)

Some step-by-step pictures:

Three different shapes

After the buns have risen, they are ready for the oven. Sprinkled them with water and some pumpkin seeds.

Golden brown and delicious!

Nice and airy interior

Blueberry cream cheese spread :)

Other half of the dough with chunky fig jam

Sprinkled some golden raisins on top

Faux braid in the making

Ready for its rise before going into the oven

Fully risen and ready to be baked

Golden brown and delicious!

Bon Appetit!

Final thoughts/tips:

• The dough was really fun to work with. It was soft and pliable. I can see myself using this dough to make this recipe again, or to make:
• Make sandwich bread with the dough instead of rolls.
• Pumpkin Raisin Sandwich Bread.
• Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.
• Pumpkin Faux Bread with different fillings such as apple/cinnamon, or cranberry sauce.
• Update 1/8/2017:
• I saved some of these rolls in the freezer for hubby. He had one today and loved it! He said it smelled nice, was soft and tasted really good. He gave it a 9.5 out of 10 rating. Score!!! :)
• These buns were soft and moist, with lots of flavor from the warm spices. They were great eaten with a schmear of butter, cream cheese, or a slice of cheese. The pumpkin seeds on top added a nice crunch.
• Leftover buns were frozen to extend their shelf life.
• Don't forget to check out the other ABC Bakers or check out our Facebook page.

Pumpkin Buns

(adapted from Weekend Bakery)

Ingredients

• 250 gr bread flour
• 250 gr unbleached all purpose flour
• 15 gr non-fat dry milk powder
• 8 gr instant yeast
• 8 gr salt
• 200 gr pumpkin puree (I had 215 gr in the freezer, thawed it out and used all of it)
• 70 gr water (I ended needing an extra 60 gr water)
• 1 large egg
• 50 gr agave nectar (or honey)
• 25 gr butter
• 25 gr canola oil
• 1/2 tsp whole anise seeds, rubbed between my palms
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp allspice

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of the bread machine and run the Dough Cycle. I refrigerated the dough overnight, but you could certainly use it right away to shape the buns. Please find the remaining instructions here.