Stuffed Pumpkin Buns

Prep Time

3 Hours 30 Minutes

Cook Time

30 Minutes

Total Time

4 Hours

Yields

8-10 Buns

Ingredients

300 g warm oat milk
35 g sugar
4 g active dry yeast
27 g olive oil
6 g salt
480 g artisan bread flour
Optional: Food coloring of choice
Cheese of choice, for stuffing, cut into 1 – 1½ inch cubes or grated, quantity as per preference. Used here dairy free cheddar slices stacked and cut into cubes.
Pumpkin butter for stuffing

Other Ingredients:

Melted butter for brushing
Cinnamon sticks broken into smaller pieces to use as pumpkin stems

*This post is brought to you by Bob’s Red Mill.

Equipment Needed

Stand mixer with a dough hook attachment
Cooking twine/string

Instructions

Prepare dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine warm oat milk, sugar and yeast and set aside until the mixture is frothy. Mix in olive oil on low speed for 10-20 seconds. Mix in salt, flour and food coloring (if using) on low speed (or at the mixer recommended speed for dough) until the dough comes together and is no longer sticking to the walls of the bowl.
1^st proof: Remove dough and form a dough ball. Place the dough in a clean bowl, cover and proof the dough for 60-90 minutes.
Roll dough: Punch the air out of the dough and lightly re-knead the dough for a few seconds. Cut the dough into eight to ten approximately equal portions. Using a rolling pin, roll each portion into 4-5” circles.
Stuff dough: Prepare a baking sheet and set aside. Place cheese in the middle of the circular dough and add 1-2 tsp of pumpkin butter over the cheese. Close the bun by pinching all the ends together, ensuring the stuffing is properly enclosed, and form a round dough bun. Follow the same process for all remaining buns.
Shape dough: Take a long piece of cooking twine and place it horizontally on a work surface. Place a dough ball at the midpoint of the string. Take the edges of the string, loop them once (as if tying the first knot of a shoe string) crossing the edges and gently place the string vertically on the dough ball (forming quadrants). Flip the dough and loop/cross the string edges again and place the string diagonally (forming sixths). Flip the dough again and loop/cross the string edges and place the string diagonally on the opposite side (forming eights). Tie the ends together with a final knot and cut off any excess string. Don’t tie the strings too tight, maintain some breathing room, allowing the dough to rise further.
2^nd proof: Place the shaped dough onto the prepared baking tray with the crease/knot facing down. Cover the baking tray with a kitchen towel and set aside for 1 hour.
Bake: Preheat oven to 350^º F. Brush the dough with melted butter and bake for 25-35 minutes. Oven temperatures vary, hence baking times can also vary. Once ready, the top of the buns should be lightly crisp and golden-brown on the bottom. The buns should sound hollow when you tap on them.
Allow the buns to cool to room temperature on a wired rack. Once the buns have cooled, cut the string off and gently remove it from the buns. Insert a cinnamon stick on the top of the pumpkin shaped bun imitating a pumpkin stem. Serve warm or at room temperature.