Pumpkin Dinner Roll

I followed this recipe to make it for Thanksgiving. It was soft and fluffy, well received.  

Ingredients

Cake flour - 1/2 cup
Bread flour - 2 and 1/2 cups 
Salt - 1 and 1/2 tsp
Pumpkin puree - 1/2 cup
Heavy cream - 2/3 cup, at room temperature
Milk - 1/3 cup , at room temperature
Active dry yeast - 1 TBSP
Egg - 1, substitute with 1/4 cup apple sauce
Sugar - 1/3 cup 
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water) (skipped for egg-free)
Pumpkin seeds - optional garnish
For optional glazing, the recipe uses simple syrup (2 teaspoons of sugar dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water), I used some butter

Steps

1. In a mixing bowl, mix the cake flour, bread flour and salt. Set aside

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add pumpkin puree, heavy cream, milk, egg (or substitute), sugar, yeast. Mix well, and then add the flour mixture. Turn the mixer on to the lowest setting, and let it go for 15 minutes until the dough comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. 

3. Cover the bowl with a damp towel, and place in a warm spot for 1 hour. The dough will grow to 1.5x its original size.

4. In the meantime, grease a 9x13” pan on all sides.
5. After first proofing, punch the dough to rid of air bubbles and divide the dough into equal pieces on a lightly floured surface, with the help of your kitchen scale. I divided into 18 of about 60g each. Shape each piece of dough into a smooth ball and arrange them on the pan with about half an inch of space between them on all sides. Once shaped, cover and proof for another hour until the buns grow to 1.5X their original size. Brush the risen dough with egg wash (skipped), and sprinkle with the raw pumpkin seeds.

6. Preheat the oven to 350F. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Take the buns out of the oven and immediately brush them with the sugar water to give them a really great shine, sweetness, and rich color. Serve warm!