Make some of these fun Pumpkin Shaped Rolls to serve at your Thanksgiving Dinner this Thanksgiving. Easy to make and a unique idea your guests will enjoy.
DINNER ROLLS
Looking for a fun and different way to serve your Thanksgiving Rolls this Thanksgiving Holiday? These Pumpkin Shaped Rolls are a festive way to add some fun to your Thanksgiving Table. They are so easy to make! My mom made these for our Thanksgiving Dinner last year and I am just getting around to sharing them with you.
RHODES ROLLS
You can whip these rolls up pretty quickly. I love that you know exactly what is in them…no weird ingredients you can’t pronounce. These are a family favorite and there is nothing better than the smell of baking bread or rolls.
The original creator of this recipe, that I could find, (and where my mom learned how to make them) is Rhodes.com.

COPYCAT RHODES ROLLS RECIPE
Looking for a delicious and easy Roll Recipe? These Copycat Rhodes Rolls Recipe are just like the store bought Rhodes Rolls and are so easy to make at home.
Ingredients
- 4 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 Tbs active dry yeast
- 1 Tbs vital wheat gluten
- 1 cup milk
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup butter
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs room temperature, beaten
Instructions
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Put 2 cups flour in mixing bowl. Add yeast, gluten and salt. Mix well.
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In a microwave safe bowl, combine milk, sugar, butter and melt in microwave for 3 minutes or until butter is almost melted.
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Stir until butter and sugar is dissolved.
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Add eggs to milk mixture. Pour into flour mixture and mix well.
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Allow mixture to sit for 10 minutes.
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Add the rest of flour, one cup at a time until dough clings to hook and almost cleans the sides. Touch dough lightly. Add more flour if dough sticks to your fingers.
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Knead for 3-4 minutes. Dough should be soft, smooth, elastic, wet, and not sticky. Scrape down sides of bowl, oil the top, and cover with plastic wrap.
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Allow to rise to double in warm, draft free place (or in oven with pan of hot tap water underneath) for 30 minutes.
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Divide dough into 2 piles. Shape into balls and cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rest for 5 minutes.
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Shape as desired and place on greased baking sheet. (**SKIP TO DIRECTIONS BELOW IF MAKING PUMPKIN SHAPED ROLLS)!
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Cover with plastic wrap, allow to rise for 20-30 minutes.
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Bake in 375 degree oven for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN SHAPED ROLLS
Directions:
- Shape each dinner or Texas roll into a slightly flat ball.
- Using scissors, make 6 to 8 cuts, equally spaced, around the outside of each ball about 1/2- inch deep.
- Using the handle of a wooden spoon, poke a deep hole into the top of each pumpkin shaped roll.
- Place on a sprayed baking sheet and cover with sprayed plastic wrap. Allow to rise until almost double.
- Remove wrap and re-poke stem hole.
- Bake at 350°F 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with butter. Insert pecan pieces into pumpkin rolls for stems.
If you don’t want to use a frozen pre-made dough, you can use your favorite roll recipe, or any other roll recipe you want. Just be sure to follow the directions and roll them into a slightly flattened roll shape.
Looking for some more roll recipes? Sharing some of our favorites below:
- Orange Rolls
- Cheddar Bay Biscuits
- Thankful Rolls
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Shaped Dinner Rolls
- Cinnamon Rolls Recipes
With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, it’s time to think about all of the little details it takes to put together and host a successful and delicious Thanksgiving Dinner for your family and friends. There are so many things to prepare, clean, shop for and set up that it can become really overwhelming. So using a Thanksgiving Meal Planner is a great way to organized yourself and the things on your giant to do list!
To get the Thanksgiving Meal Planner by itself, just the printable sheets, click on the button below.
AND because Thanksgiving isn’t Thanksgiving without the amazing and delicious recipes! So I am sharing our FAVORITE Thanksgiving Recipes all in one convenient Thanksgiving Recipe eBook! These recipes are a combination of recipes that have been used for years in our own family and some new additions we immediately fell in love with.

To grab your copy of our Thanksgiving Recipes eBook , click on the button below!

THANKSGIVING TABLE
And, we are also sharing these fun Thanksgiving Table Printables! They make decorating your Thanksgiving Table so easy! All you have to do is print and cut! Save yourself the time and use ours!
I hope you have a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving Holiday with your friends and family! And that you have are able to enjoy your Thanksgiving leftovers! I think I look forward to the leftovers even more than the actual Thanksgiving Dinner!
Thanks for stopping by! xoxo
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Did these to Practice..Doing these for THANKSGIVING !! Sending Dinner at our V.F.W. 3 years in a roll…..
These Rolls look beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
Amy-Thank You!
If you are making your own dough (from your copy cat recipe) but want to freeze the dough before making the pumpkins, at what stage would you freeze the dough? Before allowing the entire batch of dough to rise to double? And then how long would you allow to thaw before cutting into the dough to make pumpkins? Thank you!
B, Let your mixed bread dough rise once. When freezing bread dough, you will not let the dough rise a second time prior to freezing it. Enjoy!
Sooooo cute! Thanks for sharing!!
You’re welcome! Glad you like them!
Can you make now (fully baked) and FREEZE for Thanksgiving?
Yes! Just let them sit out to thaw!
Once you cut the rolls, how long will it take them to rise? I want to make sure I leave enough time in order to get them done in time.
Alex- About an hour. Thank you!
These are so cute, I will try making them for Thanksgiving. Wish me luck, thanks for the idea. Claudia
Claudia-Good Luck. I am sure they will turn out wonderful.
What a great idea! Love new things. Thank you for sharing. Hope to make for Thanksgiving knowing I can make ahead of time and freeze.
Nancy- They are so fun!
Adorable I just found a recipe online for pumpkin yeast rolls this is PERFECT thank you! They are on the first rise now!
Melanie- That recipe sounds amazing! Can’t wait to hear how they turned out!
Love these!! They are so cute & so soft & delicious! They are an added touch for Thanksgiving!
Natalie-Thank you! They are so good!
Cutest rolls ever!! My family would get a kick out of these. They are perfect, because they are bigger, which everyone will appreciate!
Kristyn- Thank you. They are fun and tasty!
Going to try these, for sure! Very cute!
Sandy- I hope you do. They are so fun to make!
The rolls look Awesome!!
Thank you for sharing!
Dina- Hope you make some. They are so good!
Love this!! It’s those extra steps in making Thanksgiving dinner special, that I love!
Natalie- They really are so fun to make and SO GOOD!
Why do rolls shaped like pumpkins, seem so much better than regular rolls?! I need to do this every year, now that I have this recipe!
Kristyn- They really do seem to taste so much better too. Not sure why.
So Unique! I’ll give it a try but, they won’t look like yours!
Rebecca- I hope that they turn out for you.