Pumpkin Buns With Pumpkin Butter Filling

These cute pumpkin buns are perfect for a cozy Halloween night in. Filled with a delicious and tart pumpkin butter, these buns will hit the spot for all your fall treat cravings.

Step 1: Make the Pumpkin Butter

This pumpkin butter can be used in a number of baking dishes as a filling, but can also be enjoyed spread on a piece of toast!

The pumpkin bun recipe will require approximately 120-140 g of pumpkin butter.

For the pumpkin butter you will need:
- 1 medium stainless steel pot
- 350 g pumpkin puree
- 90 g sugar
- 30 mL of lemon juice, approximately 1 quarter of a lemon
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp allspice
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1 jar

Combine pumpkin puree, lemon juice, and sugar into a pot on the stovetop on medium-high until it comes to a slight boil.

Reduce heat to medium and stir in the spices. Adjust to suit your taste - these quantities will make a slightly tart filling, but if you like it sweeter, add more sugar.

Let the filling simmer while stirring occasionally for 10-20 minutes until it begins to turn a dark orange colour. Set aside and let it cool to room temperature before putting the filling into a sterile jar to store. This will last in the fridge 1-2 months.

Step 2: Make the Dough

This dough will make 6 pumpkin buns.

For the dough you will need:
- 1 medium bowls
- 300 g all purpose flour + more for dusting
- 125mL almond milk
- 5g active dry yeast
- 20g sugar
- 20g unsalted butter, melted
- 90g pumpkin puree
- 1 egg
- 5g salt

In a bowl warm almond milk in a microwave to 110 F/43 C and combine with the active dry yeast and a pinch of sugar. Set aside while the yeast activates.

In the other bowl, combine the remaining sugar, butter, pumpkin puree, egg, and salt and whisk together. whisk in the yeast mixture. Gradually add the flour into the liquids and stir until combined.

Once the dough starts to form, lightly dust the countertop with flour and turn out the dough. Kneed until the dough is slightly sticky but smooth, approximately 10 minutes. If dough is too sticky, add flour 1 tbsp at a time and continue kneading.

Oil one of the bowls and place the dough inside. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough proof in a warm, dry place for 1 hour or until it doubles in size.

Step 3: Form the Pumpkin Buns

To shape the pumpkins you will need:
- Twine or string

Once the dough has risen, divide the dough into six balls.

Flatten out the dough ball into a flat disc, and place 1-1.5 tbsp of the pumpkin butter into the centre of the disc.

Fold the top and bottom ends of the disc over the filling and pinch together. Repeat with the two sides of the disc.

Next, bring the four corners above the previous folds and pinch together.

Using the creases as a guide, lay a piece of twine horizontally across the top of the bun.
Flip the bun over, loosely tie the twine once and lay vertically across the bottom of the bun.
Flip again, tie once, and lay diagonally across the top of the bun.
Flip and repeat on the opposite diagonal across the bottom of the bun.
Flip one last time and tie a double knot at the top of the bun while still keeping the string loose to allow the bun to expand. There should now be 8 sections.

Repeat with the remaining dough balls, and place them on a parchment lined baking tray. Cover with plastic wrap and let proof for 1 hour.

Step 4: Bake and Decorate

Towards the end of the proof time, preheat your oven to 350 F/ 180 C.

Once the dough has proofed and the oven preheated, uncover the buns and bake with the twine on for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Let the buns cool on the pan for 5 minutes before cutting the twine off and unwrapping from the buns. Transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

If you want to complete the pumpkin look, add a pumpkin seed or cinnamon stick to the top of the bun to act as the stem!

Enjoy!

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