A whole new take on thanksgiving rolls

If you are thinking of taking your thanksgiving game up a notch, we've got you covered. We found this recipe online a couple months ago and knew right away that we just had to make this for thanksgiving. We decided to take it for a test drive for our "friends"giving and everyone LOVED it!

It did take longer to make than expected because of the rising time so make sure you plan your time out before you begin. We made our share of mistakes and have all the tips for you below. Please do try it out and let us know how they turned out for you in the comments below.

Ingredients

• 1 packet active dry yeast

• 1/2 cup whole milk, scalded and allowed to cool to 110 degrees (heat the milk up in a pan and keep mixing till it starts to boil, then let cool).

• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

• 1/3 cup brown sugar

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened (half a stick) + 1/3 cup butter, melted

• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

• 2 eggs

• 1 cup pumpkin puree

• 4 cups all-purpose flour

• 8 ounces cream cheese (1 package), cut into 16 pieces and chilled

• 16 almonds

Method

1. In a small bowl, mix yeast, scaled milk and granulated sugar. Allow the yeast to rise for about 10 minutes.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the yeast mixture, brown sugar, butter, salt, spices, eggs, pumpkin puree and flour. Mix with the paddle attachment or spatula until combined. Switch to the dough hook and knead dough for about 8 to 10 minutes, until it smooths itself into a ball. (We accidentally put in an entire can of pumpkin puree so we compensated by adding more flour) What can we say? We live and we learn!

3. Place the dough in a greased bowl (we used olive oil spray), cover it with a piece of cloth and allow it to rest for about an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

4. Divide the dough into 16 pieces (it's easiest when you separate it into 4 pieces then 4 from there). Flatten each ball just enough to fill each dough ball with a cube of cream cheese. Wrap each dough ball in kitchen twine, wrapping the twine around the dough ball to create a pumpkin shape. (Make sure you don't wrap it too tight and use the thinnest twine that does not shed- again, we learned this the hard way.)

5. If you have time to proof it more, cover it with cloth for another hour till it doubles in size. We didn't have time so we baked it right away and they turned out great. The longer you proof it, the fluffier it will be.

6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove them from oven when baked through and golden brown. Remove the twine by cutting it from the top and bottom. Then brush with melted butter. Place a almond on top of each. Serve warm.

XOXO,

RuRu