Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

1. Make the psyllium gel: In a bowl, mix together the psyllium husk and lukewarm water. After about 30-45 seconds, a gel will form.
2. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer (if using), whisk together the tapioca starch, millet flour, sorghum flour, sugar, instant yeast, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt.
3. Add the pumpkin puree, milk, eggs and oil to the psyllium gel, and mix well to combine.
4. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the psyllium gel-egg mixture.
5. Knead the dough until smooth and all the ingredients are evenly incorporated, then knead for a further 4-5 minutes. Use a rubber spatula to occasionally scrape along the sides and bottom of the bowl to prevent any dry patches of unmixed flour.
6. Tip: If you find the dough too sticky to easily handle (even on a floured surface and with floured hands), you can chill it in the fridge for about 1 hour before proceeding to the next step. This will make the dough slightly less sticky and therefore easier to handle.

Shaping the dinner rolls:

1. When it comes to shaping these gluten free pumpkin dinner rolls, it’s important that you work on a quite generously floured surface and with floured hands.
2. Lightly butter a 23cm square baking pan and set aside until needed.
3. Turn out the dough onto a generously floured surface, and dust the top of the dough with flour as well. Give it a gentle knead (with floured hands) and shape it into a ball.
4. Divide it into 16 equal portions, each should weigh about 70g.
5. Again working on a floured surface, shape each portion into a ball, making sure that its surface is as smooth as possible.
6. Arrange the dinner rolls in the buttered square baking pan (in a 4x4 grid), so that they lightly touch each other.

Proofing:

1. Lightly cover the dinner rolls with a sheet of plastic wrap/cling film (to prevent them from drying out) and proof in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes.

Baking the pumpkin dinner rolls:

1. Adjust the oven rack to the lower middle position and preheat the oven to 190ºC.
2. Once the dinner rolls have doubled in size, brush them gently with the egg wash and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds.
3. Bake at 190ºC for about 30-35 minutes or until the dinner rolls are deep golden brown on top. You can check the doneness by inserting a toothpick, skewer or cake tester into the centre of a roll – it should come of clean with no raw or half-baked dough attached.
4. If the rolls start browning too much or too quickly, cover the pan with a sheet of aluminium foil (shiny side up) and continue baking until done.
5. Immediately out of the oven, brush the hot rolls with some melted salted butter.
6. I recommend carefully sliding the hot rolls from the baking pan onto a wire rack, that will prevent any condensation from forming underneath (which could make the rolls soggy). Serve warm or cooled completely to room temperature.