Soda bread rolls made with pumpkin puree and oats. They’re also vegan, yeast free, oil free and butter free.

If you waste half as much time as I do on Pinterest, you may think that pumpkin spice is falling from the sky, and landing in a pile of pumpkin spice cookies, pumpkin cream cheese brownies, and pumpkin-chocolate-ice-cream-cake-stuffed-pies.

And don’t get me wrong: I absolutely love pumpkin desserts and pumpkin spiced breakfasts.

I’m not advocating for less pumpkin. To the contrary, I’m suggesting that between our morning bowl of pumpkin pie oatmeal and dessert of pumpkin cheesecake, we find ways to add pumpkin to lunch and dinner as well.

Don’t forget that pumpkin is wonderful in savory dishes. It is a vegetable, after all. (Actually, it’s technically a fruit, but let’s not get into that).

These pumpkin soda bread rolls are something I first thought of back when it was St. Patrick’s Day.

After seeing a lot of Irish soda bread recipes floating around the Internet, my mind immediately thought, ‘I have to make a pumpkin version of this!’ Because that’s the way my mind works in March.

I knew the pumpkin would add extra flavor and moisture, so I could make the bread without butter or oil. Then I decided that I’d simply have to add oats for both flavor and texture – I’ll be the first to admit that I’m oat-obsessed.

If you’re unfamiliar with it, soda bread is an easy-to-make bread that relies on baking soda as the raising agent. Since there’s no yeast, there’s no waiting around for the dough to rise (and rise again).

Soda bread doesn’t have quite the same consistency as classic yeast-leavened bread. I’d say the texture is almost like a American biscuits, or savory scones. So it’s denser than regular bread, but still has a fluffy interior.

Typically, Irish soda bread is baked as one giant loaf, often with an ‘X’ marked on the top. When I thought about making one big loaf, all I could picture was me destroying the loaf with my horrendous slicing skills. Whenever I attempt to slice a loaf of bread, it’s basically a disaster. One slice will be huge, another will be way too thin, some slices will be small at the top and big at the bottom – and my sandwich will look like a piece of post-modernist architecture.

So, soda bread rolls it was. No need for slicing, and they’re easy to pass around.

Plus, I’m a sucker for those crunchy pieces around the ‘X’ on each roll.

Just before I give you the recipe, here are three notes about the ingredients.

Flour: I used Italian 00 flour, which is the same flour used to make pizza. If you don’t have this flour, use good ol’ all-purpose flour.

Pumpkin puree: Fresh pumpkin puree is the best. Seriously, you’ll notice the difference here, since the flavor isn’t covered up by sugar and spices. If possible, roast some pumpkin and puree it using a blender or food processor.

Milk: I made these dairy-free by using a mixture of almond milk and lemon juice to make an easy ‘buttermilk’. Feel free to substitute dairy milk for the almond milk. Or use buttermilk to replace both the almond milk and lemon juice.

Don’t be surprised if I’m back later this week with another pumpkin recipe. ‘Tis the season for everything to be dominated by the squash family!

Yes, that thing exists!

Need every moment of your life to smell like pumpkin spice? Pumpkin spice air freshener exists.



