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Kids and adults will adore this delicious Halloween Bread! Featuring fluffy rolls baked in a pumpkin mold topped with garlic butter and melted cheddar cheese, it’s the perfect savory addition to serve at your spooky parties (and Thanksgiving).
Make it in advance for easy entertaining, or serve it warm out of the oven for a tasty bite.
This cheesy garlic bread uses red cheddar to make the pumpkin orange. You can add other cheeses too (parmesan or mozzarella would work well), but top it with red cheddar last so the pumpkin still looks orange.
Recipe Tip
You will have some leftover dough, which you can either freeze to bake later or keep plain to bake as extra rolls.
Pumpkin Bread Ingredients
- Milk: I use whole cow’s milk. You can use any milk you like.
- Yeast: Fresh or dry active yeast.
- Eggs: Medium-sized.
- Butter: I prefer salted butter, but use what you have.
- Flour: Plain white flour (all purpose flour).
- Honey: To sweeten. Swap for maple syrup.
- Sea salt: To balance all the flavors.
- Cheddar: Sprinkle over last to make the bread orange colored. I shred my own block of red cheddar for the best taste.
- Garlic butter: Made with salted butter, fresh garlic, parsley, and salt.
How to Make a Halloween Bread
- Prepare the dough: Mix lukewarm milk with yeast, add eggs, softened butter, honey, and salt. Slowly incorporate the flour. Knead until you have a soft dough. Cover and allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place.
- Shape the pumpkin: Roll the dough into similar sized balls and place them in a greased pumpkin mold. Cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Brush with egg wash.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 200°C / F (392°F) and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.
- Garlic butter: Mix the garlic, melted butter, chopped parsley, and sea salt. Brush the pumpkin bread with the butter. Top with shredded cheddar and bake again for a few minutes until the cheese is bubbly and melted. Remove the bread from the mold and garnish with olives and fresh basil.
Possible Variations
- Top it like a pizza: Add small pieces of crispy bacon, ham, pepperoni, tomato puree, or chili flakes underneath the cheese.
- Sweet version: Make a sweet bread instead of savory by tripling the honey. Top the baked pumpkin with white frosting and orange sprinkles, apricot glaze, or sprinkle with sugar and brûlée the top.
- Don’t have a pumpkin mold?: Top plain rolls with red cheddar and basil to make them look like individual pumpkins.
How to Store Leftovers
Keep leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.
FAQs
Heat your oven to 175°C (350°F) and place the bread on a baking sheet. Bake until heated through.
Yes. Draw a pumpkin on parchment paper. Arrange the rolls within the shape, leaving space for the eyes and mouth.
Try smoked paprika, cayenne, or turmeric (although do note these spices will change the taste slightly). Alternatively, feel free to add pumpkin puree to the dough.
Try a marinara dipping sauce, aioli, ranch dip, or ketchup.
More Halloween Snacks
Halloween
Halloween Party Foods
Halloween
Mozzarella Eyeballs
Halloween
Halloween Fruit Snacks
Halloween
Halloween Toast
If you make this recipe or any other recipe on Foodbites, then I would love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment and rating below.
Halloween Bread
Equipment
- pumpkin mold
Ingredients
Pumpkin rolls
- 400 ml milk, 1.7 cups
- 50 grams fresh yeast
- 2 eggs
- 100 grams butter, soft
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 700 grams flour, all-purpose
Garlic butter
- 40 grams butter, melted
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
- sea salt, to taste
Topping
- 150 grams cheddar, red
- 100 grams olives, black
- fresh basil, to garnish
Instructions
Pumpkin rolls
- Heat the milk so it is lukewarm (you can use a microwave or a pot on low heat).
- Remove the milk from the heat and incorporate the yeast till dissolved.
- Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add one egg, soft butter, honey, and salt.
- Then, add the flour in two batches, mixing in between.
- Knead by hand (or use a stand mixer) until the dough is uniform and soft. If the dough is too wet, add a small spoonful of flour at a time until you can knead it without sticking.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Allow to rise for 30 minutes.
- Shape the dough into similar-sized rolls (mine were 35 grams each).
- Grease the pumpkin mold (I use a small cube of butter).
- Place the rolls into the mold, keeping them close to each other (I had 22 rolls in total).
- Cover the rolls and allow them to rise again for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / F (392°F).
- Brush with egg wash.
- Bake for 10-12 min until golden.
Garlic butter
- Allow to cool slightly.
- Melt 40 grams of butter and mix with two cloves of garlic, finely chopped parsley, and a sprinkle of sea salt in a small bowl.
- Brush the pumpkin rolls with the garlic butter mixture.
- Top the rolls with cheddar cheese (leaving the roll at the stem plain).
- Return the rolls to the oven for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and melted.
Serving
- Once cooled slightly, transfer the pumpkin to a serving platter.
- Fill the gap for the eyes and mouth with black olives.
- Decorate with fresh basil leaves and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
