Cheese Bread Leaves and Pumpkins for Thanksgiving

Dress up your dinner rolls for Thanksgiving this year by making these beautiful Cheese Bread Leaves and Pumpkins. They are quick and easy to make and look amazing on your holiday table.

Do you have bread with your Thanksgiving meal?

We do, and one of my favorite recipes to make for the holiday is for a quick cheese bread. I just toss some shredded cheese in a bread pan, mix a handful of ingredients together, pour the batter into a pan, sprinkle on more cheese, then bake. It takes minutes to get it into the oven.

Just as quickly as it’s made, the smell of fresh bread is wafting through my kitchen. The only thing that’s hard about this, is waiting for the bread to come out of the oven.

As the bread bakes the cheese melts and almost caramelizes creating this amazing crust. The loaf is dense, but soft, and the flavor goes nicely with turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy on Thanksgiving Day.

Last fall, I made some Crescent Roll Leaves. That recipe has been very popular. So, for my first recipe for this holiday season, I thought I’d take that idea and make it even better. I used my favorite cheese bread recipe to create these beautiful fall leaf and pumpkin dinner rolls that are topped with brightly colored cheese.

They turned out even prettier than I had imagined. Plus, they are so good, that I couldn’t even wait to get a picture taken before I snacked on one. Now that I’m finished, I’m going back for seconds.

Cheese Bread Leaves and Pumpkins

Print

Easy Cheese Bread turned into Leaves and Pumpkins for Thanksgiving

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

Total Time

1 hr

 

Cheese topped leaf shaped individual sizes loaves of bread.

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesy bread, easy cheese bread, thanksgiving appetizers

Servings: 18

Author: Beth Jackson Klosterboer

Ingredients

Cheese Decorations:

• shortening or butter to grease molds
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• red and yellow food coloring optional
• 1/4 teaspoon Dean and Jacob's Parmesan Bread Dipping Blend*

Bread:

• 3 cups all purpose flour 15 ounces
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons Dean and Jacob's Parmesan Bread Dipping Blend*
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream**
• 1/2 cup water**
• 3/4 cups sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• *This Parmesan Cheese Dipping Blend is a mix of dehydrated garlic Parmesan cheese, salt, parsley, and spices. You can use Parmesan cheese and dried parsley, if you prefer.
• **You can swap out 1 1/4 cup whole milk for the 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream and 1/2 cup water.

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease the leaf and pumpkin molds with shortening or butter.

Cheese:

1. Put 2 tablespoons of cheese into a zip top bag.
2. Add a few drops of red coloring and shake to coat cheese.
3. Repeat with yellow coloring.
4. Lightly sprinkle some of the Parmesan Dipping Blend into the leaf cavities.
5. Sprinkle the red, yellow, and orange colored cheese in the leaf cavities and just the orange cheese in the pumpkin cavities.

Bread Batter:

1. Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and Parmesan Bread Dipping Blend in a bowl.
2. Add cheese and toss to coat using a fork.
3. In a separate bowl, mix heavy whipping cream, water, sour cream and egg.
4. Add it to the dry ingredients.
5. Fold a few times then add melted butter.
6. Mix, just until blended. Batter with be lumpy.
7. Equally divide the batter among the 18 leaf and pumpkin cavities.
8. Grease your finger tips with some shortening or butter and flatten out the batter in the mold.
9. Set leaf and pumpkin silicone molds on baking sheets.
10. Bake for 30-32 minutes until golden brown.
11. Remove rolls from oven, wearing oven mitts, pull on the mold, loosening the bread from the mold.
12. Turn the molds upside down and pop out the bread.
13. Serve warm or cold.

Supplies:

Update: the Wilton Wilton Silicone Leaf and Pumpkin Molds have been discontinued. You can get a similar mold on Amazon.com (affiliate link).

Grease the leaf and pumpkin molds with shortening or butter. I don’t suggest using non-stick baking spray on your silicone molds.

If you are coloring your cheese, put about 2 tablespoons of cheese into a zip top bag. Add a few drops of red coloring and shake to coat cheese. Repeat with yellow coloring.

Lightly sprinkle some of the Parmesan Dipping Blend into the leaf cavities.

This not only adds some nice flavor, but it also bakes into nice dark spots, which help to define the leaves. Sprinkle the red, yellow, and orange colored cheese in the leaf cavities and just the orange cheese in the pumpkin cavities. Try to leave the stem of the pumpkins empty. That way you’ll see the contrast between the pumpkin and the stem.

Make the bread batter.

Equally divide the batter among the 18 leaf and pumpkin cavities. Grease your finger tips with some shortening or butter and flatten out the batter in the mold.Set leaf and pumpkin silicone molds on baking sheets.

Bake until golden brown.

Remove rolls from oven, wearing oven mitts, pull on the mold, loosening the bread from the mold. Turn the molds upside down and pop out the bread.

Serve warm or cold. If you like them warm, but need to make them ahead of time, just pop them into a warm oven to reheat.

Cheesy Crescent Roll Leaves

Chocolate Pilgrim Hats

Veggie Pizza Leaves

Cheesecake Leaves and Pumpkins

Cheese Slice Owl