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 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
Ingredients
- freshly shredded cheddar cheese - This will melt and caramelize better than pre-shredded cheese that is coated in cellulose or potato starch.
- red and yellow food coloring - You can skip this if you are opposed to using food coloring, but the red, yellow, and orange cheese looks so pretty on top of the leaves.
- Dean and Jacob's Parmesan Bread Dipping Blend - 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.
- all-purpose flour
- salt
- baking powder
- heavy whipping cream and water or whole milk - I always have cream on hand, so that's what I use but whole milk can be swapped out for the cream and water.
- sour cream - This will add a nice tang to the bread and will give it a soft and dense texture.
- egg
- butter
Supplies
silicone leaf and pumpkin mold
mixing bowl
silicone spatula or wooden spoon
zip-top bags
You can find supplies to make these leaf and pumpkin dinner rolls on Amazon. I earn a small commission when you make a purchase using the Amazon affiliate links at no extra cost to you.
Grease the mold.
Grease the leaf and pumpkin molds with shortening or butter. I don't suggest using non-stick baking spray on your silicone molds.
Color the shredded cheese.
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 the cheese.
Repeat with yellow coloring.
Sprinkle on seasoning.
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.
Fill the silicone mold with cheese bread batter.
Make the bread batter.
Equally, divide the batter among the 18 leaf and pumpkin cavities. Grease your fingertips with some shortening or butter and flatten out the batter in the mold.
Set the leaf and pumpkin silicone molds on baking sheets.
Bake until golden brown.
Remove rolls from the oven.
With your oven mitts on, 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.
Variations
You can also use the easy cheese bread recipe to make this impressive 3-D Cheese Bread Turkey for Thanksgiving. It looks incredible on your dinner table.
Cheese bread can be made into a candy corn for Halloween or the fall. This Cheese Bread Candy Corn is topped with yellow, orange, and white cheese.
Related Recipes
If you enjoy making these leaf-shaped dinner rolls, you might also like making these other leaf-shaped appetizers and desserts. They are perfect for fall or Thanksgiving.
Recipe
Thanksgiving dinner rolls made with an easy cheese bread batter in a silicone leaf and pumpkin mold. Each cheese bread leaf and pumpkin is topped with red, yellow, and orange cheese.
- shortening or butter, to grease molds
- 1 ½ cups freshly shredded cheddar cheese
- red and yellow food coloring, optional
- ¼ teaspoon Dean and Jacob's Parmesan Bread Dipping Blend*
- 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
- ¾ cup heavy whipping cream**
- ½ cup water**
- ¾ cups sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons melted butter
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Heat oven to 350 degrees.
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Grease the leaf and pumpkin molds with shortening or butter.
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Put 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.
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Sprinkle the red, yellow, and orange colored cheese in the leaf cavities and just the orange cheese in the pumpkin cavities.
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Combine flour, salt, baking powder, and Parmesan Bread Dipping Blend in a bowl.
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Add cheese and toss to coat using a fork.
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In a separate bowl, mix heavy whipping cream, water, sour cream and egg.
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Add it to the dry ingredients.
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Fold a few times then add melted butter.
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Mix, just until blended. Batter with be lumpy.
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Equally divide the batter among the 18 leaf and pumpkin cavities.
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Grease your finger tips with some shortening or butter and flatten out the batter in the mold.
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Set leaf and pumpkin silicone molds on baking sheets.
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Bake for 30-32 minutes until golden brown.
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Remove rolls from oven, wearing oven mitts, pull on the mold, loosening the bread from the mold.
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Turn the molds upside down and pop out the bread.
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Serve warm or cold.
Ingredient Notes
*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 ¼ cup whole milk for the ¾ cup heavy whipping cream and ½ cup water.
Storage
Store these cheese bread leaves and pumpkins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
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Gina
Where is the link to these molds?? I can't find it.
Beth Klosterboer
Hi Gina,
You can find the molds on Amazon here - https://amzn.to/40LpSnq
I earn a small commission when you make a purchase using that link at no extra cost to you.
Enjoy making your cheese bread leaves and pumpkins.
Beth
lwentkie
So excited for these! Thanks so much for sharing your creativity!
Jazzy
Just did a trial run. Super delicious. More of a cheese biscuit consistancy. Only used about 1/2 cup of cheese for topping. Perhaps that was an error or should I be using a lot more non colored cheese on top?
beth
I couldn't quite figure out what to call these as the cheese bread recipe I use does have a dense texture, a bit like a biscuit. I used 1 1/2 cups of cheese to top all of the leaves and pumpkins, so a 1/2 cup per mold. Each roll was nicely covered in cheese.
Samantha @ Five Heart Home
These are so creative, Beth, and almost too pretty to eat! Thanks so much for linking up to Moonlight & Mason Jars...can't wait to try these! 🙂
Sue
So gorgeous! They sound delicious too!
Jennie
Looks so yummy!
I would love if you would link up with me and share!
http://thediaryofarealhousewife.blogspot.com
Maria
These are so amazing!!!! I LOVE this idea, I love how you used the cheese! Beautiful, and delicious looking, too!
Linda V @ Bubble and Sweet
These are seriously awesome it's so hard to find savory food that is pretty. Yup awesome.
Chelsea
What an awesome idea! I never would have thought to use a mold! Thanks for sharing!
♥ sara ♥
Fantastici!
The Bearfoot Baker
Seriously mind blowing!! I love how you come up with one amazing idea after another!
beth
That's so nice to hear right now. I'm really finding it challenging to do so with every passing holiday. There are just so many amazing projects on-line these days. It's harder and harder to be unique!
Anonymous
Excellent stuff! You're so creative. Do you mind sharing what size of scoop you used? Would it be the same size scoop you'd use for cupcake batter? I'm looking to buy a scoop but am not sure what size to get. Thanks!
beth
Oops, I should have mentioned that. Thanks for asking. I used an 18/8 scoop. It the largest size I have. Over scoop it just a bit to get the 18 leaves and pumpkins.
beth
As I was looking for the scoop on Amazon, I realized I wrote 18/8, but that isn't the size. Yes, I used a #16.
Aida @ TheCraftingFoodie
These look amazing! Not only are they super creative, but they look delicious. I've never thought of coloring cheese or baking rolls in a mold. Brilliant!
beth
Thank, Aida. I just discovered how easy it is to color cheese, and am having so much fun making new things using the idea. I used a recipe for one large loaf of bread and was surprised to get 18 rolls. They are just the right size for a side item at Thanksgiving dinner.