Recipe: Slow-rising pumpkin-thyme dinner rolls

Whither the dinner roll? Once the hallmark of a great home cook, when we think of dinner rolls at all today, it's as some kind of quaint artifact of another time. "Remember rolls?" we laugh as we tear off another chunk of sourdough baguette. But this recipe, from food writer Regina Schrambling, is a reminder that a well-made roll is something special. Crisp on the outside but tender at the center. Bready, certainly, but already so rich and buttery that they practically melt as you chew. They're terrific enough to have been named one of the best recipes of the year in 2002.

November 17, 2011