1. Warm the water (or milk) in a small pot until it reaches about 110-115ºF (warm to the touch, not hot).
2. Put the dry active yeast and the coconut sugar into a large bowl. Pour the warm water (or milk) on top and gently whisk it together. Let it sit for about 5-7 minutes until the top is covered in foam.
3. Prep the minced sage leaves while waiting for the yeast to activate, and set it aside.
4. Add in the pumpkin puree and the avocado oil into the yeast mixture and mix together with a whisk.
5. Add in 300 grams of bread flour, 1 tsp salt, 3-4 Tbsp finely minced sage leaves, and 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. Mix with a dough whisk or a spatula until mostly combined, then add in another 200 grams of bread flour. Mix until it’s a shaggy dough, then start using a floured hand to knead it for about 5 minutes. The dough will be tacky and very soft, so add a sprinkle of flour to your hand and the bottom of the bowl as you go if needed. During this kneading process, I usually incorporate about another 20-25 grams of flour, but avoid doing so much that it becomes dense. Keeping it slightly tacky but flouring your hand as you knead is the best way to do this so that you end up with soft rolls that aren’t dense.
6. Cover the dough ball and let rise for 30 minutes.
7. After the 30 minute rise, lightly punch the dough ball down to release air. Transfer it to a floured surface and divide into 12 equal portions (I used a food scale to make sure mine were equal so they bake at the same rate; mine were 86 grams each).
8. Grease a 9×13″ baking dish with olive oil or butter. Evenly space the rolls in the baking dish. Cover and let them rise for 30 minutes. After the first 10 minutes of rising, go ahead and start preheating the oven while you wait for the rolls to continue rising.
9. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
10. Bake the rolls for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and the center of a roll is 180ºF. Remove from the oven, brush with 2 Tbsp of melted butter using a pastry brush (or use a butter knife to gently rub unmelted butter over them), and sprinkle with lots of chopped sage leaves and some flaky sea salt. Serve warm and enjoy!

Modifications and variations:

• I personally find that the sage is very mild in this recipe – if you want a stronger flavor of sage to shine through, then feel free to carefully toast the diced sage in the avocado oil in a pan (then let it fully cool down before adding to the recipe) to bring out more of the flavor.
• Omit the sage for just a pumpkin dinner roll, or use another herb in place of it such as rosemary or thyme (if using rosemary or thyme, then decrease the amount substantially, to maybe 2 teaspoons finely minced, because it’s much stronger in flavor than sage).
• For a sweet pumpkin roll, then omit the sage, increase the coconut sugar to 1/3-1/2 cup, increase the pumpkin spice to 2 teaspoons, and add 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon. Still top with melted butter, and maybe sprinkle with a cinnamon sugar mixture (using coconut sugar!).