• Weigh the mixing bowl you will be making the dough in (or the bowl you will proof the dough in, if it is different than the mixing bowl). Write down the weight of the bowl on a piece of paper, or take a picture of the weight displayed on the scale etc. (You will subtract the bowl weight at the end to get the total dough weight to divide the dough into equal pieces.) I recommend using the same bowl for the preferment, the main bowl, and proofing to save on wasted dough during bowl transfers and to save on clean up.

Make the Preferment

• Combine the starter, water, and einkorn flour into a large bowl (preferably the bowl that you will be using to make the entire dough in).
• Mix until smooth, cover, and let ferment 5 to 10 hours, or until puffy, expanded, and you see bubbles indicating an active preferment. If longer than 10 hours, place the preferment in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but no longer.

Main Dough: Start when preferment is ready

• Add the pumpkin purée, egg, sugar (or honey), milk, and lemon juice into the large bowl that contains the preferment.
• Mix well so that all ingredients are well incorporated.
• Next, add the all-purpose einkorn flour and salt.
• Mix until a shaggy dough forms.
• Cover and let rest 15 minutes to allow einkorn to hydrate.
• Once the dough has hydrated for 15 minutes, add the butter and knead, fold or squeeze the dough until the butter is fully incorporated.
• The dough will look messy at first. Einkorn flour absorbs slowly, but it will come together into a soft, sticky dough.
• Again, cover and let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then start a series of 3-4 slap and fold sessions. (If you prefer, you can do 3-4 stretch and folds instead of slap and folds.)
• Lift the dough with two hands, slap the bottom edge onto the counter, then fold the top over itself. Turn the dough slightly and repeat.
• The slap and fold method is about 20–30 seconds of lift, then slap, then fold and then turn the dough.
• Then, cover and let the dough rest 15- 30 minutes and repeat for a total of 3-4 sessions.
• The dough will become smoother, but einkorn won't get super elastic and will stay stickier than traditional wheat.
• Bulk Fermentation: after the slap-and-folds are finished, cover the dough and let it rise 3–6 hours in a warm spot until the dough noticeably expands.
• Einkorn spreads outward more than upward. It helps to look for softness and airiness, not doubling.
• Divide and shape the Festive Einkorn Sourdough Pumpkin Dinner Rolls
• Weigh the bowl again, this time with the dough inside. Then subtract the weight of the empty bowl from the bowl weight. Divide the dough weight by the number of rolls you want to make. I usually make 16 to 20 rolls.
• Lightly flour your working surface and your hands because the Einkorn Sourdough Pumpkin dough is sticky.
• Using a bowl scraper, turn dough out onto a working surface.
• Divide the dough into the desired number of rolls. (Weigh the pieces to make sure they are all the same size.)
• Shape each piece into a tight ball.
• Cut 3 pieces of butcher's twine per roll. (About 10" in length.)
• Position the butcher's twine on the counter. Set the already formed roll in the center of the twine. Butter the roll and the twine with a pastry brush.
• Tie each roll loosely with all three pieces of twine to create 6 pumpkin sections.
• Place on a buttered parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Final Rise
• Let rolls rise 60–90 minutes in a warm area, or until visibly puffy, but do not let them overproof. (If they over-proof, they bake outward versus upward.)
• Bake the Rolls
• Preheat oven to 400°F non-convection oven or 375°F convection oven
• Once the oven has reached the temperature, put the rolls in the oven. Then, with the oven door closed, decrease the oven temperature to 375°F non-convection oven or 350°F convection oven. (The rolls need the heat for oven spring. Pre-heating the oven hotter is to help for temperature loss when putting the rolls in the oven.)
• Bake rolls for 20 minutes. At the 12-minute mark, spin the pans around and move the top tray to the bottom rack and the bottom tray to the top rack in the oven. This ensures that the bottoms will be cooked well and the tops won't burn.
• Internal temperature should reach 200°F when done. Do not over-bake as these rolls burn easily.
• Remove twine while still warm.
• Optional: when cool, garnish with Honey Cinnamon Butter Stems, or pecan stems.