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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

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Pumpkin cinnamon rolls are a delicious, indulgent autumn breakfast treat. Pumpkin is the perfect complement for the cinnamon filling.

Three iced pumpkin cinnamon rolls on a white plate.

Impress your family with homemade cinnamon rolls, made with a rich pumpkin yeast dough, and a cinnamon-sugar filling.

The bread dough is made with instant yeast, so no need to fuss with dissolving the yeast in water that's not too hot or too cold.

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Baked cinnamon rolls in a cake pan.

Ingredients

The dough is made with:

  • All-purpose flour
  • Instant yeast
  • Brown sugar
  • Kosher salt
  • Pumpkin pie spice
  • Milk
  • Pumpkin purée
  • An egg
  • Melted unsalted butter

The filling is made with white and brown sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt, plus an additional two tablespoons of melted butter that gets brushed onto the dough. The filling is made with cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla extract.

See recipe card for quantities.

Icing being spread on a baked cinnamon roll.

Instructions

Combine all of the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix with the paddle just until combined. Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium speed for five minutes.

If the dough doesn't form a ball around the dough hook and pull away from the sides of the bowl, add two more tablespoons of flour, and knead another two minutes.

Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl sprayed with nonstick spray, cover, and let rise for an hour.

A pumpkin cinnamon roll in front of a cup of coffee.

Punch down the dough and transfer to a floured surface. Dust the top of the dough with a bit more flour. Roll it out to 18 inches in length and 12 inches tall.

Brush the melted butter onto the dough, then sprinkle the filling mixture on top. Roll up the dough and pinch the ends closed.

Cut the log into 16 pieces, roughly an inch long each. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray, and place 8 pieces in each pan (7 around the perimeter and 1 in the center). Let rise for 45 minutes.

In the last twenty minutes of rising, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Once the rolls have risen, bake them for 25 minutes.

For the filling, beat together all of the icing ingredients. Spread onto baked cinnamon rolls just before serving.

A cinnamon roll in front of a pan of baked cinnamon rolls.

Baking the Next Day

If you want to serve these first thing in the morning, you don't want to get up at the crack of dawn to make the dough, let it rest, et cetera. Good news, cinnamon rolls are easy to prepare the night before!

You can follow the recipe up until placing the cut rolls into the cake pans. Instead of spraying them with nonstick spray, line the cake pans with parchment paper.

Place the rolls in the cake pans in the refrigerator, loosely covered with plastic wrap. The refrigerator will slow down the rise. When you wake up in the morning, take them out of the refrigerator to sit at room temperature for 1 hour before baking.

Substituting Active Dry Yeast

Most grocery stores only sell active-dry yeast, meaning you'll need to order instant yeast online. If you can't get instant yeast, you can substitute active-dry yeast instead. Increase the amount to 2 ¼ teaspoons. Warm the milk to between 100 and 110 degrees F (38 to 43 degrees C). Mix the yeast with the warm milk and let stand for 10 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.

Maple Icing Variation

If you want even more autumn flavor in these rolls, substitute an equal amount of maple extract for the vanilla extract.

A pan of baked cinnamon rolls on a wire cooling rack.

Equipment

I use a 6-quart KitchenAid mixer. You can use any stand mixer as long as it has a dough hook attachment.

I roll my dough on a non-slip pastry mat with a wooden rolling pin, and cut the rolls with a metal bench scraper, but you could also use a serrated knife.

Storage

Un-iced pumpkin cinnamon rolls can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Store the icing in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Top tip

Roll the filled cinnamon log tightly! This is not the time to be gentle. Otherwise, the cinnamon filling will fall out when you cut the rolls.

Three iced pumpkin cinnamon rolls on a white plate.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Yield: 16 rolls
Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Pumpkin cinnamon rolls are a delicious, indulgent autumn breakfast treat. Pumpkin is the perfect complement for the cinnamon filling.

Ingredients

For the dough

  • ½ cup (4 fl oz/118 mL) whole milk, room temperature
  • 1 ¾ teaspoons instant yeast
  • 3 ½ cups (15 oz/425 g) all-purpose flour, plus extra as needed
  • ½ cup (3.75 oz/106 g) light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • ½ cup (4 oz/113 g) pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
  • 1 large egg
  • 6 tablespoons (3 oz/85 g) unsalted butter, divided

For the filling

  • ¾ cup (5.6 oz/159 g) light brown sugar, packed
  • ¼ cup (1.75 oz/50 g) white sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the glaze

  • 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese, softened
  • 2 tablespoons whole milk
  • 1 ½ cups (6 oz/170 g) powdered sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, stir together the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, 4 tablespoons (2 oz/57 g) of the melted butter, milk, pumpkin and egg with the paddle attachment just until combined.
  2. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed for five minutes.
  3. If the dough does not form a ball around the hook, add another two tablespoons of flour and knead another 2 minutes.
  4. Transfer the dough to a large bowl oiled with nonstick cooking spray. Spray the top of the dough with nonstick spray, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place the bowl in a warm area for an hour, until the dough doubles in size.
  5. Make the filling: stir together the sugars, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
  6. Press down on the risen dough to remove the air bubbles. Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface and dust the top with flour. Roll out to an 18-inch by 12-inch (46 cm by 30.5 cm) rectangle.
  7. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter (1 oz/28 g) in the microwave. Brush the melted butter over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle the filling in an even layer over the melted butter.
  8. Starting with the long end further away from you, begin rolling the dough into a tight, even log. Once completely rolled up, crimp the ends with your fingers to seal the log.
  9. The log will have lengthened during rolling, so trim off the ends with a serrated knife to make the log 18 inches (46 cm) in length again. Using a serrated knife, cut the log into 1-inch (2.5 cm) sections.
  10. Spray two 9-inch (23 cm) round pans well with nonstick cooking spray. Place 8 rolls in each pan, 7 evenly around the perimeter and one in the center. There will be space between each roll.
  11. Cover each pan with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise for 45 minutes.
  12. After 15 minutes of rising time, begin preheating the oven to 350 degrees (177 degrees C). Once fully risen, bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes, until the rolls are golden brown and baked through.
  13. Place the baking pans on wire racks to cool slightly.
  14. Make the glaze: whisk together the ingredients until smooth, then drizzle or use a butter knife to spread the icing over the pumpkin cinnamon rolls.

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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 231Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 31mgSodium: 214mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 2gSugar: 10gProtein: 6g

I am not a certified nutritionist. This nutrition information is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only.

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© The Redhead Baker
Cuisine: American / Category: Breakfast Recipes

#PumpkinWeek

Pumpkin season is here, and we are celebrating our love of pumpkin with #PumpkinWeek hosted by Christie from A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures. All week-long 11 bloggers will be sharing over 30 pumpkin-filled recipes for all your Autumn celebrations, including breakfasts, baked goods, savory pumpkin recipes, desserts, and drinks.

More #PumpkinWeek Recipes Below:

Ellen

Friday 29th of September 2017

The perfect breakfast for fall! I know a few people who will enjoy these treats.

Platt College

Monday 10th of October 2016

I love cinnamon rolls, add pumpkin for Halloween.

Caroline

Friday 7th of October 2016

These look delicious!

Wendy

Tuesday 4th of October 2016

Absolutely lovely. I am drooling over here.

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