Description
These Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls offer a soft, fluffy dough enhanced with pumpkin puree and warm spices, filled with a rich blend of brown sugar and aromatic spices, then topped with a luscious maple cream cheese icing. Perfect for a cozy fall breakfast or sweet treat.
Ingredients
Scale
Pumpkin Dough
- 1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (115g) canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) instant or active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
- 2 and 2/3 cups (335g) all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
Filling
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Maple Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) whole milk
- 2/3 cup (80g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- Optional: 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Make the dough: Warm the milk and butter until the butter just melts, ensuring the mixture is lukewarm (105°F-115°F). Whisk together pumpkin, sugar, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. Add the milk/butter mixture, egg, and yeast; combine well. Mix in 1 cup flour, then add the remaining 1 and 2/3 cups flour, mixing thoroughly with dough hook or by hand.
- Knead the dough: Knead dough using a mixer with dough hook for 5 minutes or by hand on floured surface for 5 minutes. Add small amounts of flour if dough is too sticky, but keep dough soft and slightly tacky. Perform a windowpane test to ensure proper kneading.
- First rise: Lightly grease a large bowl, place dough inside, turning to coat with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm environment for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
- Prepare pan: Grease bottom and sides of a 9-inch or 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Roll out dough: Punch down dough to release air, place on floured surface, roll into a 10×14-inch rectangle. If dough resists, cover and rest 10 minutes to relax gluten, then continue rolling.
- Add filling: Spread softened butter evenly over dough. Mix brown sugar and spices, sprinkle over buttered dough evenly. Roll dough tightly into a log. Slice into 10-12 even rolls and arrange in prepared pan.
- Second rise: Cover rolls tightly and allow to rise about 1 hour until doubled in size. Alternatively, refrigerate overnight as per notes.
- Bake rolls: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Bake rolls 22-28 minutes until lightly browned. After 15 minutes, tent foil over pan to prevent excessive browning. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes on wire rack.
- Make icing: Beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Add maple syrup and milk, beat until creamy. Add confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon (optional); beat until creamy and smooth.
- Finish: Spread warm icing over cinnamon rolls. Store leftovers tightly covered at room temperature up to 2 days or refrigerated up to 5 days.
Notes
- Overnight Instructions: After shaping, refrigerate rolls up to 14 hours instead of second rise. Bring to room temperature and rise 1 hour before baking.
- Freezing Instructions: Freeze before second rise and thaw overnight; let rise before baking. Alternatively, par-bake rolls for 10 minutes, cool, freeze, then finish baking after thawing. Fully baked rolls can also be frozen.
- Milk: Whole milk recommended for softness; substitutions possible but affect richness.
- Yeast: Active dry or instant can be used; active dry may require slightly longer rise.
- Spices: Pumpkin pie spice can replace individual spices if desired.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 roll
- Calories: 320
- Sugar: 15g
- Sodium: 220mg
- Fat: 12g
- Saturated Fat: 7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 45g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 45mg
