After making the cheesecake and cupcakes the other day, I had a container full of leftover pumpkin. I kept trying to think what I could do with it, I was thinking about making Pumpkin Smash smoothies but that called for soy milk and vanilla frozen yogurt, which I didn’t have on hand. Then I remembered that a few weeks back I had wanted to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls and that they just happened to call for the amount of pumpkin I had left over. So I adapted a recipe and gave them a shot. Both Stephen and his friend Eric agreed that although they didn’t scream pumpkin, the subtlety was nice.
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 pkg active dry yeast - OR 2 ¼ tsp
- 1/3 cup whole milk - OR 2% milk
- 1 large egg - beaten
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree - solid-packed
- 2 tbsp butter - melted
- 3 1/2 cup flour
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
For the Filling
- 1/4 cup butter - room temperature
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree - solid-pack
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
For the Frosting
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 4 oz cream cheese - room temperature
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Stir yeast into water in a large bowl. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before stirring to combine (it should get thicker and begin to bubble). Stir in the milk, egg, pumpkin, butter, 1 ¼ c. flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Beat vigorously with paddle attachment for 2 minutes.
- Attach dough hook to mixer. Slowly add the rest of the flour, a little at a time, until the dough is stiff enough to knead.
- Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour if necessary, until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough into a greased bowl (olive oil is fine), turn the dough to coat the entire ball.
- Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, approximately 1 hour. If the dough is has not doubled by then, allow it to rise for an additional half hour.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling by combining the sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Transfer the risen dough to a floured surface and roll into a 16″x 12″ rectangle. Combine and spread butter, pumpkin & vanilla extract over dough. Sprinkle with sugar mixture. Roll into log and cut into 15 slices using a sharp knife or dental floss. Place slices into a 9×13 or two 8 or 9 inch round cake or pie pans with the bottoms lined with parchment paper. Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake the for 20-25 minutes or until rolls are golden brown (don’t worry if the filling rises and bubbles, it will go down once the rolls have been removed from the oven).
- While rolls are baking, prepare frosting by beating the cream cheese and vanilla until smooth.
- Slowly add the powdered sugar, then the milk. Beat until combined.
- Remove rolls from oven and let cool on wire rack. Frost 5-10 minutes after removal.
Found this recipe on pinterest. I made them tonight and they were sooooo good! Definitely going in the family favorites recipe box. Thank you for sharing! Yummmmmm!!
Thanks Dina! I’m happy to hear that you liked them!
I made these over the weekend, and they were a HUGE hit. A perfect recipe to kick off “pumpkin season.” I want to thank you for sharing it, and I look forward to following your future posts!
Thanks for giving it a try! I’m glad it was such a hit!
This looks soooooooooooooooo good!
I love working with yeast, but I’ve never tried pumpkin rolls
This is something I just have to try!
I’m pinning it.
Thanks so much for sharing
Oh my gosh, I’ve been totally trying to figure out how to put pumpkin IN the roll. THANK YOU. 🙂
Wow! Absolutely delicious!