Good for your soul

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

What sounds better on a Saturday morning in the Fall than pumpkin cinnamon rolls?

I didn’t want to just add pumpkin puree to my cinnamon roll recipe, so I googled pumpkin cinnamon rolls and then I came up with my own version!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
3/4 cup milk, warmed
2 Tablespoons instant yeast. 1 Tablespoon sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) 1 large egg
3 1/2 cups flour
2 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
pinch of salt

Filling
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1/2 cup 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 cream cheese, softened to room temperature 3 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 Tablespoons whole milk
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In your stand mixer, dissolve yeast and 1 T sugar in warmed milk. (Great way to judge temp of liquid when using yeast – If you stick your finger in the milk, it should not feel hot or cold) Cover and set aside in a warm place until bubbly.
Mix in brown sugar, melted butter, pumpkin puree, and egg until just combined.

Use your dough hook to mix in flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Kneed mixture with the dough hook on medium speed until a ball forms. If mixture is too dry, add 1 tsp milk at a time until ball forms. If mixture is too wet, add 1 tsp flour at a time until ball forms.

Spray a bowl with non stick spray or oil, place ball of dough in and cover with moist towel. Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2-2 hours. (Trick for this is heat your oven to lowest temp possible. Turn off and put bowl in oven and leave door ajar to keep oven light on.) Grease a 9×13 baking pan and set aside.
Once dough has doubled, put on a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle to roughly 13″ x 24″ It really works best to be as close to a rectangle as possible so all your rolls end up being similar in size.

Brush dough with melted butter making sure to leave about a 1/2 inch on the side you are not rolling from so you can seal the bread. Combine the filling ingredients and sprinkle on butter. I might add pecans here next time – just sprinkle on top of filling.

Start from one end and roll bread up. When you get to the edge, pinch to seal the bread into a nice loaf. Use a serrated knife or dental floss (I use dental floss) to but loaf into 12 rolls. Arrange in buttered pan. Cover again and allow to rise for about an hour. Don’t be afraid to push down on the rolls that seem to be bigger than the others so your rolls are more uniform.

Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 22-28 minutes. If tops start to brown too soon, tent a piece of foil over the pan to help it from browning too quickly. Remove pan from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before making the icing.

Use a hand mixer to cream the cream cheese until smooth and then add the maple syrup and milk. Beat until smooth. Add the sugar and cinnamon. Beat until creamy. Add more milk or sugar to get the consistency you want. Frost the rolls.

Store in an air tight container for up to 5 days. I have also put into freezer to use at a later date.

Enjoy!