Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

This week’s recipe was a request from Madison, and I am so glad she thought of it. Though I was a little late to the pumpkin game this year, Madison is a HUGE pumpkin fan, and thought that there must be a way to make cinnamon rolls pumpkin. She was right, and these are them, and you need them next Sunday morning when you’re looking for something a little sweet and very Fall for breakfast.

Start by heating the butter and milk over low heat just until the butter melts. Set aside.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the pumpkin, light brown sugar, nutmeg and salt on medium speed to combine.

Add the warmed milk mixture and beat to combine.

Beat in the egg and yeast next.

Add 1 cup of the flour and beat until incorporated. Then add the remaining 1 1/4 cups of flour and continue to beat until dough fully mixed. It will be very sticky.

Transfer it to a bowl sprayed with cooking spray, turning the dough to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours, until doubles in size.

A trick I learned at some point for getting things to rise is to make sure they actually are in warm spots. For this dough, I turned my oven on to 200°F and allowed it to heat up for 2 minutes, and then turned it off. I kept the dough in the slightly warmed oven for its rising period, and it worked perfectly.

Next, punch down the (still very sticky) dough and turn out onto a heavily floured surface. Knead it a couple of times to bring it together, using flour liberally.

Roll the dough out into an 18×10 inch rectangle. Another tip (I’m full fo them today): there actually is a way to roll into a perfect rectangle without cutting the edges after the fact. What you do is start To roll out the dough. Then, fold in the sides and ends to make a rectangle. Continue to roll after the folding, and you’ll end up with an actual rectangle! Makes sense that you can’t roll out in a rectangle without starting with a rectangle, but I was unaware of how well it worked until I tried to give it a go today.

Like, look at that!

Next, you’ll want to spread the softened butter over the dough. I gave the softening process an assist and zapped it in the microwave on 50% power for 20 seconds. That made it very spreadable.

In a small bowl, whisk together the dark brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. Sprinkle the mixture over the butter.

Roll the dough up starting on a long edge.

Cut the dough into 12 equal slices.

Place those slices cut side down in a 9-inch pan sprayed with cooking spray.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour. That oven you heated up earlier would work great!

Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Cover the pan with aluminum foil (to avoid burning) and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and remove aluminum foil.

While those cool for a second, make the icing. Beat the cream cheese, milk and maple syrup on medium speed until creamy. Add the confectioners sugar and beat until the proper consistency.

Pour that ALL over the cinnamon rolls. There’s no such thing as too much icing, and it should seep into all the nooks and crannies until you can’t even distinguish the separate rolls anymore.

This makes cutting into it more like a cake, which, let’s be honest, is all any of us actually wants for breakfast.

Service warm, and if there are any left, store in an airtight container (I just had one for dessert).

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients;

Rolls

• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup puréed pumpkin
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 package instant yeast
• 2 1/4 cups flour, plus more for kneading

Filling

• 6 tablespoons butter, softened (and slightly melty)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice

Maple Cream Cheese Icing

• 4 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup confectioners sugar

Directions:

Rolls

1. In a small saucepan, heat butter and milk over low heat until butter just melts. Set aside.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the pumpkin, brown sugar, nutmeg and salt on medium speed until combined.
3. Beat in the warmed milk mixture to incorporate.
4. Beat in the egg and yeast.
5. Add 1 cup of flour and beat on medium speed until incorporated. Add the remaining 1 1/4 cups flour and beat until no streaks remain. Dough will be sticky.
6. Transfer dough into a bowl sprayed with cooking spray, and turn the dough to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size – about 1 1/2 hours.
7. Punch down the dough and turn out onto a floured surface. Knead some flour into the dough, and then roll out into an 18×10 inch rectangle.

Filling

1. Spread the soft/melty butter over the dough to the edges.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the dark brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice to combine. Sprinkle over the butter.
3. Roll the dough, starting on a long side, into a tight log. Cut into 12 slices.
4. Put slices cut side down in a 9-inch round cake pan sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
5. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes. Cover pan with tin foil, and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes, until golden and cooked through.

Icing

1. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened cream cheese, milk and maple syrup on medium speed until creamy.
2. Add the confectioners sugar and beat to desired consistency.
3. Drizzle over cinnamon rolls to coat.