You know the saying “Fall is in the Air”?  That is how I’ve been feeling.  The air is a little crisper, the leaves along my drive to work – even here in San Diego – are turning yellow and orange, and the sun is setting a little earlier each day.  And you know me, those changes are making me think of fall foods:  pumpkin, cinnamon, squash, apple cider, and Halloween candy! 🙂  These Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are my first step to welcoming fall into my kitchen.  Hopefully, they will put you into that warm and fuzzy frame of mind too.

I always had trouble making rolls and bread until I discovered the magic of my stand mixer and its dough hook.  Now, I have gained the confidence to even experiment with dough/bread recipes.  The secret to the tenderness and moistness of these rolls is buttermilk and pumpkin puree.  I just combined the ingredients in the mixer and then used the dough hook to knead the dough for 6 minutes.  Then it was time for the dough to hang out in an oiled bowl until it double in size.  The result was this beautiful, orange-tinted dough!

The rest is easy.  I rolled the dough into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick, brushed it with melted butter, and then sprinkled it with a generous layer of brown sugar and cinnamon.  But don’t forget to flour the surface where you roll the dough or it will stick!

Now it was time to seal that cinnamon sugary goodness inside the rolls, so I rolled the dough into a long log.

Slice the roll into 1 1/2 inch slices for the perfect rolls.

To make sure the rolls didn’t stick, I buttered a baking dish and placed the rolls cut-side up in the baking dish.  (I know, there are two cut sides.  Either one can be up. 🙂 ) Be sure to leave a little space between each roll so that they will have room to rise.  Remember this was an experiment, so I wasn’t sure how many rolls it would make.  It made 6 rolls, I could only fit 12 in my baking dish, so I buttered a pie pan and used it for the other rolls.

It takes about an hour, or a little longer for them to double in size.  Alternatively, you can refrigerate them overnight and then set the out for 30 minutes or so before baking them the next morning.  I baked them in a 350 degree F oven for about 20 minutes until they were golden brown.  I wish you could have smelled the kitchen!  Wow!

Of course, I think all cinnamon rolls need cream cheese frosting, so I made a cream cheese pecan frosting with butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and chopped pecans to ensure these were really the perfect kickoff for fall!

I used about two-thirds of the frosting for the rolls and saved the rest for those of us that like to add a little extra during the tasting.  Get ready for ooey gooey goodness!  Enjoy and if you have any left over, they freeze well for another day.

 

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting
 
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Serves: 16
Ingredients
Dough
  • 1 egg
  • 1 pkg. yeast
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¾ cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
  • 4 cups flour
  • ¼ cup butter, melted
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • ¾ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp. salt
Filling
  • 4 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
Cream Cheese Frosting
  • 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 Tbsp. butter, softened
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  • ⅛ tsp. salt
Instructions
  1. Warm the buttermilk to 95-100 degrees F.
  2. Add the warm buttermilk to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle.
  3. Add the yeast and the sugar to the warm milk. Stir. Let the mixture stand 5-10 minutes.
  4. Add the melted butter for the dough, egg, pumpkin puree and salt to the bowl. Turn the mixture on low and mix until the ingredients are combined.
  5. With the mixture on low, gradually add the flour.
  6. When all of the flour is added, turn the mixture to medium and mix until the flour is combined with the other ingredients.
  7. Stop the mixture and change the paddle to a dough hook.
  8. Turn the mixture to medium high and knead the dough for 6 minutes.
  9. Using vegetable oil, rub a bowl with the oil.
  10. Place the dough in the oiled bowl and let it rise for 1 to 1½ hours until it is doubled in size.
  11. Roll the dough on a floured surface until it is about 16 inches by 12 inches and ¼ inch thick.
  12. For the filling, brown sugar and cinnamon.
  13. Brush the melted butter for the filling onto the dough.
  14. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar filling evenly over the dough. Leave a narrow border (about ½ inch) without filling.
  15. Roll the dough along the long edge to form a log.
  16. Press the outside edge against the log to seal it.
  17. Cut the log into 1½ inch slides.
  18. Place the cut rolls, cut side up, in a buttered baking dish.
  19. Cover the rolls with a kitchen towel and let them rise 1 hour or so until doubled I size.
  20. Bake the rolls at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
  21. Spread the cream cheese frosting (instructions below) on the warm rolls.
Cream Cheese Frosting
  1. In a mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, softened butter and salt.
  2. Mix until fully combined.
  3. Stir in pecans.

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