What is better than waking up to fresh backed cinnamon rolls.? Waking up on a brisk fall morning to pumpkin cinnamon rolls! Pair it with a chai latte and we are in fall heaven. Today we are showing you two ways to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls. A classic pumpkin cinnamon roll and pumpkin cranberry cinnamon rolls.
We love making cinnamon rolls. You can never go wrong with a classic cinnamon roll, but it’s always fun to mix it up a little and pumpkin is a must in the fall. The dough comes together so easy, then after an initial rise you roll the dough and fill to your liking. For this batch we are going to fill half with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, and then the other half we are adding cranberry sauce. We like to use whole berry cranberry sauce. Another great pairing with pumpkin is crushed pecans. When spreading the filling on the dough make sure to get all the way to the edges. That way even the end rolls have filling spread throughout the entire roll.
After filling your rolls it’s time to roll and cut them. We highly recommend using dental floss to cut your rolls. After trying this trick you will never cut your rolls any other way. When using a knife, you risk smashing the dough and squishing out any delicious filling in the middle. Take a piece of plain dental floss, slide under the end of the roll, cross the two pieces over the top and pull tight.
Even though these cinnamon rolls are easy to make, they do take some time since you need to allow time for the dough to rise. Make the rolls the night before so all you have to do in the morning is bring the dough to room temp and bake. After you have cut your rolls and placed in a greased baking dish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove the rolls from the fridge and allow to come to room temp (about 1 hour) and then bake.
Last but not least you will need to top your cinnamon rolls and we can’t think of a better pairing for pumpkin than cream cheese. While the rolls are still warm, top with a cream cheese glaze and then dig in!
So how would you make your rolls, with or with out cranberry? Both are really good, but we loved the added element of the cranberry. If you made this recipe we would love to know what you think. Comment below and tag us on Instagram and Facebook. Happy baking!
Pumpkin and Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 1/2 cup warm milk
- 2 1/2 tsp instant dry yeast
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons butter room room temp
- 1 egg
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 3 1/2 – 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 can cranberry sauce optional
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tbsp milk
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the warm milk, yeast, sugar, salt, butter, egg and pumpkin puree.
- Add 3 cups of flour and mix on low speed.
- Once the flour starts to incorporate into the dough, increase the speed to medium. At this point you will add more flour as needed (no more than a 1/2 cup at a time). You want to get to a point where the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be tacky, but not stick to your figures and have an elastic consistency . When it comes to bread making you should go by feel.
- Lightly grease a medium mixing bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise until the dough is double in size (about 1 hour).
- Once the dough has risen, lightly grease a large cutting board or workspace. Punch down the dough and transfer to the greased workspace.
- Roll the dough into a rectangle that is about 12inch by 18inch.
- Add the filling: Without Cranberry Sauce: Melt 1/2 cup melted butter and spread onto the entire surface of the dough, making sure to get to the edges, then sprinkle the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture on top of the butter.With Cranberry Sauce: Melt 1/4 cup butter and spread on the entire surface of the dough. Over the butter spread an thin layer of cranberry sauce. Sprinkle brown sugar/cinnamon mix on top of the cranberry sauce.
- Tightly roll up the dough lengthwise. Using plain dental floss, cut the dough into one inch pieces.
- Place each piece into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Cover and let rise 30-60 minutes.
- While the rolls rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until they are lightly golden brown on the top.
- While the rolls are baking make with cream cheese glaze.
- Once the rolls are done baking allow them to cool slightly then top with cream cheese glaze and serve warm.
Cream Cheese Glaze
- In a mixer beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth and fluffy. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar, vanilla and 2 tablespoons milk and mix until fully incorporated. If needed, add more milk till you achieve a pourable consistency (but not too thin). The glaze will thin out once you pour it on the warm cinnamon rolls.
Notes
