Description
These pumpkin cinnamon rolls are perfectly soft and chewy and topped with a heavenly maple cream cheese frosting. Easy to make and ready to go in about 1 hour!
Ingredients
Scale
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls:
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 envelope (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant (“rapid rise”) yeast
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3/4 cup pumpkin purée
- 1 egg
Cinnamon Filling:
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 4 ounces (1/2 cup) cream cheese, softened
- 3 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Heat the milk and butter. Combine milk and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high for 1 minute, then remove and stir to help melt and dissolve the butter. Continue heating in 20 second intervals, pausing after each to stir, until the butter is melted and the milk is warm but not hot to the touch. (I recommend measuring the temperature with a cooking thermometer. It should be around 110°F.) If the mixture is too hot, it can kill the yeast, so just wait a few minutes until it reaches the correct temperature.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 cups of the flour (not all of the flour), granulated sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt until combined.
- Mix the dough. In the bowl of a stand mixer* fitted with the dough-hook attachment, add the warm milk mixture and sprinkle the yeast on top, then give the mixture a brief stir. Add the flour mixture, pumpkin purée and egg, and beat on medium-low speed until combined. If the dough is sticking to the sides of the bowl, add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough begins to form a ball and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. (The dough will still be moist and slightly sticky though.) Continue beating for 5 minutes on medium-low speed. Remove dough and form it into a ball with your hands. Place the dough ball in a greased bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Mix the cinnamon-sugar filling. While the dough rests, make your filling by whisking together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice together in a small mixing bowl until combined.
- Roll out the dough. Once the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured work surface. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 10 x 15 inches in size. (If you want all of the edges to be even, you can use a pizza slicer to cut the dough into an even rectangle.) Use a knife or an offset spatula to spread 1/4 cup of softened butter (for the cinnamon filling) out evenly over the entire surface of the dough. Sprinkle the dough evenly with the cinnamon and sugar mixture, and gently pat it down into the butter.
- Roll up the dough. Beginning at the 15-inch edge, tightly roll up the dough and give the final seam a little pinch so that it seals. Use a piece of dental floss* or a knife to slice off the two ends of the roll (just 1/2-inch or so on each end, since the ends typically don’t have as much cinnamon and sugar filling, which you can discard) so that the ends are even. Cut the remaining dough into 12 equal rounds.
- Let the dough rise. Place each of the cut cinnamon rolls into a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Cover the dish with a damp towel, and leave it in a warm place to rise for 25 minutes. Heat the oven to 350°F.
- Make the frosting. While the dough is rising, whisk the maple cream cheese frosting ingredients together in a mixing bowl until smooth. If the frosting seems too thick, add in an extra tablespoon of milk at a time until it reaches your desired consistency. If it is too thin, add in extra powdered sugar.
- Bake. Once the rolls have risen, uncover the dish and place it on the center rack of the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the rolls are golden and cooked through. Transfer the baking dish to a wire rack and let the rolls cool for at least 5 minutes.
- Frost. Drizzle or spread with the maple cream cheese frosting, serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
Option To Make The Dough By Hand: If you do not have an electric stand mixer with a dough attachment, you can simply stir the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Then turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for 5 minutes.
Dental Floss Dough-Cutting: Simply break off a piece of floss about 12 inches long. Then carefully slide the floss under the dough to the exact location you want to “cut”. Pull the ends of the floss up and cross over the top of the dough. Then give the floss a gentle tug to cut all the way through the dough. (See the video above for a visual.) This is the best method I’ve found to make a clean slice through the dough — although the standard knife method still works too.