Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite treats to make, and in the Fall I, of course, gravitate towards these pumpkin cinnamon rolls. They’re so soft and fluffy with a brioche-style dough. There’s pumpkin in the dough as well as the filling, and lots of pumpkin pie spices.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
If you love everything pumpkin spice then this recipe is for you. The pumpkin cinnamon rolls have a homemade pumpkin brioche dough and pumpkin-butter filling. May I also suggest you put on a autumnal jazz record and throw on a sweater while you bake these? Or put a Halloween movie on the in background. Whatever helps you romanticize the process lol.
Anyways, I’m a big fan of this recipe and here is why I think you’ll love it too:
- Soft, pillowy pumpkin dough full of cozy spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
- The filling is gooey and flavorful with butter, pumpkin, brown sugar, and spices.
- Cream cheese icing on top adds a sweet tang.
- Drizzling heavy cream over the rolls before baking makes them even softer when done.
- These cinnamon rolls are perfect for a Fall morning.
If you love all things pumpkin I would also recommend checking out my chai pumpkin cake, brown butter pumpkin muffins, or cinnamon swirl pumpkin cupcakes.
Ingredients for Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients for Dough
- All-Purpose Flour: Measure flour with a digital food scale for accuracy. Start with the amount of flour recommended for the recipe, and then add more only if needed.
- Active Dry Yeast: Make sure you are using active dry yeast and not instant or rapid-rise yeast.
- Granulated Sugar: For sweetness and to activate the yeast.
- Butter, melted and cooled: Allow the butter to cool down if it’s super hot after you melt it.
- Whole Milk: I highly recommend baking with whole milk since it will result in the best flavor and texture. Reduced-fat or skim milk just aren’t the same since they don’t have as much milk fat.
- Canned, Pumpkin Puree: Libby’s makes the best canned pumpkin in my opinion. It has the perfect level of moisture compared to other brands, which I think can often be too watery.
- Large egg, room temperature: Soak the egg in a bowl of hot water for 5-10 minutes to bring it to room temperature
- Spices: Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cloves, and salt.
- Heavy Cream: This does not go into the dough itself, but you can pour it over the cinnamon rolls before baking them. Totally optional though!
Ingredients for Pumpkin Filling & CREAM Cheese Icing
- Pumpkin Puree: Use puree from the same can as what you used for the dough.
- Dark Brown Sugar: You can substitute light brown sugar if you’d like, the filling will just be lighter in color.
- Softened Butter: Make sure that the butter is super soft, but not melted. You want to be able to mix it with pumpkin and sugar without issue.
- All-Purpose Flour: A little bit of flour binds the filling together, preventing it from completely oozing out of the rolls.
- Spices: Ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves.
- Plain Cream Cheese: Use plain cream cheese from a block, and make sure it is softened to room temperature.
If you have leftover pumpkin after baking, try making pumpkin snickerdoodle blondies or melty iced pumpkin cookies. These are all recipes that don’t require a full can of pumpkin!
How to Make Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls
There is a much more detailed step by step and list of ingredients are in the recipe card (feel free to click jump to recipe at the top of this post), I’m sharing a step by step here with some key things to keep in mind before baking.
Step 1: Scaled Milk
This step is optional if you want to save some time, but it is worth it. What is scaling milk anyways?
Step 2: Activate Yeast
Start by activating yeast in the scaled milk mixed with a little bit of sugar. Make sure that the milk is not too hot. It should feel slightly warm to the touch. You will know the yeast is ready when it starts to bubble and form a creamy foam at the surface of your milk. It’ll also smell like you’ve just walked into a brewery ha.
Step 3: MAKE AND PROOF THE DOUGH
Bring all of the dough ingredients together and knead it for around 5-6 minutes in the mixer. The final dough will be smooth and form into a nice ball. It may be a little tacky, but not unmanageable. Don’t worry if the dough seems too sticky when you first start kneading it–it will become less sticky as the gluten builds up. Let the dough rise in a warm spot for 1- 1½ hours, or until it’s doubled in size.
STEP 4: SHAPE THE ROLLS
Punch down the dough and roll it into a large 12×16 inch rectangle (this doesn’t have to be perfect). Make the filling by mixing all of the ingredients together and spread it evenly over the dough. Roll the dough into a long log. Cut it into 12 even sized pieces and then lay them into a greased 9×13 inch baking dish. Then, allow the rolls to rise for a second time until they are visibly puffed up.
Step 5: Bake and serve.
Pour some heavy cream over the rolls before putting them into the oven. Bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes, until they’re golden brown on top. Allow the rolls to cool for 10 minutes before slathering them with the cream cheese icing. It’s best to add the icing while the rolls are still warm so that the icing can melt over everything.
Tips for Success
See below for a few tips for making the best pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Follow this advice and (hopefully) your rolls will turn out great!
- Use a mixer to knead the dough. An electric mixer makes it easier to knead and gives better control how much flour goes into the dough. While you could certainly knead by hand, you will need to add much more flour, which impacts the texture.
- Make sure milk is slightly warm but not hot. Milk that is too hot will kill the yeast, which means your dough will not rise. After scalding the milk, make sure to let it cool down to until it just warm to the touch–you want it slightly warmer than your body temperature.
- Do not over or under proof dough. You can test if dough is ready by poking it with your finger. If it springs back very slowly, then it’s ready. If it springs back quickly, then it needs more time.
How do I make these cinnamon rolls overnight?
If you don’t have a ton of time in the morning and want to get ahead, you can rise the rolls overnight in the fridge. After forming the rolls and laying them into the baking dish, simply cover them and let them rest overnight in the fridge. When you get up in the morning, let the rolls warm up on the counter for an hour, and then bake them according to the instructions.
How can I get perfect cinnamon roll slices?
Do you ever try to cut cinnamon roll dough and it just squishes down into a sad, flat, oval? Have no fear because that’s what floss is for! Grab some unflavored (unless you’re okay with the mint) floss, wrap it around the roll when you want to cut it, then cross the ends at the top and pull. This method will leave you with a perfect, pretty slice.
Pin & Save for Later
Interested in making this recipe but not ready to bake yet? Simply hover over any image in this post (or tap if you’re on mobile) to pin it and save for later.
Hope you love your pumpkin cinnamon rolls!
Soft and Fluffy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing. These fluffy and soft rolls have pumpkin in the dough and filling, and are full of pumpkin pie spices.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Brioche Dough
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2½ tsp active dry yeast
- ½ cup pumpkin puree, Libby's recommended
- 6 tbsp sugar, divided
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup butter, melted and cooled
- 3¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
- ½ tsp allspice
- ½ tsp ginger
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ½ tsp salt
- 3-4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
Filling
- ¼ cup softened butter
- 2 tbsp pumpkin puree
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp each ground nutmeg and ginger
- ¼ tsp each ground cloves and allspice
Cream Cheese Icing
- 2 oz plain cream cheese
- 2 tbsp butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 1-2 tsp of milk, if needed
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Scald the milk. Heat the milk in a small pot over medium heat until it starts to simmer along the edges. Do not bring the milk to a full boil. Pour the milk into the bowl of a mixer to cool (make sure the bowl is heatproof). See recipe notes if you would prefer to skip this step.
- Activate yeast. After the milk has cooled down to around 110°F (it should be just warm to the touch), mix in 1 tbsp of sugar until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk and then gently mix it in. Let the yeast rest for 5-10 minutes, or until it is super foamy. If this does not happen, start over.
- Prepare the dough. Whisk the pumpkin, remaining 5 tbsp sugar, egg, and melted butter into the milk/yeast. Then add the flour, spices, and salt into the bowl. Start by mixing the flour in using a spatula or wooden spoon, then switch over to your mixer's hook attachment.
- Knead the dough using the mixer on medium speed for 8-10 minutes, or until it is smooth. The dough will start off very sticky, but will become more manageable as the gluten builds up. If it still looks too sticky after 5 minutes, add a bit more flour, one tablespoon at a time. By the end, your dough should pull from the sides of the bowl but still stick at the bottom. It'll be tacky.
- Transfer the dough into a large, greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm spot for one hour, or until doubled in size. This could take as long as 90 minutes if it's a cold day.
Filling & Second Rise
- Make the filling. In a medium bowl, mix the softened butter and pumpkin together with a fork until they are combined. Then mix in the dark brown sugar, flour, and spices until you get a spreadable paste.
- Shape the rolls. Take the dough and use your fist to punch it down. Transfer it to a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a 12x16 inch rectangle -- this doesn't have to be perfect.
- Spread the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a small rim around the edges.
- Roll the dough up, jelly roll style, starting from the long side to form a log. Pinch the dough to seal it off. Then, use your hands to gently tug along the middle of the log to shape it and get it into an even width from end to end.
- Cut the rolls into 12 even sized pieces. I recommend using a piece of floss to do this. Just wrap the floss around where you want to cut and pull.
- Transfer the rolls to a greased 9x13 baking dish. Cover and let the rolls rise again for 30 minutes, or until they are visibly puffed up.
Bake and Make Icing
- While the rolls are doing their second rise, preheat the oven to 350°F. When the rolls are ready, drizzle 3-4 tbsp of heavy cream into the spaces between the rolls. It's okay if some ends up on top.
- Bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes, or until they are browned on top and middles are no longer raw. Let the rolls cool in the pan for 10 minutes before icing.
- Make the cream cheese icing. Start by beating the butter and cream cheese together. If your butter and cream cheese are soft enough, you could even do this with a fork. Add the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla extract and beat until smooth. If the icing is too thick you can add 1-2 tsp of milk.
- Spread the icing over warm cinnamon rolls to allow it to melt over everything. These pumpkin cinnamon rolls are best enjoyed while warm and fresh. Hope you love them!
Notes
Scalded milk substitutions: Scalding milk before baking gets rid of whey proteins that actually inhibit yeast. This makes for fluffy, soft rolls. If you would like to save some time and skip this step, this recipe will also work great. Make sure to warm the milk in the microwave though until warm to the touch before baking.
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