Prep time: 3 hrs | Cook time: 20 min. | Makes: 12 rolls

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk (whole, 2% or almond milk will all work)

1/4 cup granulated

2 1/4 tsp quick rise yeast (1/4-ounce package yeast)

3/4 cup pumpkin purée

1/4 cup melted butter

1 egg, at room temperature

4 cups bread flour

2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

3/4 tsp salt

For the filling:

2/3 cup dark brown sugar

1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup butter at room temperature

For the cream cheese glaze:

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

3 tbsp butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup powdered sugar

4 tbsp pure maple syrup

pinch of salt

For garnish:

Sprinkle of ground cinnamon

Instructions:

  1. Warm milk to around 110°F. I like to do this by placing milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwaving it for 45 seconds. It should be like warm bath water. Transfer warm milk and sugar to the bowl of an electrical mixer and sprinkle yeast on top. Stir pumpkin purée, room temperature egg and malted butter, mixing until smooth and well combined and creamy. Next stir in bread flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt with a wooden spoon until a dough begins to form.
  2. Place dough hook on mixer and knead on low speed for 8-10 min. Dough should form into a nice ball and be slightly sticky. (If you don’t want to use an electrical mixer, you can use your hands to knead the dough for 8-10 minutes on a well floured surface.)
  3. Transfer dough to a large bowl greased with olive oil or nonstick cooking spray, then cover with plastic wrap and a warm towel. Allow dough to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. This may more or less time depending on the humidity and temperature in your home.
  4. After dough has doubled in size, transfer dough to a well-floured surface and roll out into a 14×16″ rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough, leaving a 1/4″ margin at the far side of the dough.
  5. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Use your hands to sprinkle mixture over the butter dough, then rub the sugar into the butter.
  6. Tightly roll up the dough, starting from the 14″ side (the smaller side) and place seam side down, making sure to seal the edges of the dough as best you can. You will probably need to cut off about an inch off the ends of dough as the ends won’t be as full of cinnamon sugar as we’d want it to be. Then cut into 1″ sections with a serrated knife. You should get 12 rolls. I like to make dents in the dough before cutting, to make 12 even rolls. You can do this by using a ruler or tape measure, and using a sharp knife to make indentations on every inch mark.
  7. Place cinnamon rolls in a greased 9×13″ baking pan. I highly recommend lining the pan with parchment paper as well, in case any of the filling ends up leaking out.Cover with plastic wrap and a warm towel and let the cinnamon rolls rise again for about 30 minutes, then preheat your oven.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove plastic wrap and towel and bake the cinnamon rolls for 20-25 minutes or until just slightly golden brown on the edges. You want to under bake them a little so they stay soft in the middle, that’s why we want the just slightly golden brown. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes before frosting.
  9. To make the frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer or in a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup and salt. Beat until smooth. Spread over the pumpkin cinnamon rolls and serv! Sprinkle cinnamon rolls with a little cinnamon for a pretty look.

Notes:

To make overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls: After placing rolls into greased pan (in step 7), simply cover immediately with plastic wrap and place overnight in the fridge, then bake them in the morning as directed. I like to bring my cinnamon rolls to room temperature first by leaving them on the counter for 30 minutes before baking, then preheating the oven so they will rise for about 45 minutes total (this is known as the second rise).

To make vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls: Simply leave the egg out of the recipe and add 3-4 tbsp more pumpkin purée to the dough. You’ll also need to make sure to use almond milk, vegan butter, and vegan cream cheese in the recipe.