These pumpkin cinnamon rolls are soft, made with pumpkin puree and fall spices in the dough, filled with cinnamon filling, and topped with maple cream cheese icing. These are a dream!
We love making pumpkin recipes in fall and thanksgiving time, like our pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin snickerdoodles, and pumpkin cheesecake.
We like making our pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls with fresh pumpkin puree, this is our little trick for making these rolls into soft and fluffy rolls.
The fresh pumpkin puree adds moisture to the dough and makes it super fluffy and moist.
Using canned pumpkin puree is great as well, but make sure that you are using JUST pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling or spiced pumpkin puree.
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Why this recipe works
- Super easy to make.
- Topped with creamy maple cream cheese frosting.
- Extra moist that stays moist for 4 days!
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Perfect to make when you need a fall-themed dessert.
- Has a light pumpkin flavor and is filled with our favorite fall spices.
- The perfect dessert or breakfast for Thanksgiving, fall, and winter.
Ingredients
For the dough:
Pumpkin puree- we like making our own pumpkin puree from fresh pumpkins. You can use either canned pumpkin puree or homemade pumpkin puree. you will need ¾ cup of pumpkin puree.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe, bread flour will work as well.
Yeast- we used instant yeast for this recipe. make sure that your yeast isn't expired.
Sugar- we used granulated sugar for this recipe. You can use caster sugar as well.
Brown sugar- adds a caramelly flavor to the muffins.
Cinnamon- we love adding cinnamon to pumpkin-flavored desserts, it adds so much flavor that compliments the pumpkin flavor.
Ginger- use ground ginger for this recipe. You can add any of your favorite fall spices like cloves, allspice, and pumpkin spice.
Nutmeg- use either ground nutmeg or fresh nutmeg in this recipe.
Egg- you will need 1 large egg for this recipe. Make sure that you use room-temperature eggs in this recipe.
Melted butter- we used unsalted butter for this recipe. If you want to use salted butter, skip the salt in this recipe.
Vanilla extract- adds extra flavor.
Kosher salt- you will need 1 teaspoon of kosher salt for this recipe.
Milk- use whole milk in this recipe. you will need ¾ a cup.
For the cinnamon filling:
Soften butter– leave the butter in room temperate for 1 hour, or until it softens.
Brown sugar– we like using light brown sugar for the filling.
Cinnamon– You will need 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon for the filling.
Nutmeg(optional)- you will need ½ teaspoon of nutmeg. use either freshly grated nutmeg or ground nutmeg.
For the frosting:
Cream cheese– you will need to get your cream cheese to room temperature.
Butter– use room temperature butter.
Vanilla extract- for extra flavor.
Powder sugar– powder sugar works best for the frosting.
Maple syrup- use natural maple syrup.
Instructions
In a bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, dry yeast, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Mix with a spoon until combined. Add the salt, and mix until combined.
Add the egg, room temperature milk, vanilla extract, pumpkin puree, and cooled melted butter. Start mixing on low until the dough forms.
Increase the speed to medium and mix for at least 8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and silky.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours or until it’s doubled in size (or even tripled in size).
Punch the dough down and transfer it to a clean floured surface. Sprinkle flour generously on the dough and roll it into a ¼ inch thick rectangle, making sure that the bottom of the dough doesn’t stick to the surface.
Make the cinnamon filling:
In a medium mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter (soft to the touch), brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix until creamy and combined.
Spread an even layer of the cinnamon filling on the dough and cut off the sides (creating a rectangle).
Cut the dough into 12 equal strips (as seen in the video) and roll each strip into a roll. Place the rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan, cover with a towel and let the rolls rise until doubled in size.
Remove the towel, and bake the rolls in a 180c (350f) oven for 15-17 minutes or until the tops of the rolls are a bit browned.
Make the glaze:
In a medium-sized bowl, add the softened cream cheese, softened butter, powder sugar, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Mix with a spoon or a tiny whisk until creamy and smooth.
Top the warm rolls with the maple cream cheese glaze and serve!
Expert Tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and milk. This step ensures that your dough mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly.
- Mesure you flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Use pure pumpkin puree in this recipe! It is very important that you use pure pumpkin puree in this recipe. Make sure that you are not using the presweetened or pre-spiced pumpkin puree. You will be able to find this information on the ingredient list of your pumpkin puree can. We like using homemade pumpkin puree for this recipe, it has a lot of moisture and makes these fluffy and moist.
- Make sure that your ingredients are fresh! Make sure that your flour and yeast are fresh and not expired. This step ensures that you will have a great dough to work with.
- Be patient! Let the dough rise at least until it doubles its size. The more the dough rises, the more fluffy the cinnamon rolls will be.
- Make sure that your yeast isn’t expired. You can check if your yeast is expired by mixing a teaspoon of dry yeast with ¼ cup of room temperature water, waiting 10 minutes, and if the yeast has bubbles in it and it puffed a bit, your yeast is alive and good, if there are no bubbles in your yeast mixture, your yeast is probably expired.
Faq's
We like making our muffins with fresh pumpkin puree, but this is a personal preference. Using fresh pumpkin puree makes these muffins extremely tender and moist.
You can knead the dough by hand! Start by mixing the ingredients in a big mixing bowl, then transfer the dough to a clean floured surface and knead the dough for at least 10 minutes, or until the dough is super smooth and elastic.
The milk should be warm to the touch. We suggest using whole milk for this recipe.
If you warm up your milk too much, it can kill the yeast, so either use room temperature milk or measure the temperature of the milk with a thermometer, it shouldn't go past 100f.
After you rolled and cut your rolls and place them into your baking pan, cover them with plastic wrap, and place them in the fridge.
The next day, remove them from the fridge and let them come to room temperature (for about an hour) before baking.
Storing
It’s okay to store these cinnamon rolls at room temperature if they are not frosted.
Make sure that you store the rolls in an airtight container so they won’t dry out. The maple cream cheese frosting contains cream cheese which needs to be refrigerated.
Freezing
Freeze these after they cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months.
We suggest removing the rolls from the pan and placing them in an airtight container or wrapping them with a few layers of plastic wrap.
Thaw in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours and reheat it in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 5-10 minutes.
Reheating
Place the cinnamon rolls on a plate and reheat in the microwave for 20 seconds, these warm up great and taste amazing for 4 days.
Substitutions
Dairy-free- you can make this dairy-free by replacing the milk with vegan milk.
Vegan- you can make these vegan by replacing the eggs with more pumpkin puree, and replacing the milk with vegan milk. Also, replace the icing with your favorite icing.
Variations
Add-ins- make this recipe your own and add your favorite add-ins: chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, chopped pecans, chocolate chunks, chopped fruit, etc.
Toppings- these can be topped with cream cheese frosting, cinnamon buttercream frosting, or maple cream cheese frosting. Use your favorite toppings that you like to make the most.
How to get clean cuts in cinnamon rolls
The first method is to roll the dough into a roll and place it in the freezer for 15 minutes. Then using a serrated knife, mark 12 cuts on the dough, and once you're happy with the size of the cuts, cut them carefully.
The only disadvantage of this method is that when the dough is cold, it takes longer to rise.
The second method is to roll the dough into a roll and let it cool in the fridge for 10 minutes, to help the dough and the filling to firm up, and cut the dough into 12 rolls using unflavored dental floss.
This method is very popular and we like to use it often!
The third and our favorite method (as seen in the video), is to spread the cinnamon filling on the dough, then cut off the edges with a pizza cutter, then mark 12 rolls with either a knife or with the pizza cutter, and cut 12 strips.
Then we roll each strip into a roll, and this step ensures that you have clean rolls with no filling smearing on the dough.
More pumpkin recipes:
Pumpkin cake- This easy pumpkin cake is fluffy, extra moist, and tastes amazing. This pumpkin cake is made with pumpkin puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, and spices, topped with creamy cream cheese frosting.
Classic pumpkin pie- This classic pumpkin pie is soft, creamy, not too sweet, and the ultimate dessert for thanksgiving! This pumpkin pie recipe is extremely easy to make, loaded with pumpkin and fall flavors, and served with a big dollop of whipped cream.
Pumpkin cupcakes- These super moist pumpkin cupcakes are soft, and delicious, stay moist for 3 days, and are topped with cinnamon cream cheese frosting.
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📖 Recipe
Best Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 4 cups Flour
- ¼ cup Sugar
- ¼ cup Brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Instant yeast
- 2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon Nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon Ginger
- 1 Eggs
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 60 g Butter soften
- ¾ cup Milk
- ¾ cup Pumpkin puree
For the glaze:
- 110 g Cream cheese soften
- 40 g Butter soften
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 cup Powder sugar
- 3 tablespoon Maple syrup
Instructions
- In a bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, dry yeast, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. Mix with a spoon until combined. Add the salt, and mix until combined.
- Add the egg, room temperature milk, vanilla extract, pumpkin puree, and cooled melted butter. Start mixing on low until the dough forms.
- Increase the speed to medium and mix for at least 8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and silky.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours or until it’s doubled in size (or even tripled in size).
- Punch down the dough down and transfer it to a clean floured surface. Sprinkle flour generously on the dough and roll it into a ¼ inch thick rectangle, making sure that the bottom of the dough doesn’t stick to the surface.
Make the cinnamon filling:
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter (soft to the touch), brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix until creamy and combined.
- Spread an even layer of the cinnamon filling on the dough and cut off the sides (creating a rectangle).
- Cut the dough into 12 equal strips (as seen in the video) and roll each strip into a roll. Place the rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking pan, cover with a towel and let the rolls rise until doubled in size.
- Remove the towel, and bake the pumpkin cinnamon rolls in a 180c (350f) oven for 15-17 minutes or until the tops of the rolls are a bit browned.
Make the glaze:
- In a medium-sized bowl, add the softened cream cheese, softened butter, powder sugar, vanilla extract, and maple syrup. Mix with a spoon or a tiny whisk until creamy and smooth.
- Top the warm pumpkin cinnamon rolls with the maple cream cheese glaze and serve!
Sunflowers
You don't have when to add pumpkin. I presume during step two?? Can't rate it properly until I try it.
RichandDelish
Fixed! Thank you for letting me know. Yes, you add the pumpkin puree in step two.