These Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are a fun twist on the classic, filled with brown sugar, cinnamon and come loaded with pecans and doused in a delicious cream cheese icing. They’re fluffy, sweet and perfect for the holidays!
If you’re a fan of sweet and gooey cinnamon rolls then you’ll love these pumpkin cinnamon rolls. It’s the best kind of breakfast there is for this time of year, full of pumpkin spices, pecans and cinnamon sugar goodness.
Pumpkin is a little powerhouse! It’s packed full of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants. It’s a nutrient dense low calorie squash that deserves more love year round than just around holidays. So having said all that, you should feel good about eating these rolls.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Rolls
- Active dry yeast – If your yeast does not foam up after step #1, your yeast is dead and the rolls will not turn out. Buy a new jar or package and store it in the freezer so it’ll last longer.
- Water – Some warm water for our yeast to bloom in. Be sure it’s warm not hot!
- Sugar – We want a little bit of plain white granulated sugar to feed our yeast and some brown sugar to offer sweetness and caramel notes to our dough.
- All-purpose flour – all-purpose flour works best for these rolls.
- Salt – You can adjust the salt in this recipe to suit your own sodium preference. I wouldn’t leave it out, though. That touch of salt really brings out the buttery flavor.
- Butter – Make sure you use unsalted! I only ever cook with unsalted butter so that I have full control of the salt content.
- Pumpkin – We’re using both canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice today to create a lot of delicious and drool worthy dimension and flavor.
- Sour cream – This will add richness, moisture and some tang to our rolls – don’t worry it won’t make your rolls taste like sour cream!
Filling
- Sugar – Brown sugar again to carry through those caramel notes from our dough to our filling.
- Spices – Cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice are all we need.
- Butter – Unsalted so as to control the sodium content of our rolls.
- Nuts – Roughly chopped pecans – feel free to sub these out for other nuts if you’d prefer!
Cream Cheese Icing:
- Butter – unsalted butter is what you’ll want to use.
- Powdered sugar – this is also known as icing sugar or confectioner’s sugar.
- Cream cheese – at room temperature. I always use Philadelphia cream cheese.
- Vanilla extract – just a bit to add a touch of vanilla in the icing.
- Salt – a little bit is all you need to bring out all the flavors.
How To Make Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Dough
- Activate the yeast: In the bowl of your mixer add the water, yeast and the teaspoon of sugar, stir and let it sit for about 10 minutes until yeast has dissolved and it has become foamy.
- Form the dough: Add the brown sugar, eggs, butter, sour cream, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, salt and the flour and mix until well incorporated. Add additional flour as necessary. The dough should be fairly soft but should come clean from the side of the bowl when it’s done.
- Rise: Butter or oil a large bowl and place the dough in there, cover it with foil and let sit in a warm place until it doubles in size, about an hour. Usually I turn the oven on to 200 F degrees for 1 minute, then turn off the oven and place the bowl in the oven and let the dough rise in the warm oven, it speeds up the rising process.
Assembly
- Prep: After the dough has doubled in size, preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. You will need 9×13-inch baking pan for this. Mix the brown sugar with the cinnamon and pumpkin spice.
- Roll out the dough: Gently punch the dough to deflate it. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out so that it’s about 24 inches by 16 inches and about 1/2 inch in thickness. Brush the dough with the melted/softened butter and spread the brown sugar mixture evenly over the dough. Top with pecans. Working carefully from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge tightly.
- Cut the rolls: Carefully cut the roll into 12 equal size rolls, so the easiest is to cut the roll in half then cut each half in half and then each quarter in 3 so you end up with 12 equal size rolls. Use either a sharp knife or floss to cut the rolls. Transfer the rolls onto the baking sheet, wrap with plastic wrap and let it rise for another 20 minutes until doubled in size.
Finish
- Bake: Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Make icing: While the rolls are baking make the icing by mixing all the icing ingredients and beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy and smooth. Allow the rolls to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Finish: Drizzle the icing or spread it with a spatula over the rolls and serve.
Overnight Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Prepare the rolls as stated up to the point where you put them in the baking pan. You do not need to let them rise a second time. Simply cover the pan with plastic wrap tightly and place it in the fridge. Allow the rolls to rest up to 14 hours before baking. When ready to bake, take the rolls out of the fridge an hour before, allowing them to come to room temperature. They will also rise and double in size during this time. Finish them by baking as instructed.
Some Tips
- Make sure your yeast has not expired. The number 1 question I get from my readers is “Why didn’t my dough rise?”. The answer always lies with your yeast. Test the yeast first before wasting ingredients. Try and bloom it and if it doesn’t get foamy, your yeast is no good.
- Don’t use water that’s too hot! Using water that is too hot will kill your yeast and this will also prevent your dough from rising. Make sure your water is between 98 and 105 degrees Fahrenheit (36.5 to 40.5 C).
- Use room temperature butter. This is for both the dough and the filling. To do this, take the butter out of the fridge a few hours before you plan to make the dough. Give it enough time to soften.
The Oven Is The Best Place For Your Dough To Rise
Your oven is a great tool for baking recipes like these that require allowing the dough to double in size. Preheating your oven to 200 F degrees will ensure that your oven is nice and warm at a good consistent temperature for your little pumpkin rolls in the making. It will also protect it from any breezes floating through the kitchen and will ensure your rolls turn out just like mine! Just make sure to turn off the oven before placing the dough in there.
Storing Leftovers
Just cover your pumpkin rolls in plastic wrap or in an airtight container and they will keep in the fridge for 3 – 5 days. I recommend storing it in the fridge and not out on your counter since our icing contains dairy.
Freezing
Prepare everything as stated in the recipe up until you place the rolls on the baking pan. Wrap the pan in two layers of plastic wrap. Freeze for 8 hours up to 6 weeks. The night before you want to bake the rolls, thaw them out in the refrigerator, still wrapped. They will thaw overnight.
Finish the rest of the steps to bake them and prepare the icing fresh!
Craving More Drool Worthy Rolls? Try These:
- Sticky Buns
- Jelly Filled Rolls
- Cinnabons Cinnamon Rolls
- Apple and Pecan Cinnamon Rolls
- No Knead 1 Hour Cinnamon Rolls
- Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls
- Strawberry Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing
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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Dough
- ¼ cup water lukewarm
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup butter unsalted, melted
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 cup pumpkin canned
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour up to 4 cups
For the Filling
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup butter unsalted, melted
- 1 cup pecans chopped
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon ground
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin spice
For the Icing
- 6 tablespoon butter unsalted, softened
- 1½ cups powdered sugar also known as icing sugar, or confectioners sugar
- ¼ cup cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Dough
- Activate the yeast: In the bowl of your mixer add the water, yeast and the teaspoon of sugar, stir and let it sit for about 10 minutes until yeast has dissolved and it has become foamy.
- Form the dough: Add the brown sugar, eggs, butter, sour cream, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, salt and the flour and mix until well incorporated. Add additional flour as necessary. The dough should be fairly soft but should come clean from the side of the bowl when it's done.
- Rise: Butter or oil a large bowl and place the dough in there, cover it with foil and let sit in a warm place until it doubles in size, about an hour. Usually I turn the oven on to 200 F degrees for 1 minute, then turn off the oven and place the bowl in the oven and let the dough rise in the warm oven, it speeds up the rising process.
Assembly
- Prep: After the dough has doubled in size, preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. You will need 9×13-inch baking pan for this. Mix the brown sugar with the cinnamon and pumpkin spice.
- Roll out the dough: Gently punch the dough to deflate it. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out so that it's about 24 inches by 16 inches and about 1/2 inch in thickness. Brush the dough with the melted/softened butter and spread the brown sugar mixture evenly over the dough. Top with pecans. Working carefully from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge tightly.
- Cut the rolls: Carefully cut the roll into 12 equal size rolls, so the easiest is to cut the roll in half then cut each half in half and then each quarter in 3 so you end up with 12 equal size rolls. Use either a sharp knife or floss to cut the rolls. Transfer the rolls onto the baking sheet, wrap with plastic wrap and let it rise for another 20 minutes until doubled in size.
Finnish
- Bake: Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Make icing: While the rolls are baking make the icing by mixing all the icing ingredients and beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy and smooth. Allow the rolls to cool for about 5 minutes.
- Finish: Drizzle the icing or spread it with a spatula over the rolls and serve.
Video
Recipe Notes
- The above video is for cinnamon rolls but the technique to making these pumpkin cinnamon rolls is the same.
- To store, just cover your pumpkin rolls in plastic wrap or in an airtight container and they will keep in the fridge for 3 – 5 days. I recommend storing it in the fridge and not out on your counter since our icing contains dairy.
- To freeze, prepare everything as stated in the recipe up until you place the rolls on the baking pan. Wrap the pan in two layers of plastic wrap. Freeze for 8 hours up to 6 weeks. The night before you want to bake the rolls, thaw them out in the refrigerator, still wrapped. They will thaw overnight. Finish the rest of the steps to bake them and prepare the icing fresh!
What a blessing to behold! I’ve tried numerous pumpkin spiced cinnamon rolls this recipe stands out in all of them!!!
Can I use molasses and ginger and some sugar powdered in the icing instead of Carmel dip?
Sure, sounds great!
Have you ever tried putting them in the pan and then keeping them in the fridge overnight. Then, baking in the morning? I’ve heard of recipes like that, but I wondered if this one would work that way . . .
I haven’t myself, you can definitely do that, just cover them up with plastic wrap and refrigerate them overnight.
You had me for sure when you mentioned how easy the dough is to make. I love making cinnamon rolls, but I think of them as being something I can tackle only when I have time to kill. This recipe looks so incredible.
Thanks Katie, give them a try, you’ll love them. 🙂
I cannot wait to make these! I love all things pumpkin!! One question….. What is the caramel dip… Do you buy it or make it?
You buy it at the grocery store in the fruit section, usually it’s by the apples.
they look yummy!
I thought it was funny how you said, at point 9, “restrain yourself from eating the whole thing”. Now i understand. The rolls are in the oven right now, but I’m not so sure the caramel + cream cheese will make it…
P. S. Thank you!
Lol, I know!!! It’s too good, hopefully you left some 🙂