Name: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 325 min
Ingredients: 3 cups all purpose flour; 1/3 cup sugar; 2 1/2 teaspoons yeast; 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; 3/8 teaspoon salt; 1/2 cup whole milk; 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter; 1 large egg; 1/2 cup pumpkin purée; 1/2 cup salted butter, (room temperature); 1/2 cup brown sugar, (firmly packed); 2 Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice; 1/8 teaspoon salt; 1/4 cup all purpose flour; 1 teaspoon vanilla; 1/2 cup heavy cream; 1/2 cup cream cheese, (cut into chunks); 1/16 teaspoon salt; 1 cups powdered sugar, (sifted); 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Jump to Recipe

Soft and fluffy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting for all of your holiday breakfast baking needs! Soft and buttery pumpkin flavored dough swirled with a pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar, and butter smear, then generously topped with a super simple vanilla cream cheese frosting. The perfect breakfast for Thanksgiving day! There’s nothing you can’t love about these pumpkin-y sweet rolls. Every bite is sweet, pumpkin-y, soft, perfectly spiced, and truly melt in your mouth delicious. Bonus? These rolls can be made ahead of time for a quick breakfast or even a fun Fall-themed brunch. Be sure to enjoy these rolls while still just a little warm from the oven, with lots of cream cheese frosting, and plenty of friends and family to share them with!

pumpkin cinnamon rolls with frosting, on white cheese cloth, and cinnamon sticks with white pumpkins

→ This post is also available as a Web Story: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

About The Recipe

Need a Monday pick-me-up? Well, I have three words for you! Pumpkin. Cinnamon. Rolls. Seriously, these are SO good and the perfect bake to get ready for Thanksgiving.

Honestly, they are the perfect bake whenever! Every bite is soft, fluffy, pumpkin spice-y, and have lots of genuine sweet pumpkin flavors. If you need to make a crowd-pleasing breakfast this Thanksgiving, you NEED to bake these cinnamon rolls!

pumpkin cinnamon rolls in white casserole with white cheese cloth, plates, and star anise pods

pumpkin cinnamon rolls on marble counter with three on three white plates, with tray of pumpkin rolls behind, stat anise pods, cinnamon sticks, and a fork

My mom and I had to much fun dreaming up these cinnamon rolls. At first, we were thinking more plain roll with maybe pumpkin butter as the filling. It was a good idea, but we wanted something just a little bit different than another plain sweet roll.

In fact, we had just purchased a pack of three cans of pumpkin puree the day before, and they were just sitting around waiting to be used…hm.

I’ll admit, putting pumpkin the roll was probably our last idea, but we got there in the end! We thought it would be best to keep it simple, give you that classic cinnamon roll look and feel, but have the taste of it just be like an explosion of Fall flavors!

And, what pumpkin dessert is complete without cream cheese frosting?

close up of pumpkin cinnamon rolls with mini white pumpkin, cook page, and cinnamon sticks

These pumpkin cinnamon rolls are the ultimate bake for the Fall and Winter season. If you have pumpkin lovers in your family, this is the sweet breakfast bake you’ve been searching for because…who doesn’t love a good cinnamon roll?

Equipment Needed

Ingredients

For The Rolls:

All-Purpose Flour
Granulated Sugar
Yeast
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Salt
Whole Milk
Unsalted Butter
Egg
Pumpkin Purée

salt, pumpkin pie spice, flour, egg, sugar, milk, butter, pumpkin, and yeast on marble counter

For The Filling:

Salted Butter
Brown Sugar
Pumpkin Pie Spice
Salt
All-Purpose Flour
Vanilla Extract

salt, flour, pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar, vanilla, and butter on marble counter

For The Frosting:

Heavy Cream
Cream Cheese
Salt
Powdered Sugar
Vanilla Extract

powdered sugar, cream cheese, heavy cream, salt, and vanilla on marble counter

Instructions

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine half of the flour, sugar, yeast, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.

Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts. Take off the heat and allow the mixture to cool. It must be between 120 degrees F and 130 degrees F.

With the mixer running, pour milk mixture into flour mixture. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.

butter and milk mixture being poured into dry ingredients

Add the remaining flour, egg, and pumpkin. Knead on medium speed for 6-8 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl.

Place dough in a greased container and cover. Allow to rise at room temperature for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.

pumpkin dough in container doubled in bulk

While the dough is rising, let’s make the filling! Combine the butter, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and vanilla extract in a medium sized mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined.

On a floured surface, turn the dough out of the container. Sprinkle the top lightly with flour and roll dough into a 12″x18″ rectangle.

pumpkin dough rolled out on marble counter

Spread the filling all across the dough. We found it best to use an offset spatula!

spiced butter added on top of pumpkin dough

Roll the dough up jelly-roll style. Be sure to roll from the left or right side. Do not roll top to bottom!

Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into 1 1/2 inch rolls. Place rolls, cut side down, in prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise at room temperature until noticeable risen, about 1-1/2 hours.

twelve pumpkin cinnamon rolls in white casserole pan

Bake rolls at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

While the rolls cool, let’s make the frosting! With an electric mixer, whip heavy cream until stiff peaks form.

Beat in cream cheese, one chunk at a time.

cream cheese cube added to whipped cream

Add salt and powdered sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.

powdered sugar added to cream cheese mixture

powdered sugar mixed into cream cheese mixture

Stir in the vanilla.

Frost the cinnamon rolls and enjoy!

frosted pumpkin cinnamon rolls on marble counter with cinnamon sticks, white cheese cloth, and book pages

Fresh Pumpkin or Canned?

For this recipe, we highly recommend using canned pumpkin puree! While fresh pumpkin can be used, the flavors change slightly.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls: FAQ’s and Troubleshooting

Can I make more than 12 rolls?
Actually, you can! We have a button in the recipe card to double or triple this recipe.

Why is my dough sticky and wet?
This sweet dough is an ENRICHED dough! It’s meant to be this way due to the addition of eggs, milk, and sugar.

How can I tell when my dough is kneaded properly?
A properly kneaded dough should be smooth and shiny. The bowl of the mixer should also be clean and the dough should lift out of the mixer in one piece, rather than ripping into two pieces.

The dough is still soft! Do I need to add more flour?
Have you been kneading the dough long enough? Is it smooth and shiny? If it’s not, keep kneading! You really don’t need to add anymore flour to this recipe. It’s an enriched dough, which it means should softer.

My dough isn’t rising in the times stated in the recipe card!
The recipe card/post states the times it took our dough to rise. We live in Texas. So, it tends to be a bit warmer here and doughs generally take less time to rise. I promise there’s nothing wrong with the dough! Just let it do it’s thing, but if you really need it done, try placing near a warm oven. The warmth from being near the oven will help it rise faster. Just don’t put the dough in the oven!

My dough didn’t rise at all.
Is your yeast in-date? If not, then you need to get new yeast and try again. If it is, did you check the temperature of the butter/milk mixture? When the mixture is over 120-130 degrees, it’ll kill your yeast! Be sure to have a thermometer on hand.

pulled apart pumpkin cinnamon roll on white plate

pumpkin cinnamon rolls with some frosted in white casserole dish

Can These Rolls Be Made Ahead of Time?

Absolutely! That’s one of our favorite things about this recipe. You can bake these rolls ahead of time and store in the freezer. It’s always best to make the frosting fresh, but it can be made the day before you need it. Just store in an airtight container and keep in the fridge.

How To Store

The best way to store these rolls is unfrosted and in the freezer! They will keep for up to 3 months. This way, you can easily reheat them in the oven for an almost-like fresh baked cinnamon roll! Just be sure to get them out of the freezer a few hours prior to reheating.

If they’re frosted, no worries! You can store in the fridge or freezer. In the fridge, they’ll keep about 3-5 days. In the freezer, about a month or so. Just allow to come to room temperature or place a cinnamon roll in the microwave for 30 seconds – 1 minute on high heat.

overhead of pumpkin cinnamon roll on white plate

Expert Tips

Check your yeast and make sure it’s in-date.
Do not use pumpkin pie filling for this recipe. You need pumpkin purée.
If milk mixture does accidentally boil, don’t worry! You haven’t hurt it. It just takes longer to cool down this way. Just give it time to cool to 120-130 degrees before pouring it into the dry ingredients.
Don’t have a big enough lidded container to allow the dough to rise? You can put the dough in a glass bowl and cover it with plastic wrap!
The butter for the filling needs to be room temperature.
Cinnamon can be used in place of pumpkin pie spice in the filling.
Use an offset spatula to spread the filling across the dough. If you use your hands, the filling won’t stick to the dough.
If you want the dough/rolls to proof faster, place them near something warm like the oven! Just don’t put the dough in the oven.
Make sure your ingredients for the cream cheese frosting are cold!

When you make these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.

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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting