Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
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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!
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!
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?
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
- Stand-Mixer
- Small Pot
- Digital Thermometer
- Dough Rising Buckets
- Rolling Pin
- Mixing Bowls
- Hand Mixer
- Offset Spatula
- Sharp Knife
- 8×12 Inch Pan
Ingredients
For The Rolls:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Yeast
- Pumpkin Pie Spice
- Salt
- Whole Milk
- Unsalted Butter
- Egg
- Pumpkin Purée
For The Filling:
- Salted Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Pumpkin Pie Spice
- Salt
- All-Purpose Flour
- Vanilla Extract
For The Frosting:
- Heavy Cream
- Cream Cheese
- Salt
- Powdered Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
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.
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.
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.
Spread the filling all across the dough. We found it best to use an offset spatula!
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.
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.
Add salt and powdered sugar. Beat until light and fluffy.
Stir in the vanilla.
Frost the cinnamon rolls and enjoy!
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.
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.
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.
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
Rolls
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2½ teaspoons instant yeast
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup whole milk
- 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ½ cup pumpkin purée, room temperature
Cinnamon Filling
- ½ cup salted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream Cheese Frosting
- ½ cup heavy cream, cold
- ½ cup cream cheese, cold, cut into chunks
- 1/16 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Rolls
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine half of the flour, sugar, yeast, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
- Combine butter and milk in a small saucepan.
- Heat over low heat until butter melts.
- Cool to 115℉/46℃.
- With mixer running, pour milk mixture into flour mixture.
- Increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.
- Change to dough hook, if using.
- Add remaining flour, egg, and pumpkin.
- Knead on medium speed 6-8 minutes, or until dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl.
- Spray a covered container with cooking spray.
- Turn dough into container.
- Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, 1-2 hours.
- While dough is proofing, make filling.
Filling
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl.
- Beat with an electric mixer until thoroughly combined.
Assembly
- Spray a 8-inch x 12-inch pan with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Roll dough into a 12-inch x 18-inch rectangle.
- Spread dough with filling.
- Beginning with a long side, roll dough jelly-roll style.
- Using a sharp knife, cut into 1½-inch rolls.
- Place rolls, cut side down, in prepared pan.
- Cover with plastic wrap.
- Allow to rise at room temperature until noticeable risen, about 1½ hours.
- While rolls are proofing, heat oven to 350℉/190℃.
- Bake rolls until golden brown, about 35-40 minutes.
Frosting
- With an electric mixer, beat cream to stiff peaks.
- Beat in cream cheese, one chunk at a time.
- Add salt and powdered sugar.
- Beat until light and fluffy.
- Stir in vanilla.
- Frost cooled rolls.
Notes + Tips!
- Room temperature is about 70℉/21℃.
- 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 115℉/46℃ before pouring it into the dry ingredients.
- To substitute salted butter for the unsalted in the rolls, reduce salt to ¼ teaspoon.
- To substitute unsalted butter for the salted in the filling, add 3/16 teaspoon salt.
- 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 filling in the filling.
- Use an offset spatula makes it easier to spread the filling across the dough. If the filling seems too thick to spread, pop it in the microwave for 5-10 seconds.
- 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.
- If you are unsure if the rolls are cooked, an instant read thermometer should read between 190℉/88℃ and 200℉/93℃.
- Make sure your ingredients for the cream cheese frosting are cold!
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