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These pumpkin cinnamon rolls are baked with a sweetened pumpkin puree and topped with a decadent cream cheese frosting to make a light, fluffy, and fragrant treat that is guaranteed to bring all the cozy fall vibes.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Soft and fluffy with warm fall spices, sweet pumpkin filling, and a rich cream cheese frosting on top.
- Skill Level: This is an easy, fun recipe for teaching baking basics to little chefs!
- Time-Saving Tip: Canned cinnamon rolls can be used if you’re short on time; simply unroll them, spread the filling, and roll them back up!
- Freezing: Pumpkin cinnamon rolls freeze beautifully and are perfect for a lazy day brunch or last-minute guests.
Simple Ingredients, Cozy Flavors
- Pumpkin: Use pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling (which is pre-seasoned). It’s easy to make pumpkin puree from scratch. Even the seeds can be roasted for a healthy snack.
- Dough: This easy recipe yields tender and fluffy cinnamon rolls using basic pantry ingredients. Be sure to check the expiration date of the yeast for freshness.
- Frosting: This cream cheese frosting is so easy, you’ll want to make extra for topping muffins and waffles. Add a little maple syrup or extra pumpkin puree to the frosting for a flavor bump if desired.
- Variations: Buy or DIY? Make pumpkin pie spice with basics from the spice cabinet and have it on hand for festive recipes like pumpkin pie or a homemade pumpkin spice latte. Mini chocolate chips, chopped nuts, dried cranberries, or raisins can be rolled up in the rolls or sprinkled over the top after they’re frosted.
How to Make Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Prepare the cinnamon roll dough (full recipe below).
- Mix filling ingredients and spread over the dough.
- Roll the dough up from the longer end and cut into pieces.
- Arrange rolls in a prepared casserole dish, and pour heavy cream over the top.
- Bake. Combine frosting ingredients and spread over the cooled rolls.
Storing Cinnamon Rolls
Keep leftover pumpkin cinnamon rolls in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator up to 4 days.
Freeze them on a baking sheet before transferring them to zippered bags so they don’t stick together. Warm pumpkin cinnamon rolls in the microwave if desired.
More Perfect Pumpkin Recipes
Did you enjoy these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls? Leave a rating and comment below.
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
These soft pumpkin cinnamon rolls, swirled with spiced brown sugar filling and topped with creamy pumpkin spice frosting, are a cozy fall treat perfect for breakfast or dessert.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup milk
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons warm water 105-110°F
- 1 (0.25 ounces) packet dry active yeast
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3½-4 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting the work surface
FILLING
- ⅓ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup unsalted butter softened
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Grease a 9×13-inch pan or baking dish and set aside.
- Add the milk and 6 tablespoons of butter to a wide, shallow saucepan over medium heat, stirring frequently, just until small bubbles appear around the edges of the saucepan. Do not allow the milk to come to a full boil.
- Remove from the heat and allow the milk to cool for 15 minutes, or until the temperature goes below 115℉.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the warm water and yeast. Let stand for 5-10 minutes until the yeast starts to bubble.
- Add the cooled milk, egg, pumpkin puree, sugar, and salt to the bowl, mixing until combined.
- Add 3 cups of flour. With a dough hook, mix on medium-low speed until combined. Add the remaining flour ¼ cup at a time until the dough forms a soft ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. You may not need all of the flour.
- Let the stand mixer knead the dough on low speed for 5 minutes (or knead it on a lightly floured surface until it is smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes).
- Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl. Lightly cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rest in a warm place for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and roll it into a 15 x 12-inch rectangle.
- In a small bowl, mix pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and pumpkin spice for the filling. Spread the mixture evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch gap on one of the long sides to seal the roll.
- Gently roll into a log starting on the long end (the filling is very soft and may ooze out a little). Using a sharp knife or unflavored dental floss, cut the log into 12 even pieces and place them in the prepared pan.
- Cover rolls with a kitchen towel and let them rise for 45-60 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Pour heavy cream over the rolls.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, until tops are golden brown.
- Remove from oven, and let cool.
- Meanwhile, In a medium bowl combine softened cream cheese and butter with a hand mixer until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Mix in vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Sift in powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Spread icing over rolls once cooled.
Notes
Double-check the date on your yeast to ensure it has not expired. If the yeast does not foam, it should be replaced with new fresh yeast.
Use a digital thermometer to check if the rolls are done. They should be between 190°F and 200°F.
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4 days or at room temperature for 3 days.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 1cinnamon roll | Calories: 449 | Carbohydrates: 68g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 62mg | Sodium: 174mg | Potassium: 157mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 3266IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dessert
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Can you freeze these before baking?
Hi Lisa, I haven’t tried freezing this recipe but you will want to make sure you let the rolls fully defrost and come to room temperature before baking after being frozen. Hope that helps!
Your recipe was so easy to follow and the buns came out successfully and so yummy. these pumpkin dinner rolls are so perfect. They just look like the original pumpkin. Awesome work. Thanks so much!
Larry Sclafani
So glad you loved these Larry!
Is the yeast active dry or bread machine yeast? 6 tablespoons is a lot of yeast, so I want to make sure I am doing it correctly. Most recipes call for teaspoons of yeast (maybe 4 or 6 teaspoons), but this is 6 TABLEspoons right? Looks delicious, just wanted to be sure I am doing it correctly.
Joni, this recipe uses 6 tablespoons of active dry yeast. Thank you for making sure! Enjoy the rolls!
Baked them this morning using some of my home grown sugar pumpkin and grated fresh nutmeg on the tops. Delivered while still warm to a few neighbors, dropped some at the library and gave a plate of them to our garbage men. The rest are in the freezer to serve guests on Sunday.
I am so glad you liked this recipe enough to share!
Hello, this recipe looks delicious and I plan on making it. I’m just curious about step 12 and the melted butter and sugar…I don’t see butter in the recipe so is there supposed to be butter or is it just referring to the filling mixture? I’m not that great of a baker so I wanted to clarify just in case. Thanks in advance for clarifying as I feel like a dumb dumb for even asking!
Thank you for your question. That was an error in the recipe as it was originally tested with butter however upon further testing the butter was removed. Sorry for the confusion.
Do they really take 6 Tbspl of yeast and 1 Tbsp of salt?
Yes, that’s correct.