Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns: A Great Start to a Holiday Morning

[This is an old bit that I never got around to posting. OOPS! My holiday rantings are a little out of season, but the recipe is still a great one to try any time of the year.]

When I was growing up, every Christmas morning my Mom would make Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls. You know, the kind in the little cardboard tube that you have to rap on the corner of a table to pop open? How fun is that, by the way? I think she did this primarily because she was so busy with a house packed full of people and presents and in the midst of preparing a big afternoon meal. Breakfast needed to be something simple and quick. The fact that she never seemed to make those cinnamon buns at any other time (she rarely used factory produced foods) made them somehow a special tradition. This past Christmas Eve, my brother Dave shared that he and his family still eat the Pillsbury buns every Christmas morning. "And not the fancy kind, either, " he said, "We tried them and they weren't right. It has to be the original kind."

We have our own traditions in our small family. For many years, I have made an often elaborate breakfast on Christmas morning. I try to make a nice sit-down morning meal because the rest of the day is spent visiting and grazing. The week before Christmas I found a recipe for pumpkin cinnamon buns. I thought it would be a nice way to honor the old cinnamon bun tradition and add a new twist. I and my family are all fans of sweets containing pumpkin—pies, scones, muffins, cakes, custards. It is all good. And, adding pumpkin to things is a great way to up the nutritional value.


The buns I made were largely following a recipe on GoodLife Eats. My only changes were to add some chopped pecans to the filling, reduce the butter a bit, and change up the icing a little. They were a little time consuming to make, but I must say, the results were well worth the effort. Next time, I would mix up the dough, do the first rise, and assemble the buns the night before, leaving just the final rise and baking for the next morning. I am not even sure the icing is even needed as it distracts from the pumpkin and spice flavors in the rolls and makes them a little too sweet for my liking. Jim, on the other hand, went to town on the icing.


I served these cinnamon buns up with a rosemary potato frittata, fresh fruit, and some thick-slice Vermont maple bacon. Mmmmm!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

Dough:

1/4 cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast

1/3 cup warm milk (I used leftover eggnog and reduced the sugar a bit)

1 large room temperature egg, beaten

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1  Tbs. melted butter

1 1/2 to 2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 1 /4 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

1/2 cup brown sugar (a little less is fine)

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Filling:

5-6 Tbs. butter, room temperature

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 to 3/4 cup finely chopped pecans

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon each of allspice and ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

Icing:

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

6 Tbs. butter, room temperature

1/2 tsp. maple extract

About 2 cups powdered sugar

Combine the yeast and water in a large bowl and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes until foamy. Add the milk, eggs, pumpkin, butter, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, and spices to the yeast mixture. Stir vigorously until well-combined.

Add the AP flour, starting with 1 1/2 cups and adding more as needed, until the dough is stiff enough to knead. Knead the dough on a floured surface, adding flour as necessary, until it is smooth and elastic.

Place the dough into a greased bowl. Turn the dough in the bowl to coat the entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, approximately 1 hour.

Combine the filling ingredients, except butter, in a another bowl; set aside.

When the dough has risen amply, pat or roll it into a 16" x 12" rectangle. Spread it with butter and top evenly with the sugar/spice mixture.

Roll the dough into a log the long way. Using a very sharp knife, slice the log into 16 pieces. Place the pieces in a two 9” round cake pans. Cover with a towel and let the buns rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375° F. Bake the rolls until they are brown around the edges and beginning to turn golden brown across the center, about 20-30 minutes.

While the rolls bake, prepare the cream cheese icing. Whip the cream cheese, butter, and extract in a medium bowl using a hand mixer. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, blending in between, until well mixed and the desired consistency is reached.

Frost warm rolls with the icing and serve immediately.