Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

A blustery fall day. The sweet smell of yeast and cinnamon wafting from the oven. Digging into the ooey gooey rolls while they are still warm. Perfection.

So, we made pumpkin puree from scratch and ended up with approximately 8 cups of it. I needed to figure out which recipes to use it in. Here is one! The pumpkin flavor was not pronounced so I may try upping the amount of puree next time and decrease or eliminate the milk.
This made 17 rolls. Here is what I did:
Dough:

• 1/4c very warm, not hot, water (I used the liquid from my pumpkin puree)
• 1 packet of yeast
• 1/4c milk
• 3 TBS butter
• 1/2c pumpkin pureee
• 1 egg
• 1/3c sugar
• 1/2t salt
• 4c flour
• + 1/2-1c additional flour

Filling:

• 3TBS softened butter
• 1/2c brown sugar
• 1TBS cinnamon
• any combination of (ground) pumpkin pie spice, allspice, cloves, cardamom,  ginger, nutmeg

Dissolve yeast in the warm water and proof for 5 minutes, until it becomes all foamy. In the meantime, heat the milk, and melt the butter in it. Then mix in the pumpkin puree, sugar, and egg. Add the yeast/water to this, combining well. Then stir in the flour. Start with 3 cups, then add more as needed to make a sticky dough. Turn it out on the counter with 1/2 c of flour and knead for 5-10 minutes. Don’t make the dough too stiff, it should be soft, but not too sticky. Oil your bowl and then place the dough ball in it, swirling it around the sides to coat. This keeps it from drying out. Cover with a damp cloth and keep in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until doubled. The dough is ready when you stick your finger in and it holds the hole mostly open (not closing back up right away).

Now, using some more flour on the counter, stretch and spread the dough out into a rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. Give it a roll with a rolling pin just to even it out. Then spread the softened butter all over, leaving about an inch space bare at the top length of the rectangle. Then spread your brown sugar mixed with spices, all over it. Now, starting at the end of the rectangle closest to you, tightly roll it up away from you. Pinch the end closed. Cut into 1.5 inch slices. Place the slices in a buttered dish/pan leaving about an inch of space between them. I fit 12 into a 9×13 baking dish. If you remember what I wrote above, that leaves 5 more. I decided 12 was plenty for now, so I put the other 5 in a small pie pan I had, covered in foil and placed it in the freezer for another day, when I will just need to let it rise and bake it up!)

Cover the baking dish with a damp cloth and let it rise again, for at least 30 minutes. Preheat your oven while its rising, to 350. Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges are starting to turn light brown. Don’t let it get dark. Remove and then prepare your icing so you can pour it over while they are still warm!

Icing:

• 1c powdered sugar
• 1/4c warm caramel
• 2-3 TBS maple syrup (as needed for thinning)
• 2 TBS butter, room temp

Beat together until smooth and thick, but still pourable. Drizzle over the cinnamon rolls. Then eat one… or two!

I’m submitting this to the weekly Yeastspotting event!

“To Maycomb, Tom’s death was typical.

Typical of a n***** to cut and run. Typical of a n*****’s mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future, just run blind first chance he saw.”