Whole Grain Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
These pumpkin cinnamon rolls are delicious and made even better with the use of whole grains! This is a large batch recipe too, so plenty to enjoy for yourself or to share with otheres!
Servings: 30 rolls
Ingredients
- 2 cups warm milk I like to have it at a temp it is just warm to the touch.
- 1 cup pumpkin puree You can use canned, like I did, or even fresh roasted and pureed
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup oil or butter I used canola oil. If you prefer you can use another neutral flavored oil. If you use butter, either soften it really well, or melt it.
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 2 envelopes instant yeast If you are measuring, you can use between 5-6 teaspoons. I used 6, but 5 will work as well.
- 3 cups whole wheat flour I prefer a white whole wheat, but you can also use hard red winter or even a rye.
- 7.5-9 cups all purpose flour This will be a variable. Every climate is different and measuring is different, so start with 7.5 and go from there.
- 12 tablespoons butter, melted This will be when you are rolling the cinnamon rolls, so don't mix into the dough
- 2-3 cups brown sugar I lay my brown sugar on pretty thick, but you might want to go a little lighter. That is what the variable is for.
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon This is a variable. You only need this to dust your brown sugar,so whatever that will take.
Cream Cheese Icing
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 8 ounces butter softened
- 4-6 cups powdered sugar The variable will be based on how sweet you like your icing.
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon this is optional, but really good!
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Add milk, pumpkin, granulated sugar, salt, oil, pumpkin pie spice, yeast, flour (remember to only start with 7.5 cups all-purpose), and eggs to a mixing bowl.
- This is a straight dough method, meaning you add all the ingredients at one time. Mix it for about a minute on medium speed to check the status of your dough. You want it to feel SLIGHTLY sticky to the touch, but not too much.
- It should also start pulling away from the side of the bowl a little. If you need to add more, I wound up using about 8 cups, add it slowly about ½ of a cup at a time. Mixing another 30 seconds to 1 minute before adding more. Once the dough feels good, mix on medium for another 5-7 minutes until it is good and smooth.
- Now, it will probably rise much bigger than your bowl. You can either cover it with a dish towel and let it explode in the bowl, or you can switch to a bigger bowl for the rise.
- Allow the dough to double. How quickly it doubles will depend on the temperature of the dough and the temperature in your house. Mine took about 45 minutes, but it could take up to an hour and 15 minutes.
- Now, let's start rolling. This is a big batch, so give yourself plenty of space. The dough is slightly wet, so it will stick a little. To prevent this, you can either dust the countertop lightly with flour or even spray with pan spray. I like to roll mine into a rectangle, about 12 inches by 36 inches. You will want the dough to be between ¼-1/2 inches thick.
- Once the dough is rolled, melt your 12 tablespoons of butter for brushing. Brush it lightly across the surface, leaving about 1 inch at the bottom on the length of the rectangle. You will need this 1 inch without butter so you can pinch your roll closed.
- Sprinkle the buttered portion with your brown sugar. Try and spread this evenly. Then dust the brown sugar with cinnamon.
- Let's start rolling. You will want to roll this fairly tight. Not super tight, but fairly tight. You will want to end with the end that isn't buttered, so start with your opposite buttered end. With a batch this big, the dough will fight you a little bit when you first start rolling. So, roll a few inches at a time, move to the next section, and roll as well, then make your way down the length of the.
- Then keep rolling and come back down the length of your cinnamon rolls. Eventually, it will get easier to roll once you get a little further down. Once you reach the end, pinch the unbuttered inch to pinch the roll closed.
- I cut my roll into about 1- 1 ½ inch sections. Remember, whatever you cut your rolls to, they will at least triple. So, keep that size in mind.
- Prepare your pans for baking. I used a variety of sizes as we were baking for ourselves, but also for friends. I used 1- 9x13, 3-6 inch cake pans, and 2- 8-inch cake pans. I sprayed mine with a pan release. You can see in the photos, I like to place mine pretty close together. I do this because I want them to rise up and not rise out.
- Cover your pans and allow them to double. Towards the end of this second rise, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- Uncover your pans and place them in the ovens on the middle shelf. I have a double oven, so I baked all of mine at once. If you don't just move them through as you are able. If you need to place some pans on the middle and bottom shelf, just remember to rotate them halfway through the baking time.
- Baking times on these will vary. It will vary on the thickness of your pan, it will vary based on how thick you cut your cinnamon rolls, and it will vary based on the actual temp of your oven, and the temp of your dough starting out. So, here is what I will tell you. They should take between 15-35 minutes. You can take a temperature on them, you will want to pull them out at about 190 degrees. Or my favorite way of checking is to pull up on a center swirl gently and check for doneness. They should be golden brown.
- Remove from the oven. If you aren't planning on eating them right away, I like to remove them from the pan, as they can get really sticky and difficult to remove as they cool. On to the icing, below.
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing
- Combine the cream cheese, softened butter, 4 cups of powdered sugar, vanilla, and about 2 tablespoons of milk in the mixer. Beat on high for about 30 seconds. Check the icing for flavor and consistency. The variation is that powdered sugar is for personal preferences. I don't like my cream cheese icing really sweet, but I know plenty of people do! Adjust the sweetness and consistency with the milk and powdered sugar. I like to beat it on high for at least 1 minute to get rid of any lumps and smooth consistency.
- Ice generously with icing. I like to do it when the cinnamon rolls have cooled just a little bit. I do this so the icing won't just melt and runoff, but it will hold its shape and stay on top!Now, sit back and enjoy. You certainly deserve it after all that work!!