Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Seriously delicious.   

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

And thanks to my friend Adeeb for taking pictures of the process, I think he enjoyed them ;)

Clockwise from top L:  ingredients, dry ingredients, activated yeast, unactivated yeast

Combine wet and dry ingredients until a dough forms

Kneading
(for a video of this, click here!)

Filling

Roll out dough to a 9x13ish rectangle

Spread out filling, roll tightly, and cut into 8 sections

Don't forget to take pictures along the way ;)

I'm going to call this the Cinnamon Roll Stretch ;)

From left:  pre-rise, to bed, post-rise

Torture.

Icing the beauties

Totally worth it.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls w/Maple Icing
adapted from Peas & Thank You
Yield:  8

If you want to prepare these ahead of time, you can prepare the dough up to the point where the cinnamon rolls are placed into the pans, just cover and set in the refrigerate overnight.  Then you can bake them off when you wake up!!

Dough:
1c milk, warmed (I had Lactaid on hand this week, but feel free to use your favorite nondairy liquid)
2 1/4t active dry yeast
1/2c pumpkin (increased a bit from the original recipe)
2 1/2c white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry or AP flour), plus more for kneading
1T baking powder
2T evaporated cane juice (sugar)  (Lactaid is a little sweeter than normal milk, so I used less sugar, up to 1/4c if you'd like it to be a little sweeter)
1t cinnamon
1/8t fresh grated nutmeg
dash cloves
1/4t salt

Filling:
1/2c sucanat (or brown sugar)
1T cinnamon
1/2t fresh grated nutmeg
dash cloves
2T butter, softened
2T pumpkin (I'd use 1/4c next time, or a little more)
2T raisins
2T chopped pecans

Maple Glaze:
3/4c powdered sugar (I'd use 1c next time)
2-3T maple syrup (I used grade B)
1/8t maple extract (optional)
1/4t vanilla extract
milk to thin

Sprinkle yeast over warmed milk (be careful it's not too hot, you don't want to kill the yeast!), set aside.  In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients (flour through salt).

To prepare the filling, combine sucanat and spices in a small bowl.  Cut in butter and pumpkin, then add in raisins and pecans.  Set aside.

When yeast mixture has become frothy and yeast has activated (5-10min), stir in pumpkin.  Add this mixture to dry ingredients and mix until a dough forms.  Transfer dough to a clean, floured surface and knead until dough becomes smooth, adding extra flour as necessary (I used another 1/4c or more).  Set aside for a few minutes.

Re-flour your work surface and roll out dough to ~9x12 rectangle (~1/4" thick).  Spread filling mixture over dough, leaving 1" border around the edge.  Starting at one of the 9" sides and tightly roll the dough.   Cut the dough into 8 pieces.  Spray a 9" pan with nonstick spray and arrange rolls in pan (I used two pans, as I wanted to give them room to rise).

Preheat oven to 350deg.  Cover rolls with a towel and let rise on the preheating oven until doubled in size (or as long as you can wait ;)).  Bake for 20-25min (I should've pulled mine out  at 20min), or until golden on top.  While the rolls are baking, prepare the glaze by stirring together the powdered sugar, maple syrup, maple extract (if using) and vanilla extract.  Add in as much milk as needed to achieve a spreadable consistency.

When rolls are done, drizzle with icing and serve!   Definitely enjoy warm!

My favorite part of any good cinnamon roll :)

And if you're looking to fuel your next ride, perhaps I can suggest this filling?  :)

Kidding...  it's too thin ;)

What's your favorite part of a cinnamon roll?  The crispy outside?  Gooey filling?  Sweet icing?