Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls
I have 2 modes that I shift in between during the year - spooky season and not spooky season.
October is my favorite month of the year because pumpkins are everywhere and as I shift into spooky season, my need for baking is at an all time high. So with that I bring you the ooiest and indeed, the gooiest pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls with a cardamom maple glaze. I know, just a little something and nothing too crazy.
I promise it looks harder than it looks as I know cinnamon rolls can seem daunting but in an effort to convince you - it can actually be done in under 3 hours so if you haven't made anything on my site I hope I can influence you to try this one.I baked these in some sweetened coconut cream to replace heavy cream and it made for the most fluffy texture making it perfect for peeling away and eating it in layers. Which I believe is the only way to enjoy a cinnamon roll.
The ooiest - gooiest cinnamon rolls that are just to die for.
What is in Pumpkin Spice ?
Cinnamon
Cardamom
Nutmeg
Ginger
Cloves
Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls
* Makes 12 Rolls * Ingredients - For the dough
4 1/2 cups - all purpose flour ( divided ) ( 540 g )
1 packet - activated yeast / ( 8 g )
1/2 cup - sugar ( 100 g )
1 1/2 cups - almond or oat milk ( 270 mL )
1/3 cup - pumpkin puree ( 87 g )
1/4 cup - melted vegan butter ( 57 g )
1 tbsp - pumpkin spice
1 tsp - vanilla extract
Ingredients - Filling
1/2 cup - vegan butter, room temp
3 tbsp - pumpkin spice
2 tbsp - pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cup - brown sugar
1/4 tsp - salt
1 cup - sweetened coconut milk - for pouring in between the rolls before baking !
Ingredients - Icing
1 cup - powdered sugar
pinch of salt to counteract sweetness
1/4 tsp - cardamom spice
2 tbsp - softened vegan butter
1 tbsp - maple syrup
1/4 cup - vanilla almond milk or any other plant based milk
Tools you will need
stand up mixer
bench scraper
rolling pin
off set spatula or something similar
casserole dish ( 9 x 12 in. )
Instructions
Step 1 - Gather all ingredients
There is nothing worse than going to make something and realizing you don’t have the stuff ! Grab a bowl, preferably glass and warm up the milk in the microwave. You want the milk and bowl to be warm. The milk should be around 110 degrees Fahrenheit. If the milk is too warm or too cool, it won’t activate the yeast.
To bloom the yeast, whisk in the 1 tablespoon of sugar along with 1 tablespoon flour into the warm milk. Once that has been whisked in, sprinkle over the activated yeast and over the bowl and allow this to bloom and activate for about 10/12 minutes. If it has grown in size and looks foamy/bubbly your have successfully bloomed your yeast.
Step 2 - Start the dough & first proof
Once the yeast is activated, pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand up mixer with the dough attachment set up. Add in the remaining sugar, pumpkin puree, melted vegan butter, pumpkin spice and vanilla extract. Mix on low to medium speed to allow this to combine. In small incroments, add in the flour. I like to do this roughly in thirds. So once the wet ingredients are mixed I roughly put about 1/3 of the flour into the mixer. Let that incorporate a bit and then a little more flour. Let that do its thing for another minute and then the last bit of flour until its all combined.
Once the dough is combined, it should look a little shaggy so don’t feel like you have to over mix it here.
Clean a workspace to kneed out the dough and sprinkle over some flour before plopping the dough on the table or counter. Sprinkle some more flour over the dough and kneed it for about 3 minutes till its firm and not sticky. I like to round out my dough and let it rest in a greased bowl, covered with a tea towel for an hour for the first proof. Its good to let it rest in a warm area. Maybe outside if its warm, or by a window and also the oven is a great place - just make sure its off !
Step 3 - Make the filling + prepare casserole dish
While the dough is rising during its first proof session is a great time to work on the filling. First grease a casserole dish and line it with a parchment paper, then set to the side for later.
To make the filling I simply do this with a bowl and a fork - nothin too fancy for this step. In the bowl add in the room temp vegan butter, pumpkin pie spice, pumpkin puree, and a touch of salt. Mash this with a fork until smooth and set to the side.
Step 4 - Make the cinnamon rolls !
The dough should appear to have doubled in size, so now its time to lightly bunch down the dough and flour a clean work area again to roll this out. Get your hands nicely coated in flour along with a bench scraper and a rolling pin. Roll out the dough to be a rectangular shape somewhere around 12 x 18 in. You don’t want the dough slab to be too thin or too thick. Once the dough is nicely rolled out, make sure there is a decent amount of flour under it otherwise it will make it harder to roll later. I like to check this by kind of fluffing it with my hands and making sure it isn’t stuck the the table or counter underneath.
Add all of the filling to the center of the stretched out dough and using the off set spatula spread it around evenly. With the area of the dough closest to you, that’s typically where I start rolling so I like to be generous there with the filling because I love a sticky ooey gooey middle !
Once the filling is spread out, start rolling the dough away from you and try to roll tight rolls and as you go give the dough log some scrunches to keep it tight. This allows for your rolls to have nice pretty spirals and also not have any weird gaps. It may be helpful to check out the video as a visual for this step. Once its all been rolled, its time to pinch the seal shut. To do this all you need is a little ramekin with water to dip your fingers into. Where the seam is of the dough go with a pinching motion and pinch the seam to make it more seamless. This will help your cinnamon roll to not unravel. Do that from one end all the way down to the other. With the bench scraper, cut off the top and bottom little misfit pieces. I always still bake these separately as they don’t come out as pretty but are obviously just as tasty. Now you should have a cinnamon roll log. Cut it in half to make two pieces, then cut those 2 into 4. I basically cut the rolls in half until we have 12 cut cinnamon rolls. Now place each one into the lined baking dish and cover with the tea towel for the second proof for 30 minutes. This is when I pre heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and while the oven is pre-heating I place the rolls on top as its now a perfect place for proofing.
Step 5 - Bake !
Just before baking, go ahead and pour in the canned coconut milk in between each roll. This sort of acts as a heavy cream and makes for the most divine cinnamon rolls ever as they come out so plushy and most. Once the coconut cream is poured in, pop them in the oven for 20 minutes.
When they are done, carefully take them out and let them carry over cook and cool down for about 10 minutes. This is when I like to prepare the glaze.
Step 6 - Glaze
You could do this in a bowl or stand mixer. Simply whisk or cream together the butter, powdered sugar, pumpkin spice or cardamom, salt, and vanilla plant based milk. To put icing on each one I like to use a large spoon and spoon on the icing to cover.
Eat right away and enjoy. If you have any left over you can reserve them in a air tight container in the fridge for up to 3/4 days. To warm them simply pop them in an air fryer or convection oven.
