These pumpkin cinnamon rolls are the perfect fall treat with a soft and fluffy pumpkin flavored dough, brown sugar pumpkin spiced filling and maple cream cheese glaze.
Love pumpkin dessert recipes? You’ll also love my chocolate chip pumpkin cookies, chocolate chip pumpkin bread and pumpkin blondies.
Table of Contents
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
I’ve taken classic cinnamon rolls and turned them into pumpkin cinnamon rolls with pure pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice for a delightful fall twist! A pillowy soft dough is filled with a cinnamon sugar and pumpkin spice swirl and topped with maple cream cheese glaze.
While I do love my overnight cinnamon rolls for Christmas, these are perfect for Thanksgiving. It’s one of the best pumpkin recipes you’ll try this fall!
Why I Love This Recipe
- Impressive. Surprise your family for weekend brunch with a batch of homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls. The smell alone is worth getting out of bed for!
- Soft and fluffy with fall flavor: Pumpkin adds gooeyness throughout the rolls that combines well with the warm flavors of fall. Cream cheese frosting with maple puts them over the top!
Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Ingredients
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Yeast: Make sure your quick rise yeast is fresh and hasn’t expired. Do a little test first by adding it to a bit of warm water. If it foams and is active you should be good to go.
- Baking staples: Flour, egg and salt. Learn how to measure flour accurately without a scale so you don’t add to much leading to dense rolls.
- Pumpkin puree: Canned pumpkin works for this, but if you have time to make pumpkin puree yourself that works, too. Blot before using.
- Pumpkin pie spice: A pumpkin pie spice blend is simple to make at home using cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and optional allspice.
- Butter: You want to make sure to have room temperature butter so it’s easy to spread. Here are some tips on how to soften butter. Use salted, or unsalted.
- Maple cream cheese frosting: Softened cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, heavy cream, salt and maple syrup.
How to Make Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Activate yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Stir in the pumpkin, egg, and butter until smooth and creamy. Add 2 cups flour, then 1/2 cup at a time, kneading as you go. Transfer to dough to a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm dry area until doubled in bulk.
Rolling out pumpkin cinnamon roll dough into a 14×16 inch rectangle. Spread room temperature butter onto the dough getting close to the edges. Sprinkle the spiced cinnamon sugar mixture overtop the butter and make sure to rub it into the butter.
Roll dough tightly, starting with the shorter side. Pinch the sides together then using flavorless dental floss or a large serrated knife cut the dough in half, then into six 1-inch pieces.
Place 12 rolls in a greased baking dish, about 1 inch apart, and cover with a towel so they can sit and rise for 30 minutes. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden on top. Cool for 15 minutes.
Make maple cream cheese glaze: In a large bowl, whisk together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, and salt. Adjust consistency with additional cream or powdered sugar. Spread or drizzle over slightly cooled pumpkin cinnamon rolls.
Tips and Variations
- To help the dough rise quickly, set the oven to 175°F and once it’s reached that point, turn off the oven. Place the bowl inside the oven to give the dough a warm area to rise.
- Do not add yeast to milk over 105-110°F. It needs to be warm to activate, but anything too hot will kill it.
- To thicken the glaze, add powdered sugar. To thin it out, use heavy cream.
- Use a sharp knife to slice the dough into rolls. Otherwise, you’ll be distorting the shape by holding onto the dough too tight.
- Topping: I’ve taken maple glaze and cream cheese glaze, and turned them into a sweet and tangy maple cream cheese glaze. A classic cream cheese cinnamon rolls frosting or cream cheese frosting can be used.
- Short on time? Make this cinnamon roll breakfast casserole and use pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon called for in it.
More cinnamon roll recipes to try include chocolate cinnamon rolls, orange sweet rolls and raspberry sweet rolls.
More Fall Breakfast Recipes
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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Video
Ingredients
Dough
- ¾ cups warm milk , 105-110°F
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 (1/4-ounce) package quick rise yeast , about 2 1/4 teaspoons
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup unsalted butter , melted
- 1 large egg , at room temperature
- 4 cups all-purpose flour , more or less as needed
- 2 Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
Filling
- ¾ cup brown sugar , can use light or dark
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter , softened
Glaze
- 4 ounces cream cheese , at room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter , at room temperature
- ½ cup powdered sugar , plus more if needed
- 3-4 Tablespoons pure maple syrup , more to taste
- 2-3 Tablespoons heavy cream , more as needed for consistency
- Pinch salt
Instructions
Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, stir together 3/4 cup warm milk and 1/4 cup sugar. Sprinkle 2 1/4 teaspoons yeast over the top. Let sit about 5 minutes, or until bubbly.
- Stir in the 3/4 cup pumpkin, 1 egg, and 1/4 cup butter until smooth and creamy. Add 2 cups flour, 2 Tablespoons pumpkin pie spice, and 1 teaspoon salt and stir until smooth. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Knead in the mixer or with your hands for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and soft. If the dough is too sticky, add 1 to 2 Tablespoons more flour.
- Place the dough ball in a large bowl greased with butter or nonstick cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise 1 hour in a warm place, or until doubled in size. Once dough has doubled in size, punch it down.
Filling
- Butter or spray a 9×13-inch glass baking dish with nonstick spray. Line bottom with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, mix together 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon cinnamon, and 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice.
- On a floured surface, roll out the dough into a rectangle, approximately 14×16 inches. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Spread 5 Tablespoons butter onto the dough with a pastry brush. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the dough, and rub the sugar into the butter.
- Roll the dough up tightly starting at the shorter side (14-inch side). Pinch the sides together at the end.
- Using floss or a large serrated knife, cut the dough in half and cut each half into 6 (1-inch pieces) for a total of 12 rolls. Place rolls in baking dish, about 1-inch apart. Cover with a towel and let the rolls sit 30 minutes, or until rolls have doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes before frosting.
Glaze
- In a large bowl, whisk together 4 ounces cream cheese, 3 Tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 3-4 Tablespoons maple syrup, and salt. Mix until well combined. You can add 2-3 Tablespoons heavy cream to thin or powdered sugar to thicken. It should fall like a ribbon from the spoon.
- Drizzle the icing over the slightly cooled cinnamon rolls.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition provided is an estimate. It will vary based on specific ingredients used.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to give it a star rating below!
FAQs
Only if you are finding that your dough is too wet! I did not reduce pumpkin puree, but you can if you would like. It only takes a few minutes on the stovetop then let cool before using in the dough.
Yes, assemble the rolls up until the point you’ve sliced the log and added the rolls into a greased baking dish. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap them place them in the fridge for up to 16 hours.
The cold will hinder the rising process, so you’ll have to pull them out the next morning for about an hour before you’re ready to bake. Allow them to complete the 2nd rise until doubled. Dab with a paper towel if there is too much liquid then bake.
These pumpkin cinnamon rolls can be kept at room temperature for up to 2 days. Make sure to keep them covered so they don’t dry out. They’ll keep a little longer in the fridge, up to 5 days.
Yes! Cool completely and then freeze baked pumpkin cinnamon rolls without any icing. Thaw and then reheat slightly in the oven before frosting and serving.
Categorized as: American, Biscuits + Rolls, Bread, Breakfast, Desserts, Freezer-Friendly, Halloween, Make Ahead, Nut-Free, Sweet Breakfast, Thanksgiving, Vegetarian, Yeast Bread
Jamielyn Nye is the founder and recipe creator at I Heart Naptime. She is the author of the I Heart Naptime Cookbook and shares easy family-friendly recipes and desserts for every occasion.
Wonderful! The glaze puts it over the top sweet!
This recipe was a hit! The perfect combination of pumpkin in every bite!
So glad you enjoyed the pumpkin rolls!
Oh wow these were so good, I had a real tough time not eating them all! Will definitely make again
So glad you enjoyed the pumpkin cinnamon rolls!
We loved the pumpkin flavor! They were such a delicious treat for fall.
I’m so glad, thanks for your review!
The flavor of this pumpkin rolls is incredible! And love that you can make ahead and freeze them!
My son was begging me to make something with pumpkin pie spice flavor and this cinnamon rolls was what I made! What a beautiful recipe and we absolutely loved the flavors. I also added a little pumpkin spice to the icing and took it a step ahead :)
I’m so glad to hear they were a hit!
Oooh! These rolls were SO good! The perfect texture and my boy loved them.
Loved the pumpkin spice flavors in these cinnamon rolls. The combination is so delicious. They are perfect for entertaining.
We love them too! Such a fun treat for this time of year!
Incredible flavor! These turned out amazing! Took a bit of effort but 100% worth it! My family loved these and this recipe will definitely become a staple in our house!
These pumpkin rolls were fantastic! I love having my cinnamon rolls flavored with pumpkin and spices. It’s the perfect breakfast or brunch treat for the holidays.
These were amazing! Adding pumpkin spice to both the dough and the filling really enhanced the pumpkin flavor of the cinnamon rolls. The perfect breakfast for fall!
So glad to hear! Thanks for the review!
These pumpkin rolls turned out incredible! So fluffy and they have the best flavor ever! Thank you for the recipe
So glad you enjoyed them Diana! Thanks for the review :)
These had the BEST texture! We’re going to make them again this weekend!
I am so ready for pumpkin season! These pumpkin rolls were perfect to kick it off. They are scrumptious!
Glad to hear you loved them! Yay for fall and pumpkin season :)