These Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are the perfect autumn bake—warm, spiced, and irresistibly soft, with just the right balance of sweetness and seasonal flavour. This recipe is easy, straightforward and foolproof, and you don’t need a stand mixer or any special equipment. The result? A batch of fluffy, golden rolls with a rich cinnamon filling and a smooth, creamy frosting. Perfect for Thanksgiving, a weekend treat, or simply as a cosy snack on a chilly day.
Table of Contents
- Ingredient Breakdown
- The Power of an Overnight Rise
- Use Dental Floss To Cut Your Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls!
- Tips for Making the Perfect Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Sourcing Pumpkin Purée
- How to Store and Freeze Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Final Thoughts
Ingredient Breakdown
- Whole milk: Adds moisture to the pumpkin cinnamon roll dough, softening the rolls for a melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Fast-action or active dried yeast: Essential for the dough’s rise, creating fluffy, airy layers.
- Salted butter: Enhances flavour with a subtle savoury contrast in both the dough and filling.
- White granulated sugar: Feeds the yeast, supporting a steady rise while sweetening the dough lightly.
- Egg: Adds richness and helps with structure, making the rolls soft and cohesive.
- Pumpkin purée: Adds natural moisture and a slight earthiness that pairs beautifully with cinnamon.
- Strong white bread flour: Provides the structure needed to make the rolls chewy and substantial.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness, enhancing the other flavours in the dough.
- Room temperature salted butter: Soft enough to spread easily, creating a buttery, spiced layer.
- Dark brown sugar: Adds a deep caramel flavour that complements the cinnamon.
- Ground cinnamon: A warm, fragrant spice essential for the autumn feel of these rolls.
- Cream cheese: Brings a tangy, creamy counterbalance to the sweetness.
- Icing sugar: Sweetens and softens the cream cheese for a smooth, spreadable finish.
The Power of an Overnight Rise
If you’ve read my New York Style Bagels recipe, you’ll have read me wax lyrical about the benefits of a slow, refrigerated fermentation. The sample principle applies here, too. Letting the pumpkin cinnamon roll dough prove in the fridge overnight yields a superior end product.
- Enhanced flavour: The extended, cold fermentation process gives the yeast time to break down sugars slowly. This creates a complex depth that quick-rise methods simply can’t achieve. When baked, you’ll notice a subtle but noticeable difference—the pumpkin and cinnamon flavours feel more layered, rich, and developed.
- Improve texture: Letting the dough ferment overnight encourages gluten development at a slower pace. This creates a structure that’s both chewy and light. This yields perfectly fluffy pumpkin cinnamon rolls with pillowy layers that pull apart beautifully.
- Ease of handling: Cold dough is much simpler to roll out, shape, and slice. It’s less sticky and holds its form better, which makes filling and rolling the rolls easier and less messy.
Use Dental Floss To Cut Your Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls!
Unflavoured dental floss is surprisingly the best tool for slicing these pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Unlike a serrated knife, which can easily compress the dough and flatten the layers, floss cuts seamlessly through each roll, preserving the delicate structure and ensuring an even rise. Here’s how it works:
- Position: Slide the floss under the dough log, positioning it where you want to make the cut.
- Cross and pull: Cross the ends over the top of the log and pull tight.
- Clean slice: The floss will slice neatly through, creating a perfect round without any squashing.
This method delivers consistently round, intact rolls, allowing the filling to remain perfectly contained within each swirl.
Tips for Making the Perfect Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
These tips will help you perfect your pumpkin cinnamon rolls, ensuring they’re soft, fluffy and bursting with flavour.
- Don’t overheat your milk: Warm milk activates yeast, but too much heat can kill it. Aim for around 40–45°C, which is just warm to the touch.
- Use room temperature eggs: Cold eggs can make dough stiff and difficult to mix evenly.
- Use strong white bread flour: This flour is high in protein. This creates the gluten needed for a soft, chewy texture.
- Salted butter, optional but recommended: it adds a subtle savouriness that balances the sweetness of the filling, providing a more complex flavour profile.
- Use room temperature butter for the filling: Soft butter spreads easily over the dough without tearing it.
- Use room temperature cream cheese for the frosting: Soft cream cheese blends smoothly, creating a cohesive creamy frosting.
Sourcing Pumpkin Purée
This pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe uses pumpkin purée. For readers in the US, finding pumpkin purée is a non-issue; it’s a staple, readily available in most supermarkets, especially around autumn. However, if you’re based in the UK, you’ll find sourcing it a bit more challenging. While it doesn’t typically occupy standard supermarket shelves, you can find it in select shops such as Waitrose, Ocado, and Planet Organic, as well as various online retailers.
If you prefer a homemade approach, you can certainly make your own pumpkin purée. Simply roast or steam the pumpkin, then blend it until completely smooth. It’s essential to cook down any homemade purée until it reaches the thickness of the tinned version; a watery purée will impact the dough’s consistency, making it difficult to work with. Aim for a texture that’s dense and thick, allowing you to substitute it seamlessly into the recipe without compromising the dough’s integrity.
How to Store and Freeze Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Once baked and frosted, these pumpkin cinnamon rolls can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up 1 to 2 days. Refrigerated, they’ll last 4 to 5 days – simply reheat them in the microwave to get them soft again.
Freezing is an excellent option if you want to make these pumpkin cinnamon rolls ahead of time or save extras for later. To freeze:
- Unbaked rolls: Shape and cut the rolls, arrange them in a tin, and cover tightly with cling film. Freeze them before their second rise. When you’re ready to bake, let them thaw in the fridge overnight, then leave them at room temperature to finish rising. Bake as directed.
- Baked rolls: Once fully baked and cooled, wrap each roll individually in cling film and place them in a freezer-safe bag. When ready to eat, reheat in the oven at a low temperature until warmed through.
This flexibility makes these pumpkin cinnamon rolls a perfect treat to prepare ahead of time, ready for when you crave a homemade autumnal delight.
Final Thoughts
In these pumpkin cinnamon rolls, each step brings out the best of autumn flavours and textures, offering warmth, comfort, and just the right amount of spice. Whether you’re baking them for a gathering or just to enjoy with a hot drink on a cosy afternoon, these rolls are easy, satisfying, and certain to become a seasonal favourite.
If you’ve got leftover pumpkin purée from this recipe, here are a few more recipes that make the most of this versatile ingredient:
- Pumpkin Pancakes: These fluffy pumpkin pancakes are ideal for an autumnal breakfast. With warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, they’re deliciously soft and perfectly spiced, best served with maple syrup and toasted pecans.
- Creamy Brown Butter Pumpkin Pasta: Rich and decadent, this pumpkin pasta features a sauce made with brown butter, pumpkin purée, mascarpone, and parmesan. The addition of crispy herby breadcrumbs adds texture and depth to this luxurious, autumnal dish.
- Pumpkin Mac and Cheese: A velvety twist on the classic, this pumpkin mac and cheese combines creamy pumpkin purée with a rich cheese sauce. It’s a comforting, flavourful dish with an extra touch of warmth from nutmeg and smoked paprika.
- Pumpkin Muffins: Moist and lightly spiced, these pumpkin muffins are a delightful snack or breakfast option. They’re made with pumpkin purée, cinnamon, and a hint of vanilla.
- Thai-Inspired Pumpkin Soup: This soup brings together the sweetness of pumpkin with Thai-inspired flavours like coconut milk, ginger, lemongrass and lime leaves. It’s creamy, mildly spiced, and perfect for warming up on a cool day.
Easy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (No Stand Mixer)
These pumpkin cinnamon rolls are the perfect autumn bake—warm, spiced, and irresistibly soft, with just the right balance of sweetness and seasonal flavour. Perfect for Thanksgiving, a weekend treat, or simply as a cosy snack on a chilly day.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 14 hours (includes overnight rise)
- Yield: 12 cinnamon rolls 1x
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 100g whole milk
- 7g fast action or active dried yeast
- 50g salted butter, melted (see why I use salted butter above)
- 50g white granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 150g tinned pumpkin purée
- 475g strong white bread flour
- ½ tsp salt
For the filling:
- 150g salted butter, room temperature
- 150g dark brown sugar
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
For the frosting:
- 150g cream cheese, room temperature
- 150g icing sugar (powdered sugar)
Instructions
- Heat the milk in the microwave until warm (40-45℃), transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk and let it sit for 5 minutes. The yeast should get a little foamy. If it doesn’t, it’s likely dead, so you’ll need to start again with fresher yeast.
- Add the melted butter, sugar, egg, and pumpkin purée, then whisk until smooth.
- Add the strong white bread flour and salt, then mix with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together in a shaggy mass.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, or until stretchy and soft. Alternatively, knead the dough in a stand mixer on low speed for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Shape the dough into a ball and lightly oil the surface to prevent it from drying out. Place it in a large, lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover with cling film, and refrigerate overnight. Alternatively, you can let the dough rise at room temperature for 2 hours, or until doubled in size, but for the reasons outlined above, I recommend sticking with the overnight method.
- The next day, add the softened butter, dark brown sugar and cinnamon to a medium mixing bowl and mix until well-combined.
- Punch the pumpkin cinnamon roll dough down to deflate it, then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
- Transfer the dough to a floured surface and shape it roughly into a rectangle; this will make rolling it out into a proper rectangle much simpler.
- Roll the dough out into a 45cm x 35cm (18×4-inch approx.) rectangle. Note: the dough may feel a little stiff because it’s cold, but it’s actually much easier to handle this way.
- Dollop the cinnamon sugar butter filling over the dough, then spread it into an even layer (starting with dollops makes it easier to spread evenly across the whole surface).
- Starting from a long edge, tightly roll the dough into a log, then roll the log so it’s seam-side down.
- Unflavoured dental floss is surprisingly the best tool for slicing pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Slide the floss under the dough, cross it over the top, and pull the ends through for a perfectly clean cut. Begin by trimming the ends of the log, then slice the log in half crosswise. Cut each half into 6 equal rolls, making a total of 12 pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Alternatively, you can cut the rolls with a sharp serrated knife, though the filling will likely leach out onto the surface of the rolls.
- PS: Don’t throw away the trimmed ends! Roll them into small balls, prove, and bake alongside the rolls for a tasty chef’s treat.
- Butter a 33cm x 22cm (13×9-inch) baking tin. Place the pumpkin cinnamon rolls in the tin, leaving a little space between each (they will expand as they rise and bake). Make sure the ends of the rolls are facing the middle of the tin, so they don’t unfurl when baked.
- Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the room temperature.
- heat the oven to 180℃ / fan 160℃. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until golden and puffed, then leave to cool for 10 minutes.
- Mix the softened cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth. It may look dry initially, but keep mixing until it becomes smooth and creamy.
- Spread the frosting over the rolls – it should drip into the swirls of the rolls a little without melting completely. Allow the pumpkin cinnamon rolls to sit for 30 minutes before serving.
4 Responses
Hi Zena
Love your recipes
Any tips for making a vegan version
Hi! Thank you so much much 🙂 While I’ve not tried making a vegan version, I think you should be able to do the following: swap the whole milk for oat milk, the butter for vegan butter and the egg for 50g extra pumpkin purée plus 1 tbsp vegan butter or egg (that should replace both the moisture and fat content of the egg white nicely).
Hi Zena. Love your recipes and been thinking about these rolls since you released the reel and finally gave them a try. The cinnamon butter melted to the bottom of the tray. What did I do wrong? Thanks for sharing your craft with the us
Hi! Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear it! The cinnamon sugar butter will always melt towards the bottom of the tray, but not excessively so! I think it could be one of two things: either the rolls weren’t rolled tightly enough or the tray was perhaps too large (if that were the case, it would make the butter seap out faster). I’m so sorry!