We are also having a potluck lunch on Friday at work, so this past weekend I was testing out some new recipes, as well as spending a few hours with our friends and our fur babies getting lost in a corn maze! It was a successful Fall weekend!
I am always looking for new ways to use my pumpkins, and I never get sick of anything pumpkin! The other week I baked challah bread for the first time, and that was the first time I had also ever used yeast. And it was so much easier than I had thought it would be! That is where this recipe comes in. It is very similar to the dough used to make challah bread. I think they were a success, because the hubby devoured most of them the first night I made them. Luckily I was able to take a few photos of them before they vanished into thin air.
These pumpkin cinnamon buns are great to make ahead of time too. You could assemble them at night, let them rise in the fridge and finish in the morning for a weekend breakfast.What you will need:
Dough:
6 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup whole milk, warmed (but not over 116 degrees)
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (from 1 .25-ounce or 7 gram envelope yeast)
3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out
1/4 cup (packed)light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. table salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
2/3 cup homemade pumpkin puree, or canned
1 large egg
Oil for coating rising bowl
Filling:
3/4 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. table salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Glaze (optional):
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp. milk
2 cups powdered sugar
Few drops vanilla extract
First, you want to make your dough. Melt your butter in the microwave or on the stove in a saucepan. Combine the warmed milk, 1-2 tsp. sugar, and yeast in a small bowl and set aside. After five to seven minutes, it should be a bit foamy.
To the bowl of your stand mixer combine flour, sugars, salt and spices. Add 1/4 cup of your melted butter and stir to combine. Add yeast/milk mixture, pumpkin and egg and mix combined. Switch mixer to a dough hook and run it for 5 minutes on low.
Scrape mixture into a large oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp dish towel. Set aside for 1 hour, it should just about double. While the dough is rising, line the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray the sides of the pan and the paper with nonstick spray.
Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer the dough onto a very well floured surface and flour the top of it well. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 16×12" rectangle. Brush the remaining melted butter over the dough. Stir together the filling ingredients (sugars, cinnamon, and salt) and sprinkle mixture evenly over dough. Starting on a longer side, roll the dough into a tight spiral.
With a sharp serrated knife, using zero pressure (only the weight of the blade) gently saw your log with a back and forth motion into approximately 1" sections. The dough will make approximately 16-18 buns. Divide buns between two prepared pans. Cover each pan with plastic wrap and let them rise for another hour.
If you are prepping your buns ahead of time, you can put them in the fridge overnight. In the morning, leave them out for an hour to warm up and finish rising. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the buns for 20-25 minutes. The cinnamon buns will puff up and get golden brown and leave the whole house smelling absolutely amazing!
To make the glaze, beat your cream cheese until it is light and fluffy, add powdered sugar, and vanilla. Pour in the milk little by little until you get the consistency of a thick icing. Once the buns have cooled, you can add the glaze to the tops of them. The buns are good enough on their own that the glaze is totally optional!
Enjoy!
