Pumpkin Cinnamon Dinner Rolls
Before we start, remember that these are DINNER rolls. They aren't meant to be the gooey sweet cinnamon roll you probably think of right away.
I've been making the cinnamon rolls for a few years, it's a recipe my mom has made as long as I can remember and I think she got it from a great aunt. For some reason, my mom always made them in muffin tins and set up vertical rather than horizontal, so they have absolutely no resemblance to a traditional spiral cinnamon roll. She always swore they didn't bake right if you laid them out like traditional spiral rolls. I made them the first time and laid them out horizontally on cookie sheets and it worked fine, so I have no idea where she went wrong...though I guess people didn't confuse them for the sweet gooey treat either. Anyway, I had a can of pumpkin in the pantry that needed to get used, so I decided I'd put a spin on them this time around. I THINK these must be low-fat too, as there is no oil or butter in the dough, but I really did this for the pumpkin flavor, low-fat would just be a bonus....
Supplies:
4 1/2 teaspoons of dry active yeast (or 2 packets)
1 cup warm water
2/3 cup plus 1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup boiling water
2 beaten eggs
7-9 cups of flour
Set aside:
remaining pumpkin puree
1/2 stick of butter (room temperature)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup brown sugar
chopped pecans
Dissolve yeast and 1 tsp sugar in warm water and set aside. In a large stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, combine sugar, salt, and pumpkin. Add boiling water and just let the mixer run as it combines and cools. Once mixture is cooled down to room temperature, add the yeast mixture. Add eggs. Begin adding flour. This is where I was after 7 cups of flour....it's not ready yet...
Once you get to 7 cups, start adding flour slowly until the dough pulls off the sides of the bowl and starts to form a ball.
After 8 total cups of flour, getting closer! But it's still not ready...
After 9 cups, this is where I was at. This is what you're looking for, and honestly, it probably could have taken even a little more. Scrape the dough off the hook and cover in the bowl with a towel. Set on top of your heating oven and let it rise until it doubles in size (When mine fills the bowl to the top, I figure its ready).
Punch dough down and cut it half. Take half the dough and put on a well floured surface. I work knead it just for a minute to get it back in to a flat round shape.
Roll out into square/rectangle, no thicker than 1/4 inch. It's a little elastic, you just have to take your roller all the way off the sides as you're rolling and it will hold in place after a little work.
I mixed the rest of the pumpkin puree with softened butter, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. I split that in half (you need some for the other half of the dough) and spread it with a pastry brush all over the rolled out dough. I sprinkled with brown sugar (that's kind of my secret touch....recipe calls for regular sugar, but I like that caramel flavor of the brown sugar). If you want to add chopped pecans, spread them over now. I usually do half the batch with nuts, and the other half without.
Now, as tight as you can, roll it up. This grows by about 25% lengthwise when you start rolling, so unlike me who always forgets that part, make sure your work area is bigger than your rolled out dough. Once I get it rolled, I cut off the odd ends (they don't bake up in those nice spirals no matter what you do to them). Once I have a nice log shape, I score it with a bread knife. This just helps me get more even pieces, I start by scoring it in half, then those in half, etc. I generally get 12-16 slices out of half the dough, not counting the two odd shaped sections I use for breakfast for myself the next day:)
This is where you need to make a decision. You can place these horizontal on a parchment lined baking sheet or you can place them horizontal in standard size baking cups. Let them rise again until they are about double in size and then bake for about 20-25 minutes at 325 degrees
Here's what they'll look like each way after baking. (actually the muffin cup style is plain cinnamon, recipe alteration is at the end of this post, that's why they are lighter in color, I made a LOT of rolls) I've been making them on baking sheets until this past weekend and I actually think since these are a dinner roll, I like the muffin cup look.....they still have the pretty spiral signature of a cinnamon roll, but they also have that chunky dinner roll look.
So the verdict...tasty, but I did not get an overwhelming pumpkin flavor, and I didn't hear anyone take notice that there was any difference between these and the cinnamon ones, other than the pumpkin ones also had pecans. I'm thinking maybe 2 cans of pumpkin puree so you have a lot more left over puree to spread over the dough before rolling. I really had it pretty sparse. Next time :)
If you want to just make these cinnamon rolls, omit the pumpkin puree in the dough and replace with 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 cup unsalted butter. For the spread, it's all butter, I probably use 1/2 stick on each half of dough. Also, emit the pumpkin pie spice and just cover with cinnamon and brown sugar. (though I don't think the pumpkin pie spices would hurt:) )
Enjoy!
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