High Altitude Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls
Soft and fluffy pumpkin cinnamon rolls with warm spices, gooey swirls of butter and brown sugar, and sweet maple cream cheese icing.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer with Dough Hook
- 9x13 Baking Dish
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 ¼ tsp (1 packet) instant/rapid rise yeast or active dry yeast
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, divided
- 3 ¼ cups bread flour, spooned and leveled, plus extra for rolling out the dough
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp ground cloves
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Filling
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ¾ cup light or dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 ½ tbsp cinnamon
Icing
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 oz block cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp maple extract, optional
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 - 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Dough
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the milk and stir. Warm the mixture just until it reaches between 110-115 degrees F.If it gets too hot, let it sit for a few minutes until it cools down to the correct temperature. It's important that you check the temperature - if it's too cold, it won't activate the yeast, and if it's too hot, it will kill the yeast.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir in the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until it begins to foam and bubble; this will let you know that the yeast is active.Baker's Note: If using instant/rapid rise yeast, you can choose to skip this step of proofing the yeast in the warm liquid first, and simply add the warm liquid and the yeast to the rest of the dough ingredients. However, I like to proof the yeast every time, simply to ensure the yeast is active and not expired, before adding it to the dough.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, stir together the flour, the remainder of the sugar, salt and spices. Add the warm milk mixture, egg, pumpkin and vanilla, and stir into a shaggy dough.With the dough hook, knead on medium/low speed for 10 minutes. The dough will be soft, sticky and loose, but don't add more flour.
- Lightly spray a large bowl with nonstick baking spray. Place the dough in the bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, about 45-90 minutes.If your oven has a bread-proofing setting, you can use that to proof your dough. If not, let your oven preheat to the lowest setting, turn the oven off, and then set your dough inside to rise.
- Set the bowl of dough, still covered, in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight.The chill time allows the gluten to rest and the dough to develop flavor. It's also much easier to work with the dough when it's cold, since this is a soft dough.
Filling
- Butter a 9x13 baking dish.
- Turn the cold dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll your dough out into a rectangle measuring approximately 12x18 inches.
- Melt the butter and use a pastry brush to spread it evenly over the dough, all the way to the edges.In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle that evenly over the butter.
- Roll up the dough (starting on one of the long sides) into a log, keeping it as tight as you can. Using a gentle sawing motion with a sharp, non-serrated knife, cut the dough into 12 rolls. You can also use unflavored dental floss to cut the dough, by sliding the floss under the log of dough, then crossing it over the top to cut through.
- Place the rolls, cut side up, in the pan. Cover the pan with a towel, and set in a warm place for 20-30 minutes to puff up a little, just until the rolls are touching.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Bake the rolls on the center oven rack for about 25-30 minutes, until they're golden brown, and a digital instant read thermometer inserted in the center of the rolls reads 185 F.
Icing
- In a bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients, and beat until smooth and fluffy.
- Let the rolls cool for about 10-15 minutes, then swirl the icing on top of the rolls.
Video
Notes
- Yeast: This recipe calls for instant or rapid-rise yeast, which does not require any proofing first, so you can just mix it right into the dough. If you only have regular active dry yeast, you should proof it first, before adding to the dough. To do this, heat your butter and milk as instructed, then sprinkle the yeast, and 1 teaspoon of sugar, over the liquid. Stir in and let sit until foamy, about 5-10 minutes. Add to your dough and mix as instructed.
- Eggs: Your eggs will be too cold if you use them straight from the fridge, and the chill could prevent your dough from rising. Let them sit out for about an hour (or place the eggs in a glass of hot water) to warm up to room temperature before adding to your dough.
- 110-115 Degrees: It's very important that you check the temperature of your melted butter and warmed milk. The amount noted here is not a suggestion; it's essential to correctly activating your yeast. Too cold, and the yeast won't be activated. Too hot, and it will kill the yeast.
- Cream Baked Rolls: Pouring cream over your rolls, prior to baking, is a popular option for super gooey and soft rolls. To do this, you should slightly warm 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream to take the chill off. Just before baking your rolls, pour the cream around them and then bake as instructed.
- Overnight Cinnamon Rolls: To get a jump-start on breakfast prep, you can make, proof and chill the dough, then roll and shape the rolls the night before. Place the cut rolls in your baking dish, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, take them out of the refrigerator, and set in a warm place to take the chill off, which will take about an hour, then let them puff up a bit. Bake as instructed.
- Video: Note that the video in today's recipe card is for instructional purposes, from the making of my original cinnamon rolls recipe, to demonstrate how to knead the dough and shape the rolls. It does not feature the specific spices or extra ingredients unique to today's recipe.
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