Heavenly Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting
Because cozy autumn deserve something extraordinary.
There’s something irresistible about the smell of cinnamon and pumpkin warming up the house, and these pumpkin cinnamon rolls deliver exactly that. My man even said that our house smelled like “Stroopwafel Kraam” 😀
These cinnamon rolls are Ooey gooey, soft, fluffy, spiced just right, and crowned with the creamiest maple cream cheese frosting, this recipe will instantly become a fall (or anytime) favorite.
Tips for The Best Cinnamon Rolls
Extra fluffy tips: If the dough feels sticky, add a tablespoon of flour at a time.
Overnight version: Assemble rolls and refrigerate overnight, bake fresh in the morning! (This works beautifully with yeast doughs.)
Spice it up: Add a pinch of nutmeg or clove to the filling for extra warmth.
How to Store & Re-Heat Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
These pumpkin cinnamon rolls store beautifully, which means you can enjoy that soft, fluffy goodness even days later (if they last that long 😉). I personally like to make a big batch store them in the freezer with the frosting separate so that everytime we are craving for cinnamon rolls we always have them ready at home! 🙂
Storing the Cinnamon Rolls
- At room temperature:
Store unfrosted or frosted rolls in an airtight container or simply cover your baking dish with aluminium or film foil for up to 2 days. - In the refrigerator:
Keep them in an airtight container or simply cover your baking dish with aluminium or film foil for up to 5 days. The cream cheese frosting stays fresh and safe this way. - Freezing:
For longer storage, freeze unfrosted rolls tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and foil for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating and frosting.
💡 Tip: If freezing frosted rolls, flash-freeze them first on a tray, then wrap individually to avoid smearing.
How to Re-Heat Cinnamon Rolls
- Oven (best for multiple rolls):
Cover rolls with foil and warm in a 160°C / 325°F oven for 8–10 minutes. - Microwave (quick & easy):
Heat individual rolls for 20–30 seconds until warm and soft. Add a small splash of milk before reheating to keep them moist. - From frozen:
Thaw first, then reheat using one of the methods above.
Pro tip: Warm rolls + freshly spread frosting = bakery-level perfection!
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer. You can knead the dough manually as well, don't worry.
- 1 Large mixing bowl
- 1 Medium mixing bowl
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 Knife or floss. To cut the dough
- 1 Sifter
- 1 Whisker
- 1 Spatula
- 1 Napkin
Ingredients
Dough
- 500 gr Flour. I mixed 200gr Self-raised flour and 300gr All purpose flour
- 150 ml Luke warm milk
- 1 Sachet Instant yeast
- 1 Large egg
- 1 Egg yolk
- 100 gr Caster sugar
- 135 gr Pumpkin puree
- 60 gr Unsalted butter. Melted
- ½ tbsp Pumpkin pie spice
- ½ tsp Salt
- 60 ml Heavy cream. To pour over the raised rolled dough before baking.
Filling
- 80 gr Room temperature unsalted butter
- 60 gr Pumpking puree
- 200 gr Light/dark brown sugar
- 1½ tbsp Cinnamon powder
- ½ tbsp Pumpkin pie spice
Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 200 gr Cream cheese
- 70 gr Unsalted butter
- 60 ml Maple syrup
- 100 gr Powdered sugar
- 45 ml Heavy cream
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
Instructions
The Dough
- In a large mixing bowl, add in the warm milk and yeast. Whisk lightly to combine. If you use active dry yeast, cover and let it proof for 10 minutes. I used instant yeast, so that was not necessary.
- Next, add in the egg and the yolk, melted butter, white sugar, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spice. Whisk all together until well-combined and smooth.
- Mix in the all purpose flour and salt to the wet batter. Bring the dough together either with spatula first or directly using a hook attachment on a stand mixer. Beat together for about 6 minutes or until the dough is very smooth, elastic, and soft to touch. At this point, your dough will stick to the sides of the mixing bowl a bit, and that's totally normal. However, if your dough is too sticky, you can add little by little flour to adjust the consistency or if it's too dry you can add a splash of luke warm milk.
- Transfer the dough to a large greased bowl and cover with a slightly damped napkin to rest in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled in size. You can put it nearby the heater or in front of an open warm oven.
Cinnamon Sugar and Pumpkin-Butter Filling
- In a small bowl, mix together butter and pumpkin puree until smooth and well-combined. Set aside.
- In another small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.
Roll the Dough
- Dust the working surface with flour and roll out the dough into about a 35cm x 50cm rectangle.
- Spread the pumpkin-butter mixture into an even layer across the surface using a rubber spatula and then sprinkle the spiced brown sugar mixture over the butter, and press it down firmly. You can also opt to mix both the pumpkin-butter mixture and spiced brown sugar mixture to spread over the surface.
- Roll it up tightly into a log and cut into 12-14 even rolls. I use my knife to measure the rolls evenly and cut them with a floss (see the video).
- Transfer the rolls to a 22cm x 33cm baking dish. Cover and allow them to proof again for only 30 minutes this time. In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 180℃.
- Before baking, pour the milk or heavy cream around the cinnamon rolls in the baking dish. Pop in the oven to bake for about 22 minutes or until golden.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- While waiting for the rolls to bake, make the cream cheese frosting. Beat together cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla extract and heavy cream until creamy and fluffy.
- Once the rolls are our of the oven, let them cool for 10 minutes and then frost them. Enjoy them warm! 🙂
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