Perfect Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (Easy to Make)

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are the perfect blend of soft, fluffy pumpkin dough swirled with a rich cinnamon filling, guaranteed to make your mouth water. If you love the flavors of pumpkin as much as I do, these cinnamon rolls are something you shouldn’t live without!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

It’s funny how once fall begins, I immediately start craving all-things pumpkin.  Once the leaves start falling, I’m pretty sure it causes some chemical reaction in the air that somehow hypnotizes us to want pumpkin pie spice.

So, since fall has activated my pumpkin taste buds, you know I had to come up with a new recipe to satisfy them!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.  Just that in itself sounds good, doesn’t it?

But, I had to take it up another notch.  When I was developing this recipe, I started thinking about my Sweet Potato Cheesecake and the topping that goes on top of it.  I just knew that it would be amazing on these cinnamon rolls—and I was right!

Y’all, these are the best pumpkin cinnamon rolls you’ll ever eat!

Why You’ll Love My Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

• Incredibly Delicious: I don’t even know how to describe how good this is.  There are very few things that leave me speechless (just ask my family!), but I seriously just cannot find strong enough words to describe how inexplicably delicious these are.
• Perfect for Fall Season: These homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls capture the essence of fall with their rich pumpkin flavor. Using real pumpkin in the dough, they bring a cozy, comforting taste that cause you to eat way too much!
• Soft and Fluffy Texture: The combination of flour and the moistness of the pumpkin creates a soft and fluffy dough. When baked, these rolls turn out light and airy, making them an irresistible treat that’s far superior to any store-bought version.
• Amazing Aromas:  From the moment you start baking, your kitchen will be filled with the amazing aroma of cinnamon and pumpkin.
• Sticky Praline Glaze: The pecan praline glaze makes these pumpkin cinnamon rolls the best thing you’ve ever eaten. Well, that might be stretching it, but I truly cannot think of tanything that tastes better!

You’re just going to have to try them for yourselves and see what I mean!

Ingredients for Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Because there are three components of these cinnamon rolls, I’ve broken the ingredients up into: cinnamon rolls (dough), filling, and frosting.

I also have a Praline Sauce I HIGHLY recommend you making to pour all over these bad boys!

Cinnamon Rolls

• Warm Milk: Acts as the base of your dough mixture. Whole milk is preferred for its fat content, which adds to the richness of the rolls.
• Eggs: Ensure they are at room temperature to mix well with other ingredients.
• Unsalted Butter: Melted, to mix into the dough, plus extra for greasing the baking dishes. Unsalted butter allows you to control the saltiness of your rolls.
• Canned Pumpkin: Adds the signature pumpkin flavor to the rolls. Make sure it’s pure pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling!
• Bread Flour or All-Purpose Flour: Bread flour gives a chewier texture, while all-purpose flour is more commonly available and works well too.
• Salt: Enhances the flavors of the other ingredients.
• White Sugar: To sweeten the dough.
• Rapid Rise Yeast: Helps the dough rise faster, making the rolls fluffy. If you have active dry yeast, you can use it too, but the rise time may vary.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Filling

• Cinnamon and Bown Sugar: You’ll sprinkle this combination over the rolled out dough after it has risen and rested.
• Unsalted Butter: You’ll want your butter soft at room temperature, perfect for spreading!

Cream Cheese Frosting

You can print my Cream Cheese Frosting recipe card separately if you’d like. It’s good on so many things, especially my Pumpkin Bread and Pumpkin Pancakes.

• Cream Cheese: Softened, to create a smooth, creamy frosting. It should be at room temperature.
• Unsalted Butter: Also softened, to blend easily into the frosting.
• Confectioners’ Sugar: For a smooth, sweet frosting.
• Vanilla Extract: Adds flavor depth to the frosting.

How to Make Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Making these delicious cinnamon rolls is fairly easy. You just need to make sure to allow yourself enough time for the dough to rise.

1. Prepare the Dough

Begin by adding warm milk, eggs at room temperature, a stick of melted butter, and a can of pumpkin into the bread machine.

Don’t have a bread machine? This easy step-by-step tutorial will teach you how to convert a bread machine recipe to by hand.

Next, follow with bread flour, salt, and white sugar.

Add a packet of rapid rise yeast last, placing it in a well made in the center of the flour. This is the best way to layer your ingredients for dough making.

Set your bread machine to the dough cycle (I love my bread machine!) and let it work its magic. This process will mix and knead the pumpkin dough, incorporating all the dry ingredients and wet ingredients into a soft dough.

No Bread Machine Method

If you don’t have a bread machine, don’t fret. You can do it the old fashioned method 🙂

• Activate the yeast: In a large mixing bowl, dissolve active dry yeast in warm milk. Make sure the milk is at the right temperature to activate the yeast without killing it. You want it warm, but not hot!
• Mix wet ingredients: To the yeast mixture, add granulated sugar, melted butter, and eggs. Stir until well combined.
• Add dry ingredients: Gradually mix in cups of flour until the dough starts to form.
• Knead the dough: On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic. This may take about 10 minutes.
• First rise: Place the dough in a greased bowl, covering it with plastic wrap. Let it sit in a warm place to rise until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
• Move Dough to a Floured Surface: Once your dough is ready, place it on a lightly floured surface.
• Rest the Dough: Cover and let it rest about 10 minutes.

2. Roll Out the Dough and Add Filling

Prepare the Filling: First, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll Out the Dough: On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large rectangle. Make sure you’ve got an even thickness for uniform baking.

Add Butter: Spread one stick of unsalted butter, brought to room temperature, over the dough. I like to use my hands here; I find that I’m able to spread the butter around much more evenly this way.

Sprinkle the Filling: Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over the buttered dough, making sure you’ve got an even coat. This is where you get all that sweet, moist awesomeness you expect from a warm cinnamon roll!

Roll the Dough: Carefully roll up the dough into a tight log. Compress it gently with your hands to secure the filling and slightly extend the length of the dough.

Prepare Baking Dishes (I use two 9×13’s): In your baking dishes, melt another stick of butter and evenly distribute it. This prevents the rolls from sticking and adds a golden brown finish.

Slice the Rolls: Using a sharp knife, cut the log into slices, about 1 inch thick.

Bake: Place the cut rolls in the prepared baking dish and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes. They should turn a lovely golden brown when done.

Optional: If you’re after the ooey-gooey, pull-apart texture of the cinnamon rolls at Cinnabon, you can pour in some heavy cream into the baking dish prior to popping it into the oven. You’ll add up to about 1/4 the way of the rolls as seen in the picture below.

Cool Slightly Before Frosting: Allow the rolls to cool until warm on a wire rack. Don’t let them cool all the way. You want your frosting to melt into all the crevices!

Cream Cheese Frosting

1. To make the cream cheese frosting for your homemade Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, start by placing softened cream cheese and unsalted butter (both should be at room temperature) in a large mixing bowl.
2. Next, add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract. Beat these ingredients together until the mixture is smooth and creamy, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to incorporate everything well. This delicious cream cheese frosting is perfect for spreading over warm cinnamon rolls!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Glaze

If you want to take these pumpkin cinnamon rolls over the edge of amazing flavors, you should top them with my praline sauce! It’s indescribable how terrific these rolls taste with this delectable glaze.

The glaze is pretty simple to make and it makes any dessert taste better. Heck, you could put it on cardboard and eat it and it would be good.

Pecan Praline Glaze Ingredients

To make this glaze for your cinnamon rolls, you only need 4 ingredients!

• Brown Sugar
• Butter
• Heavy Whipping Cream
• Chopped Pecans

How to Make the Pecan Praline Glaze

1. Toast the Pecans: Although it’s optional, toasting the pecans really enhances the flavor, so I highly recommend doing it.
2. Melt the Butter and Sugar: In a small saucepan, melt butter and brown sugar over low heat. Stir slowly, allowing the sugar to dissolve into a smooth, buttery mixture.
3. Increase the Heat: Once the sugar has fully dissolved, raise the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a bubbly boil, transforming it into a luscious, caramel-like sauce.
4. Add the Cream: Gradually pour in the heavy whipping cream, stirring gently to create a rich, velvety texture.
5. Incorporate the Pecans: Stir in the pecans, blending them seamlessly into the sauce.
6. Cool Down: Remove from heat and let the praline sauce cool slightly. It’s ready to drizzle over your pumpkin cinnamon rolls!

Just look at the picture below, is your mouth watering yet?

Add Finishing Touches

After the Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls have cooled to warm, you can frost them up!

1. Smear the cream cheese frosting all over the tops of the cinnamon rolls.
2. Drizzle the  praline pecan glaze all over the frosting.
3. Try not to inhale both pans of cinnamon rolls at once.  I know it’s hard.  Like super hard.

Yes, these are just as delicious as they look.  Even more so.  I’m sure you can now see why I have no words to describe how down right yummy these are.

You just need to make up a batch so you can see for yourself.

If you love cinnamon rolls as much as I do, you need to try my cinnamon roll casserole!

Recipe Tips for Perfect Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

• Warm the milk to just the right temperature, between 105-115 degrees F. If it’s too hot the yeast might die and your rolls won’t rise. The milk should feel comfortably warm, not hot. If it gets too hot, let it cool down a bit.
• Make sure your butter is at room temperature. You don’t want melted butter, it tends to make the filling seep out. Just softened.
• Incorporate an egg that’s been brought to room temperature into your dough. A cold egg might interfere with the yeast or solidify the melted butter.
• Bread flour makes for softer, fluffier rolls.
• You can use pumpkin pie spice for this recipe if you prefer.
• Before rolling out your dough, dust your work area and rolling pin with flour to prevent sticking.
• For ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls like you’d find at Cinnabon, you can pour some heavy cream into the baking dish! Just cover the cinnamon rolls to about 1/4 of the way up with the heavy cream. I know, it sounds weird, but they are just amazing like this!
• Make my delicious praline sauce with pecans if you want them to look like the ones below! They are seriously to-die for with this glaze on them!

Storing Cinnamon Rolls

You can store the cinnamon rolls covered at room temperature for about a day. After that you’ll want to keep them in the fridge using an airtight container so they don’t dry out. They’ll stay good for 4-5 days refrigerated.

You can heat them up for about 20 seconds in the microwave.