This pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe is one of my all-time vegan dessert or vegan breakfast favorites. It's foolproof, delicious, and perfectly pumpkin-y.
Every year, as soon as the first September chill hits, I crave the spices of autumn. I seek out cinnamon, nutmeg, and yes, pumpkin, in everything I eat, at least for a little while. And these cinnamon rolls are undoubtedly my favorite way to usher in the new season.
I know the ingredient list is a bit longer than my typical recipe, but fear not. These are incredibly simple to make and just require a bit of patience. Also, they happen to be dairy and nut-free. This is great if you're vegan, or if you're kosher and wanted to serve them after a meat meal! This is also great if you just like dessert, because I promise you'll still fall in love with these pumpkin cinnamon rolls regardless.
Let's make some!
PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS INGREDIENTS:
Here's what you will need for this decadent dish:
- Pumpkin puree and pumpkin butter: ‘Tis the season!
- Warm Spices: You can buy pumpkin pie spice mix, which is just a packaged blend of all the best warm spices like cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, etc. Alternatively, you can make your own.
- Milk: I use soy milk to make this recipe dairy-free and nut-free, but any alt-milk will do. If you wanted to use cow's milk, you can use that too!
- Vegan Butter: I used Earth Balance brand, which is good for baking.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Because, dessert. Regular sugar will work too!
- Instant Yeast: To help the rolls rise!
- Vegan Cream Cheese: For the frosting, which is really what takes these over the edge. Regular cream cheese will work well in this recipe too.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS:
To make this pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe, simply:
- Make your dough: Wake up yeast in a bath of warm (alt) milk and (vegan) butter. Add pumpkin puree, salt, sugar,
- Add flour and combine: Mix until the dough is no longer sticky, then transfer to the counter and knead until smooth. This usually takes about 5 minutes.
- Let the dough rest: We all need a nap sometimes! 1 hour in a warm spot.
- Make the cream cheese frosting. It's just maple syrup and cream cheese. What could be bad?
- Roll out your dough. A large rectangle that is ¼-inch to ½-inch thick will do.
- Slice your pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I like really thick rolls, so I slice fat ones! You should get ~10 cinnamon rolls. Make sure to trim the ends.
- Bake! These bake at 350ºF for 40-50 minutes, until deeply golden.
- Let cool, then frost: If you don't pass out from how good these smell, be patient. If you frost them when they're hot, the cream cheese will melt. Not the worst thing, but I prefer to let them cool for 30 minutes or so before frosting.
- Enjoy! There is almost nothing better than a sweet, sticky, soft cinnamon roll with a cup of hot morning coffee.
OPTIONS AND SWAP-INS:
- Use regular milk or butter: If that's what you have on hand!
- Make it gluten-free: Use a gluten-free flour mix that is a 1-1 swap for traditional flour.
- Use a different filling: I recommend pumpkin or apple butter, but you could also use a nut butter, chocolate spread, or your favorite jam if there is a flavor combination you're craving.
- Make a sugar glaze instead of frosting. If you're not a fan of cream cheese, you could make an easy sugar glaze like this one.
I hope you love these pumpkin cinnamon rolls as much as I do!
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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (Vegan! Nut-Free!)
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: ~10 cinnamon rolls
Description
This pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe is one of my all-time vegan dessert or vegan breakfast favorites. It's foolproof, delicious, and perfectly pumpkin-y.
Ingredients
For the dough:
1 packet instant yeast (~2 ¼ tsp)
1 cup unsweetened milk of choice
2 tbs vegan butter (such as Earth Balance)
¼ tsp salt, I used kosher
1 tbsp organic cane sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
⅓ cup pumpkin puree
~3 cups all-purpose flour
For the filling:
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ cup pumpkin butter or apple butter
⅓ cup dark brown sugar
for the vegan cream cheese frosting:
½ cup of tofutti or vegan cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons maple syrup, preferably grade B
Instructions
- To make the dough, warm milk and vegan butter for 45 seconds. Then let it sit, consistently whisking until all of the vegan butter melts. Touch it with your finger, it should be lukewarm but not boiling hot. If you have a food-safe thermometer, the liquid should be 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Sprinkle on the yeast and lightly whisk. Let the yeast "awaken" for 10 minutes, then add sugar, teaspoon salt, cinnamon and stir. Let it sit for a a few minutes, then whisk in pumpkin puree.
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Next, combine wet ingredients with flour. You want to add flour in small increments (about ½ cup at a time) until the dough is thick and sticky. I had to start kneading the dough by hand at around 2 cups of flour. Additionally, I ended up using slightly less than 3 cups of flour, but you may have to adjust depending on how the dough feels. Knead it for a minute. Here is a good article with some tips on kneading.
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Place your dough in a clean dry bowl that has been brushed with oil or vegan butter, and cover with kitchen towel. Set it aside for an hour. It should double in size after 1 hour. If it does not, the yeast was dead (RIP) and you may have to start over.
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
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While the dough rises, make the topping. Simply mix together vegan cream cheese and maple syrup.
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Find a clean, dry surface. Sprinkle on a few tablespoons of flour, then roll out the dough into a large rectangle. You want the dough rolled out fairly thick, about ½-inch thick Brush with melted vegan butter. Top with fruit butter, then sprinkle with brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice.
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Starting on one end, carefully roll the dough up and slice it into 1.5-inch slices. You should have 8-10 slices.
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Rub some oil or vegan butter onto your baking dish, an 8x8 pyrex or a 9-inch pie pan both work well for this recipe.
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Lay the rolls into the baking dish and bake until golden brown and risen, about 40 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, and use Herculean patience to wait for them to cool so you can frost with cream cheese.
- Once cool, frost and serve!
- Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30-45 minutes
- Category: Sweets
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: vegan baked goods, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, vegan cinnamon rolls, vegan pumpkin rolls, vegan dessert
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