Scrolling through blogs one night, I ran across a very pretty post about pumpkin cinnamon rolls. To be perfectly honest, I don't usually gush over pumpkin recipes this time of year (now apple recipes, that is a whole 'nother ball game for me)--but this one looked pretty darn tasty.
I tweaked the recipe a bit, hoping to use the 1-hour bread recipe that my sister-in-law gave me. It did take me more than an hour, but the finished rolls were coming out of the oven in under 2 hours. The rolls are very good, but its the frosting that turned out surprisingly wonderful. The original recipe called for maple extract, but I didn't have any, so I substituted Vanilla Butter and Nut (from my Smith's grocery)--and WOW, best frosting ever. Even if you don't make the rolls, try the frosting!
In the KitchenAid bowl:
1/3 c. melted butter
1/2 c. warm water
1/2 c. scalded milk (heat milk on medium until bubbles start to form around the edges, but not boiled)
1 c. pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 1/2 tsp. instant yeast (the instant type is important, because you do NOT proof this type of yeast in water and you only have to rise the dough once)
1 T. dough enhancer or lecithin (I buy powdered dough enhancer at my WalMart)
4-5 cups of flour (I used 4).
Filling:
1/4 c. brown sugar
1-2 tsp. cinnamon
4 Tbs. butter, softened
Mix all the wet ingredients in the bowl. In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients 1 cup at a time until you get a ball of dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl cleanly. Let it mix for 5 minutes.
Spray your counter with non-stick cooking spray and dump out your dough. Because I used instant yeast, you only have to do one rise, instead of the usual two. So you can immediately roll dough out to a 9x15 rectangle. Spread the dough with butter, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll the dough up along the long edge. I use dental floss to cut the dough, but a serrated knife would work too. Place the rolls into a greased baking dish (I wish I'd cut mine 1" instead of 1 1/2" and gotten 15 instead of 12 rolls). Let rise for 30-45 minutes or until double in size.
Bake for about 30 minutes at 350. Frost with the Ah-Mazing cream cheese frosting.
Ah-MAZING Frosting
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 C. butter
1 1/2 C. Powdered sugar
1 T. milk
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla butter nut extract-this is the secret ingredient
1/4 tsp. salt
Whip it all together in the KitchenAid for about 3 minutes on high.
