Your morning buns and brew get an autumn update with this season’s favorite flavor.
By Amanda Brooke Bothwell
Think of your favorite food. Think of its lovely, soft yeast dough, its sweetly spiced and warm filling, its slowly melting icing making your fingers avoidably sticky. 
I only assume your favorite food is cinnamon buns. To be honest, I don’t really care if they’re not your favorite food. Because if they aren’t, they should be. And since fall is approaching and pumpkin is going to be making its way into just about everything, I figured we’d get a head start and slip a little pumpkin goodness into the little pastries.
Now that we’re all on the same page, I guess we can go ahead and agree that a hot cup of coffee is the go-to beverage with these morning buns. It’s the classic warm-your-soul pairing. But I can’t help but think there might be another kind of brew that could also be a winner–one that is just so obvious, it has been hiding in plain sight: pumpkin cinnamon buns and pumpkin beer, in this case, our home-brewed version.
At first it seemed too obvious, like taking the fast lane to pumpkin overload. But after thinking about the two: the combination of yeast and sugar and cinnamon and spices, bubbling and warming from within–aspects that could be used to describe each of the two, it just needed to be given a chance. Let’s just say the pumpkin won.
What’s nice about both of these pumpkin-laced items is that the pumpkin is subtle. In a sea of pumpkin lattes, pumpkin cakes, pumpkin everything, subtlety is appreciated. There’s just enough in each to remind us of the change in season while keeping the integrity of the other wonderful ingredients that are used.
Perhaps you aren’t quite ready to consume a beer with your morning paper. To each their own. Whatever you choose to wash these rolls down with, you’ll be happily reminded autumn is well on its way.
Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 10 1x
Description
Classic cinnamon buns with a touch of autumn’s favorite flavors.
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup (237g) water
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp (29g) butter, softened
- 3 1/2 cups (348g) bread flour
- 1/4 cup (48g) sugar
- 1 tsp (5g) salt
- 1 Tbsp (18g) active dry yeast
Filling
- 2 Tbsp (29g) butter, melted
- 1/2 cup (90g) canned pureed pumpkin
- 3/4 cup (151g) brown sugar
- 1 tsp (2.5g) pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 tsp (1.25g) cinnamon
Icing
- 1 cup (130g) powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp (30.5g) milk
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in mixing bowl with hook attachment.
- Mix on low for 1 minute until dough forms, then increase speed to kneed for an additional 7-8 minutes.
- Transfer dough to a well-greased bowl and cover with a towel to proof for an hour, or until double in size.
- Punch dough down and allow to rest 1 minute before rolling out.
- Roll dough into a rectangle, about 10″x8″ and 1/4″ thick.
- Brush dough with melted butter, then spread on the pureed pumpkin. Top with brown sugar and spices.
- With the long side facing you, gently roll dough to form a log.
- Cut 1″ thick rolls and transfer to a greased 9″x13″ baking dish.
- Cover with a towel and allow to rise for another hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake rolls for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.
- For icing, whisk powdered sugar and milk together until completely combined.
- Allow buns to cool slightly before frosting.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
