Made with pumpkin in the dough and filled with a gooey pumpkin spice cinnamon swirl, these pumpkin cinnamon rolls hit the spot on chilly fall mornings. They’re topped with maple cinnamon cream cheese icing and you can choose other frosting options if desired! (See right above the recipe for details.) If you’d like to get started ahead of time, use my overnight or freezing instructions below.
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos and a few more success tips.
These aren’t just classic homemade cinnamon rolls with pumpkin spice in the filling. Rather, these are pumpkin cinnamon rolls with real pumpkin IN the dough. Unraveling each soft and flaky pumpkin coil and tasting the melty pumpkin spices inside is the definition of fall breakfast bliss! Pumpkin pie lovers, meet your new favorite breakfast.
Why You’ll Love These Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Soft and fluffy
- Real pumpkin in the yeasted dough
- Filled with warm and cozy fall spices
- Topped with maple cream cheese icing
- Perfect for crisp fall mornings
- Total comfort food
- You can use homemade pumpkin pie spice in the filling
Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Dough
This is a rich dough, which means that it’s prepared with fat like milk, butter, and an egg. Rich doughs make soft breads such as monkey bread, homemade cinnamon rolls, and this giant cinnamon roll cake. Lean doughs, on the other hand, are made without much fat and produce crusty bread such as artisan bread, homemade bagels, and pizza dough.
You need 9 ingredients for pumpkin cinnamon roll dough:
- Milk: Liquid activates the yeast. Nondairy or low fat milks are fine, but whole milk produces phenomenal flavor and texture.
- Butter: Butter promises a flavorful dough.
- Pumpkin: Pumpkin puree adds real pumpkin flavor and lots of moisture for incredibly soft rolls. It’s also a very heavy ingredient which weighs down the dough, so we go light on the butter (which can also weigh down dough).
- Sugar: Sugar feeds the yeast, increases its activity, and tenderizes the dough. I used to make these rolls with brown sugar in the dough, but regular white sugar doesn’t weigh down the dough as much. (I find the rolls are a bit fluffier using white granulated sugar.) We still use brown sugar in the filling, though.
- Nutmeg: A pinch of ground nutmeg enhances the pumpkin flavor and adds a little something extra to these pumpkin cinnamon rolls.
- Salt: You can’t make flavorful bread without salt!
- Egg: 1 egg provides structure and flavor.
- Yeast: You can use active dry yeast or instant yeast. I recommend Red Star Platinum Superior Baking Yeast, which is an instant yeast blended with natural dough improvers.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is the structure of the dough.
Notice That There is No Cinnamon IN the Dough
Did you know that cinnamon can inhibit yeast activity in dough? This spice can limit dough’s ability to rise, but you’d have to use quite a lot of cinnamon in order for that to happen. Still, with pumpkin being such a heavy ingredient that also weighs down the dough, we skip the cinnamon simply because we don’t want another ingredient holding down the dough’s rise. Nutmeg adds wonderful wonderful flavor to the dough and don’t worry, there’s PLENTY of cinnamon in the filling!
Overview: How to Make Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Make & knead the dough. If you’re new to baking with yeasted doughs, or if you want a quick refresher, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial will be helpful with this step. The dough will be very soft. After kneading, place the dough into a greased bowl and turn the dough around in the bowl so all sides of the dough are coated.
- 1st rise. Cover the dough and let it rise.
- Make the pumpkin spice filling. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and spices.
- Add the filling & slice into rolls. Roll the dough out into a 10×14-inch rectangle. Spread the softened butter and sprinkle brown sugar filling evenly on top. Roll it up tightly and use a sharp knife to cut into 10-12 pieces. Arrange rolls into your greased pan.
- 2nd rise. Let the shaped rolls rise. This rise is shorter than the 1st.
- Bake. Cover them with aluminum foil after 15 minutes to prevent over-browning.
- Make the icing and spread onto warm cinnamon rolls.
By the way, if you love pumpkin for breakfast, you’ll definitely enjoy sinking your teeth into this pumpkin French toast casserole, a stack of pumpkin spice waffles, or a batch of mini cinnamon sugar pumpkin muffins. And don’t forget homemade pumpkin coffee creamer for your coffee! If you are craving cinnamon rolls right now, and just can’t wait for dough to rise, try these no yeast cinnamon rolls.
Toppings for Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
I love topping these cinnamon rolls with maple cinnamon cream cheese icing—just 5 ingredients: cream cheese, maple syrup, milk, sifted confectioners’ sugar, and cinnamon. So simple yet so good! Feel free to skip the cinnamon in the icing if desired. You could also try plain cream cheese icing from these regular homemade cinnamon rolls, salted caramel frosting, the maple icing from maple cinnamon rolls, the caramel icing from apple cinnamon rolls, or this vanilla icing.
More Cinnamon Roll Varieties:
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Blueberry Sweet Rolls with Lemon Glaze
- Raspberry Sweet Rolls (my favorite!!)
- Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
- Maple Pecan Sticky Buns
- Lemon Sweet Rolls
- Orange Sweet Rolls
- Birthday Cake Cinnamon Rolls
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes
- Yield: 10-12 rolls
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Soft pumpkin cinnamon rolls filled with a gooey cinnamon swirl and topped with maple cream cheese icing.
Ingredients
Pumpkin Dough
- 1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk*
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (115g) canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 and 1/4 teaspoons (7g) instant or active dry yeast (1 standard packet, see note)
- 2 and 2/3 cups (335g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled), plus more as needed for hands and work surface
Filling
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Maple Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 3 Tablespoons (45ml) pure maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoons (15ml) whole milk
- 2/3 cup (80g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- optional: 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Make the dough: Warm the milk and butter together over the stove or in the microwave. Warm the two together until the butter is *just* melted. You want the mixture lukewarm (105°F (41°C)-115°F (46°C)), not scorching hot. Set aside. Whisk the pumpkin puree, sugar, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer. Whisk in the warmed milk/butter, egg, and yeast until combined. Using the dough hook or paddle attachment on low speed or mixing by hand using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, mix in 1 cup of flour. Mix for 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add 1 and 2/3 cups more flour and beat for 1 more minute.
- Knead the dough: Keep the dough in the mixer (and switch to the dough hook if using the paddle) and beat for an additional 5 full minutes, or knead by hand on a lightly floured surface for 5 full minutes. (If you’re new to bread-baking, my How to Knead Dough video tutorial can help here.) If the dough becomes too sticky during the kneading process, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of flour at a time on the dough or on the work surface/in the bowl to make a soft, slightly tacky dough. Do not add more flour than you need because you do not want a dry dough. After kneading, the dough should still feel a little soft. Poke it with your finger—if it slowly bounces back, your dough is ready to rise. You can also do a “windowpane test” to see if your dough has been kneaded long enough: tear off a small (roughly golfball-size) piece of dough and gently stretch it out until it’s thin enough for light to pass through it. Hold it up to a window or light. Does light pass through the stretched dough without the dough tearing first? If so, your dough has been kneaded long enough and is ready to rise. If not, keep kneading until it passes the windowpane test.
- 1st Rise: Lightly grease a large bowl with oil or use nonstick spray. Place the dough in the bowl, turning it to coat all sides in the oil. Cover the bowl with aluminum foil, plastic wrap, or a clean kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise in a relatively warm environment for 2 hours or until double in size. (I always let it rise on the counter and it takes about 2 hours. For a tiny reduction in rise time, see my answer to Where Should Dough Rise? in my Baking with Yeast Guide.)
- Grease the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking dish, 9-inch round baking dish, 9×13-inch baking dish, or 11×7-inch baking dish. This recipe yields 10-12 rolls and they can fit into any of those size pans.
- Roll out the dough: Punch down the dough to release the air. Place dough on a lightly floured work surface and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 10×14-inch rectangle. Make sure the dough is smooth and evenly thick. If the dough keeps shrinking as you roll it out, stop what you’re doing, cover it lightly, and let it rest for 10 minutes to relax the gluten. When you return to the dough, it should stretch out much easier.
- Add the filling: Spread softened butter evenly on top of the rolled-out dough. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and spices into a small bowl. Sprinkle all over the top. Roll it up tightly. Using a very sharp knife, cut into 10-12 even rolls. Arrange rolls in the prepared pan.
- 2nd Rise: Cover the rolls tightly and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. (Or use the overnight option below.)
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Bake rolls for about 22-28 minutes or until they are lightly browned on top. After about 15 minutes, tent a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the pan to prevent the tops from browning too quickly and baking unevenly. Remove pan from the oven and place pan on a wire rack for about 10 minutes as you make the icing.
- Make the icing: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the softened cream cheese in a medium bowl on medium speed until smooth. Add the maple syrup and milk and beat on high until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar (and cinnamon, if using) and beat on medium speed until creamy. Spread on warm cinnamon rolls.
- Cover leftover frosted or unfrosted rolls tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Overnight Instructions: Prepare the rolls through step 6. Instead of allowing the cut rolls to rise in a warm environment in step 7, place the pan in the refrigerator and allow the rolls to rest for up to 14 hours before baking. When it’s time to bake the next day, bring the rolls to room temperature and rise for 1 hour on the counter, or until almost doubled in size. Then bake as directed.
- Freezing Instructions: Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and warm up before enjoying. You can also freeze the unbaked rolls and here’s how: bake the rolls in step 9 for only about 10 minutes. Cool completely, and then cover tightly and freeze. To serve, take the rolls out of the freezer and place in the refrigerator overnight to thaw. Once thawed, finish baking them for about 15-20 minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Stand Mixer or Large Glass Mixing Bowl | Silicone Spatula or Wooden Spoon | Whisk | 9-inch Square Baking Dish, 9-inch Round Baking Dish, 9×13-inch Baking Dish or 11×7-inch Baking Dish | Rolling Pin | Cooling Rack | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand)
- Milk: For super soft rolls, I recommend whole milk. Nondairy or lower fat milks work too, but the rolls may not taste as rich and fluffy.
- Yeast: You can use active dry or instant yeast in this recipe. Follow all of the same instructions. If using active dry yeast, the rise times are usually *slightly* longer, but not much. Reference my Baking with Yeast Guide for answers to common yeast FAQs.
- Spices in Filling: If needed, you can use 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice in the filling. The pumpkin pie spice replaces the nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cloves.
Great festive rolls!
Would make them again, followed the instructions for overnight refrigeration and they came out great! Left out for about 2 hours to come to room temp and then baked for 15 minutes, then covered with tinfoil for 8 minutes and they were awesomeness. Icing was great. And made 10 rolls
These are so soft and yummy! I’m so happy with how they came out.
I’m getting ready to try this recipe but was wondering if the egg would need to be room temperature since I’m going to be heating the milk and butter for the yeast? I wasn’t sure if the cold from the egg would have a negative effect for the yeast.
A room temperature egg certainly wouldn’t hurt, but isn’t totally necessary here.
Hi Sally! I absolutely love all of your recipes. I made these earlier today and found that my dough was super sticky. Any idea why/how I can prevent in the future?
Hi Kelly! There are a lot of variables that go into the consistency of dough, even down to the weather and humidity in the air. There’s nothing wrong with adding just a little more flour to bring the dough into a less sticky and knead-able consistency. Add any additional flour 1 Tablespoon until the dough comes together.
Can I substitute gluten free flour?
Hi Savannah, we haven’t tested these pumpkin cinnamon rolls with gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you do give it a try.
I loved this recipe! This came out delicious. This was the first time I made cinnamon rolls! Measuring everything in grams and accordingly to the recipe was very beneficial.
Absolutely delicious. Only thing I changed was using bread flour as I had a lot to use. Appreciated the freezing instructions as there are only 2 of us and we didn’t need all 12 at once!
After kneading the dough for 3 min in the mixer with dough hook my ball is really tight did I do something wrong?
Hi Justine, it sounds like the dough may be over worked a bit. Did the dough rise afterwards and were you able to successfully roll it out in Step 5?
Any suggested substitute for the egg? My nephew has an egg allergy, but loves cinnamon rolls and I’d love to make these for Canadian Thanksgiving!
Hi Ruth, we haven’t tried an egg substitute here, but let us know how they turn out if you do!
This recipe was amazing. Super clear directions with delicious results!
I LOVE these! Wowow. I want to make them again and I’m wondering about doubling the recipe. Any tips?
Hi Emily, we’re so happy to hear that! For best results (and to prevent over or under mixing the dough), we recommend making two separate batches rather than doubling.
I doubled the recipe and it worked out just fine!
Can you substitute bread flour for these rolls instead of all purpose flour?
We can’t see why not—replace with the same amount of bread flour. Enjoy!
Hello! I live in a country where it’s not possible to get canned pumpkin. Could I use cooked sweet potato or butternut squash in its place? Planning on roasting/mashing it or any other suggestions?
Hi Bláthnaid, we have not tested it for this particular recipe, but typically a sweet potato puree will work in place of pureed pumpkin. If you decide to try it, please do let us know how it goes!
Made them today, they came out gorgeous I topped with toasted flaked almonds. The sweet potato worked fine, don’t really get any flavour from it but it did give them a lovely colour. Thank you
Love these so much! Would like carb/calorie in each.
Hi Hilly! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Can I cut these larger and make giant pumpkin cinnamon rolls? Or will they not cook right?
Hi Cristal, I’m sure you can, but the bake time may be longer if the rolls are thicker (bigger).
I loved this recipe thank you so much. I couldn’t stand when my family would ask me to make cinnamon rolls and for years I would just make the store bought ones they would smell so good, however every time I would take a bite I would spit it out. So last weekend I decided since I wanted to look up a recipe after going to Universal and loving Cinnabon. I found one that said just like Cinnabon and tried it. The recipe was similar besides the pumpkin and frosting. That recipe really rises. I let it rise put it in the fridge over night and made it for my kids for the first day of school they loved it. Now it’s the weekend again and I have time to make them breakfast on weekends and it’s practically fall and I found this recipe. It was late at night my husband helped me get everything together we put the dough together not thinking through and I placed it in the fridge cause I was so tired. I woke up so mad at myself I didn’t let it rise my daughter had her friend over and she bragged about how good the last ones were so there was no going back. I rolled the dough out used a stick of butter and a tad more brown sugar to off set the added butter and substituted 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon for 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin spice. Tossed it in the oven. I remember how the 1/2 cup of whipping cream on the last Cinnabon recipe I found made them so soft and delicious was supposed to put it on top before it was even in the oven at this point again I said awe what the heck took it back out the oven and added a little more then 1/2C whipping cream on top to cover all placed tin foil loosely on top placed back in the oven this added about 15 min to the original baking time but was well worth it. For the frosting I added the half stick of butter like the Cinnabon recipie Vince my family loved it when it’s not broken don’t fix it lol about 3/4 cup of powder sugar to one cup depending on how sweet your tooth is a teaspoon of vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin spice and the cream cheese of course so amazing. They turned out better then last weekend the entire family is more then satisfied and I will be making this a lot more. Thank you so much for making my family’s belly’s happy!
by far the most outstanding cinnamon rolls, they’re perfect EVERY time.
So so good!! So soft! Perfect sweetness! Just wow. I made a batch and we gobbled them up in one sitting!
The rolls are Autumn on a plate! So delicious and soft. I put maple glaze on mine. Perfection!
Hi Sally! Are the ‘specks’ in your frosting the ground cinnamon? Thanks?
Yep!
This is a great recipe! The pumpkin flavour isn’t lost among the spices and tastes similarly to a pumpkin muffin, though a tad subtler.
Dough alterations:
-Half whole wheat, half all-purpose flour.
-subbed buttermilk for the whole milk.
-subbed coconut oil for the unsalted butter.
My dad and I have to have nuts in any desserts I toasted 1/2C of walnuts halves and mixed them into the spice filling and WOW! It created fantastic texture and incorporated fantastically alongside the pumpkin flavour. 🙂
As for the icing: Only put 2T of confectioners sugar in because the filling was sweet enough and I prefer less sweet cream cheese frost. (I do this for the carrot cake recipe too!) I also added additional milk to make it runnier!
Thanks for another great recipe Sally!! 😀
I had a can of pumpkin about to expire, so I made these delicious pumpkin cinnamon rolls and used the rest in my morning smoothie. Thanks for another great recipe!
Hi. I am looking forward to making this recipe. I don’t typically like pumpkin pie spice. Can just cinnamon and nutmeg be used, and in what measurements? Thanks!
You can leave out the allspice, ginger and cloves if you prefer. You can add more cinnamon and nutmeg to make up for them, but that isn’t necessary.
How much pumpkin spice should I use instead of using the spices individually
Hi Catherine, you can use 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon and 1 and 1/2 teaspoons store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice in the filling. The pumpkin pie spice replaces the nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cloves.
Hi there! I want to adapt this recipe and use mashed banana instead of pumpkin puree (for both the batter and the filling). Can I sub 1:1 pumpkin to banana?
Hi Sarah, I’m unsure. I haven’t tested it myself to be certain and I fear the texture will change quite a bit. (Though, again, I can’t be certain since I haven’t tried it. Let me know if you do!)
In what way do you feel the texture would change?
I forgot to add egg until everything was mixed. Should I just make another batch or will it be salvaged? Also added a capful of vanilla to batter.
It would be difficult to properly incorporate the egg once the dough is combined. You could try baking the dough without the egg, though the dough will be less tender.
When I was mixing everything the dough was dry. I reviewed the recipe and realized I left out the egg. Put it in at the end. Added some vanilla. The rolls came out delicious. The dough itself without the frosting is the taste of a cinnamon roll I’ve been looking for.
I’ve made these once and am about to make them again. They’re delicious! But I have a question: Why does this recipe call for a second rise when your orange rolls and the ‘regular’ cinnamon rolls call for a single rise? What does the second rise accomplish? Can the others be done with a second rise, and would that result in a different texture?
Thanks, Sally! You wouldn’t believe how many of your recipes I’ve made – and shared with others when they wanted a copy.
Hi Sue! Those recipes use different doughs. It’s best to follow the carefully tested recipe as written!
I save ‘creative playing’ for cooking rather than baking. 🙂 I was trying to ask what the second rise accomplished. For example, the 2013 recipe for orange rolls calls for two rises. The later orange roll recipe has just one rise. There must be *some* difference between the finished rolls – isn’t there?
Hi Sue, the double risen method yields an even fluffier roll – both are delicious, though!
Hi! If wanting to make these with 1:1 gluten free flour, will the recipe work the same? Thank you!
Hi Brenda! We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour, but some readers report success using 1:1 gluten free flour substitutes in our recipes (like Cup4Cup). If you try anything let us know how it goes!
Our daughter sent me this recipe after we sampled them at her house. We thought they were amazing! I just made them last night (did the 2nd rise in the fridge) and made them all plant based. Subbed egg for a flax egg….milk, butter and cream cheese were plant based as well. The results were very good. Too good in fact , so we ended up freezing the leftovers so we didn’t eat all 12 of them in one day.
The directions in the printed version are completely different than what’s on the website. This ruined my Thanksgiving breakfast.
Hi Mel, did you use the Print button on this page? Because it will print directly what you see on this page. I only have 1 pumpkin cinnamon rolls recipe, so I wonder if it’s different, if you printed something from another recipe?
When following the overnight recipe, do you recommended covering the rolls with plastic wrap or just a towel? And about how long do they take to reach room temperature? Thanks!
Hi Catherine, either covering will work. I usually like covering them tightly. They usually come to room temperature in about 1 hour.