The Best Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls — Super soft, fluffy pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls topped with a cream cheese glaze! Move over, Cinnabon, these are better!!
Table of Contents
Best Ever Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
These are the best pumpkin cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made! I prefer these over Cinnabon, and that’s a big statement coming from a former Cinnabon junkie.
They’re soft, light, fluffy and there’s just enough pumpkin flavor to notice, but not so much that it overwhelms the inherent beauty of classic cinnamon rolls. Topped with cream cheese glaze, they’re totally irresistible.
I have a habit of donating most of what I bake after my family has a bite or a piece since we don’t need entire cakes, multiple pans of bars, and dozens of cookies, every week. My daughter asked, “Mom, how many of these pumpkin cinnamon rolls did you make?” And I said an entire pan and she said, “Good, don’t donate any of them!”
She said they’re the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever made and that the center bites are the best because they’re so soft and juicy. I agree.
I used my favorite yeast roll recipe as the jumping off point and worked in pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and plenty of cinnamon and brown sugar for these pumpkin cinnamon rolls.
The glaze is a simple glaze of cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and a splash of cream. It makes more than the average person may want on their rolls, but it keeps for weeks in the fridge. I’m a dip, glaze, and frosting-aholic, and can never have too much. I keep a little cup on the side of my plate so I can double-dip.
The glaze soaks into the nooks and crannies and adds even more moisture and softness. Total gooey, cinnamon-and-sugary, juicy perfection.
Ingredients for Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Homemade cinnamon rolls require fairly few ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need for this pumpkin cinnamon rolls recipe:
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Instant dry yeast
- Salt
- Unsalted butter
- Buttermilk
- Pumpkin puree
- Egg
- Light brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Cream cheese
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Half and half (or cream)
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
I’ve given very detailed instructions in the recipe card below on how to make these pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls. Here’s a broad overview of the process:
- Make the cinnamon roll dough. See my tips in the recipe card on how to activate the yeast and make the dough.
- Transfer dough to a greased mixing bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise at room temperature for about 2 hours or until it doubles in size.
- Once the dough has risen, roll it out to about 26 by 13 inches.
- Spread softened butter over the dough, then sprinkle with the brown sugar cinnamon mixture.
- Roll and slice the dough, then place in a foil-lined 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Let the dough rise a second time.
- Bake until golden brown.
- Top with cream cheese frosting while still warm.
How to Slice Cinnamon Rolls
To shape cinnamon rolls, you need to roll the dough into a long log. Then, use a knife to make small hash marks about 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart.
Hash marks create less guesswork once you start slicing and things get messier and harder to eyeball where to slice — the hash marks are nice place-markers.
Use plain, unwaxed dental floss to slice the rolls. I highly recommend slicing the rolls with floss, not knives. Floss does not squish or compact the log like knives do.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Yes! There’s an option to make the pumpkin cinnamon rolls as overnight rolls (I’ve given detailed instructions on how to do so in the recipe card below).
Start the dough at night, roll and shape it, and refrigerate the coiled rolls until you’re ready to bake the next morning.
That way you don’t have to get up at 5am to have these ready with your first cup of coffee.
Recipe FAQs
The dough for this pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe is buttermilk-based. Although I’ve made non-buttermilk sweet rolls, for the softest, lightest, and most tender rolls, I swear by buttermilk. Between the buttermilk, butter, and egg, the dough rises beautifully and it’s my favorite dough base.
Check out my other Buttermilk Recipes if you’re looking for ways to use the rest of your buttermilk!
I use liquid regular buttermilk from Trader Joe’s but you can use powdered buttermilk or make your own by adding 1/2 tablespoon white vinegar to 1/2 cup 2% or whole milk.
Theoretically, yes. However, homemade pumpkin puree often contains more moisture than canned puree. To prevent the pumpkin spice cinnamon roll dough from being too wet, thoroughly blot the pumpkin puree to remove any excess moisture.
Of course! You can also work the dough by hand in a large mixing bowl using a wooden spoon and some elbow grease. I do NOT recommend using a handheld electric mixer in place of a stand mixer, as it likely won’t be powerful enough to handle the dough.
If you don’t have a 9×13-inch pan, you’ll need to mix and match smaller baking pans to fit all of the cinnamon rolls (two 8×8-inch pans would work perfectly, otherwise use what you have).
Whatever you do, do NOT attempt to squish all of the cinnamon rolls into a single, smaller pan. The rolls will puff up, overflow, and you’ll have a mess on your hands.
Tips for Making Pumpkin-Filled Cinnamon Rolls
To activate the yeast, you need to warm the buttermilk before adding it to the dough mixture. Note that different yeast brands recommend heating the milk to different temperatures.
Red Star Platinum yeast calls for warmer temperatures than most, 120 to 130F; other brands and yeast call for much lower temperatures, about 95 to 105F. Heat the mixture according to manufacturer’s recommendations on the packaging.
I swear by that yeast and personally it’s all I use but you can experiment with other brands.
Taking the temperature with a digital thermometer is highly recommended, but if you’re not, make sure the milk is warm, not hot. Err on the cooler rather than hotter side so you don’t kill the yeast.
Lastly, the recipe looks long, but I’ve written every last detail so the rolls turn out perfectly for you. Read the recipe at least twice before starting!
Storage Instructions
These pumpkin cinnamon rolls are best warm and fresh, but will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 4 days. Reheat them in microwave for about 5 seconds to re-soften or as desired.
I am comfortable keeping glazed rolls at room temp and do not recommend storing them in the fridge because they will dry out.
Rolls can be made and baked to completion, and then frozen for up to 6 months; unthaw and glaze immediately prior to serving. I recommend baking them from start to finish and then freezing, rather than trying to freeze unbaked dough, if you want to make in bulk in advance.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
The Best Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant dry yeast, one 1/4-ounce packet, I use Red Star Platinum
- pinch salt, to taste
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 1 large egg, lightly whisked
Filling
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 3/4 of 1 stick, very soft – let it sit out while dough rises
- 1 to 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar, packed
- 2 + tablespoons cinnamon, I used 3+
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 4 ounces brick-style cream cheese, lite is okay, softened – let it sit out on the second rise or while rolls bake
- 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- pinch salt, optional and to taste (helps balance the sweetness)
- about 3 to 4 tablespoons half-and-half or cream, or as needed for consistency
Instructions
Make the Dough:
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or use a large mixing bowl and wooden spoon and your hands), add 3 1/4 cups flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, yeast, salt; set aside.
- In 2-cup glass measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl, and the butter and heat to melt, about 1 minute on high power.
- Add buttermilk and pumpkin to melted butter and warm to temperature, about 45 seconds on high power in the microwave. If the milk separates or gets a little funny looking after being warmed, whisk it to smooth it out. ** (see note below)
- Add butter-buttermilk-pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients in mixing bowl.
- In a small bowl, crack and lightly whisk the egg, and add egg to mixing bowl.
- Turn mixer on low speed and allow it to knead dough for about 7 minutes (about 7 to 10 minutes by hand using a wooden spoon and then switching to your hands). 3 1/4 cups of flour and 7 minutes is perfect for me, but if after 5 minutes your dough is very sloppy, wet, and won’t come together, add up to 1/4 cup flour, or as needed until it does come together. However, the more flour added, the denser and heavier the rolls will be; wetter dough is preferred to overly dry. If dough is dry or crumbly, drizzle in buttermilk until it comes together.
- Remove dough from the mixing bowl, spray a large bowl with cooking spray, place the dough in the bowl, and flip it over once so it’s lightly oiled on both top and bottom.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap (spray it with cooking spray in case dough rises high enough to touch it) and place bowl in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or doubled in size. I keep my bowl inside a powered-off oven that I preheated for 1 minute to 400F, then it’s powered off. Do not, repeat do not, keep the oven on. The pre-heated, warm oven creates a nice 85F-ish environment, ideal for yeast. If your rising spot is cold, rising will likely take longer than 2 1/2 hours.
- While dough rises, line a 9×13-inch aluminum pan with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray; set aside.
Rolling Out the Dough:
- After dough has doubled in size, punch it down.
- Turn dough out onto a Silpat or floured countertop. With a rolling pin, roll it out to about 26-by-13-inches. Use the 13-inch side of the 9-x13 pan to eyeball it, no need use a ruler.
For the Filling:
- Using a knife or spatula, evenly spread butter over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch bare margin.
- Evenly sprinkle the brown sugar and then the cinnamon over the top, and lightly pat it down with your fingertips to help it adhere.
Slicing the Dough:
- Starting with a long edge (the 26-inch side), roll the dough into a tightly wound log, with the seam side down.
- Using a knife, make small hash marks about 1 to 1 1/2 inches apart (yields 20 to 24 rolls); or make bigger rolls and yield 12 to 16. Hash marks create less guesswork once you start slicing and things get messier and harder to eyeball where to slice; the hash marks are nice place-markers.
- Use plain, unwaxed dental floss to slice the rolls. I highly recommend slicing the rolls with floss, not knives. Floss does not squish or compact the log like knives do. Visual here.
- Arrange the rolls in the prepared pan (I made 5 rows of 4 or 5 rolls across, and not all rows have same number of rolls; crowding is okay). Cover with plastic wrap.
- If Making Straight Through...
- Let rise in a warm, draft-free place until the rolls have nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- If Making as Overnight Rolls...
- Don’t let rolls rise after they’ve been sliced and placed in covered pan. Place pan in refrigerator for up to 16 hours.
- Before baking, let the rolls rise at room temperature until they have nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour.
To Bake:
- For either version, bake at 375F for about 15 to 17 minutes, or until lightly golden on top and cooked through (ovens, dough, and climates vary and so will baking duration, but 1 to 2 minutes matters in this recipe). Watch rolls like a hawk and don’t overbake or they won’t taste nearly as good. At 15 1/2 minutes my rolls were barely done and on the doughy side but I prefer this because it reminds me of Cinnabons; if you like less doughy rolls, bake longer.
Make the Cream Cheese Glaze:
- In a medium bowl, add cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, optional salt, 3 tablespoons cream, and whisk or beat with a handheld electric mixer until smooth and combined. Add cream as needed until desired consistency is reached.
- Evenly pour glaze over rolls, lightly spreading with a spatula as necessary.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Cinnamon Roll Recipes:
ALL OF MY CINNAMON ROLL RECIPES!
Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Bake — Every bite tastes like the super SOFT, gooey CENTER of a cinnamon roll!! Spiked with pumpkin and flooded with icing, this EASY recipe is an automatic WINNER!!
The Best Glazed Orange Sweet Rolls — The softest, lightest, and most irresistible rolls ever! Try them and you’ll be a believer, too! I adapted this recipe for today’s rolls.
Overnight Buttermilk Soft and Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls — For soft, fluffy, pillowy, perfect cinnamon rolls when you need a larger batch, it’s my go-to. Readers who’ve tried it write with high praise and success and it’s been pinned over 100k times.
Strawberry Sweet Rolls with Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze – Soft, glazed rolls filled with sweet strawberry jam.
One-Hour Homemade Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting – Make soft, light, fluffy cinnamon rolls from scratch in 1 hour.
Nutella Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Glaze (Shortcut Recipe) – A can of crescent rolls never tasted so good as when they’re stuffed with Nutella and rolled up. Ready from start to finish in 15 minutes.
Caramel Apple Cinnamon Roll Bake — This cinnamon roll recipe with apples and caramel sauce is easy, ready in 30 minutes, and you don’t even have to make scratch cinnamon roll dough.
Overnight Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls — The SOFTEST and FLUFFIEST cinnamon rolls with an overnight MAKE-AHEAD option and eggnog frosting adds the perfect touch!! These would be a great make ahead Christmas breakfast option!
Originally posted September 26, 2014 and reposted October 28, 2022 with updated text. thou
These look wonderful! They make me just want to indulge!
Mmm. These would be the perfect company to my morning cup of coffee!
Do you have any idea how difficult you make my life? I’m a lifetime Weight Watchers member and I weigh in monthly–which, with recipes like this, is NOT an easy feat!
Just keep your cardio going…it’s worth it for these. PROMISE! This is one of those personal faves, that as I will look back at the highlight reel of 2014, they’ll be in the top 10 recipes, for sure.
I like it when you ask us for our favorites–hope you do that again for 2014!
It’s on the agenda :)
These look divine. I’m surprised your first rise says 2-2.5 hours. Does the weight of the pumpkin make these much slower to rise than a more traditional dough? I ask because that is about 2x my usual rise time. I’d hate to leave them to rise and have the dough get away from me. Thanks for any insight you can offer. We will definitely be having these soon!
Yes 2 to 2.5 hours is correct for me, my dough, my climate. I find that if I rush that first rise, I never achieve the really light, fluffy, tender rolls I covet. For almost all of my cinnamon rolls, the Orange Rolls that I based these on, I always go at least 2 hours, and usually about 2:15. And yes the pumpkin does weight it down some. I also don’t over-flour my dough so the less flour, the more time it takes to sort of ‘get big and puffy’ since there’s less available gluten. But do what you think is common-sense for your situation since you sound like an experience bread maker!
Man, it is a good thing we adopted an active dog…. because I’m making these tonight, after the hubby leaves for work, and baking them in the morning, so they’re nice and fresh when he comes home. :-)
Oh that is so awesome you’re making them as a treat for the morning! Keep me posted how it all goes!
Total success! I got 15 rolls in a 9×13 pan, we ate some, put some aside, and we’ll make some other residents very happy on their shift tonight. :-)
Thanks for trying this recipe on the same weekend I posted it! Glad it was a total success and that’s awesome you’re sharing with others :)
goodness, these look heavenly!
I rushed to the shop today only to discover that there were NO pumpkins! A joke, or what? Will have to wait to try this recipe out!
I used canned pumpkin puree, just so you know, and if you have that available, go with that rather than cooking down and pureeing your own pumpkins! Way easier if it’s available in your area!
Your daughter is seriously the cutest Averie!! If she asked you not to donate any, then these must be a million times better than Cinnabon’s. And how’d you know I’ve been craving cinnamon rolls for the past 4 weeks? No joke. I nearly bought a can of the premade ones at the grocery store because I was so desperate, but I’m glad I held out. Pumpkin ones sound so much better than regular! :) Pinned!
I saw pumpkin cinn rolls at TJs the other day had my hand on them, and put them back. I was like no, MAKE THEM for your blog. So I did :)
TJ’s has the best inspiration! I’m running low on ideas, so maybe I’ll make a trip over this afternoon… ;)
I have always been a little intimidated by homemade cinnamon rolls. They seem so tricky. But I think I need to overcome this fear so I can make these. They look incredible! Your recipes are so thorough, that it makes me feel like I will be successful if I try it. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who likes extra frosting on the side!:) Thank you so much for this recipe!
Homemade cinn rolls are not the easiest recipe in the world, but they’re definitely not the hardest. I am so glad to hear you like all my details and that it helps you and yes, just follow it to the letter and you’ll be in great shape! And yes to frosting on the side :)
Totally drooling over these right now, Averie! They look amazing and like the perfect Fall weekend breakfast for sure!
Thanks, Jessica!
Better than Cinnabon!?! Girl, I need these in my life! They’re so fluffy!!
Yes, and I wrote that after careful deliberation, but I stand by it!
I stand by your statement as well. I made these tonight after 29 years of being terrified of yeast–they looked good enough to convince me to go buy packets of the stuff and try to use it for the first time in my life. The result: REMARKABLE. The best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had in my life. My eight year old said he wanted to eat the whole Pam and then that when he’s a grownup he’s going to make these and eat a whole pan by himself.
Wow, what a great great comment and THIS is why I love to blog. Because people like you try yeast for the first time, have the best cinn rolls of their life AND their kid gets in on the action :) Love love love it! So happy you’ve overcome your fears and now the bread making world is your oyster. This is on a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say an 8 in terms of difficulty, with yeast – just because you have to proof it, roll it, slice it, fill it, frost it, etc. So if you made these perfectly the first time, there’s nothing stopping you now!
Love it! Thanks Averie! I have the recipe memorized now. I’ve made them 4-5 times since my last comment. My whole office is obsessed, and so is my family. That eight-year-old? Yeah, tonight he did all the measuring and mixing! Really exciting. Looking forward to trying all the other eleventy-million recipes you have on here. Thanks for getting me inspired enough to make the leap!
So glad you’re in love with these rolls and have taken the yeast leap! And the fact that our 8 yr old is your helper, even better! Keep me posted and LMK what other recipes you try! :)
Oh my, I can not wait to make these!!!
These look delicious! How do you refrain from eating the entire batch? I swear that’s the main reason I had to put a hold on my baking haha
It can be tricky with some recipes and these were one of them :)
My family would go crazy for these sweet rolls!
I’ve always said that you make GORGEOUS yeast dough, Lori. Every time you post step shots of your dough, I always swoon at your big giant puffy, pre-punchdown bowls of dough. You have a knack!
These would be my undoing. Oh my gosh! That gooey center – the best part. I need to try pumpkin yeasted stuff – it always scares me because pumpkin is just so finicky. But I can count it as a vegetable, right? ;)
it always scares me because pumpkin is just so finicky. <--- and seems to render anything it touches cakey, gloppy, or goop-ey. Not that that was hard to overcome writing a book with it or anything :) But in yeast dough, I've actually found it to be less finiciky than in say cookie dough (nightmare!). It does best in bars and in yeast dough, you'd be surprised. It's not a beast at all. Try these, seriously. Loved.them.omg.
i think I will make these for my bests friends birthday celebration breakfast. They look perfect! Thanks for detailing every step and the top on the dental floss! Hope I can keep consumption to 1-2 :)
The dental floss is key! Really, really helps! If you try these, LMK!