Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Wake up to pumpkin cinnamon rolls on chilly fall mornings. Made with pumpkin in the dough and filled with a gooey pumpkin spiced cinnamon swirl, they’re topped with a generous drizzle of maple cream cheese icing. 

These are truly the BEST pumpkin cinnamon rolls you’ll ever eat. Made with pumpkin puree and cozy pumpkin pie spice in every bite, then topped with an addicting maple cream cheese icing. This is a great make-ahead breakfast treat– see my overnight instructions in the full recipe below.

Is the Keto Diet Right for You? Recommend Article Article Comments Print ArticleShare this article on FacebookShare this article on TwitterShare this article on LinkedinShare this article on DeliciousShare this article on DiggShare this article on RedditShare this article on PinterestExpert Author Smiti Munwani Are you interested in losing weight? Are you tired of diets that advocate low or no fats and crave your high fat meats? You may well be considering going on the keto diet, the new kid on the block. Endorsed by many celebrities including Halle Berry, LeBron James and Kim Kardashian among others, the keto diet has been the subject of much debate among dietitians and doctors. Do you wonder if the keto diet is safe and right for you? What is the ketogenic diet anyway? You must be aware that the body uses sugar in the form of glycogen to function. The keto diet that is extremely restricted in sugar forces your body to use fat as fuel instead of sugar, since it does not get enough sugar. When the body does not get enough sugar for fuel, the liver is forced to turn the available fat into ketones that are used by the body as fuel - hence the term ketogenic. This diet is a high fat diet with moderate amounts of protein. Depending on your carb intake the body reaches a state of ketosis in less than a week and stays there. As fat is used instead of sugar for fuel in the body, the weight loss is dramatic without any supposed restriction of calories. The keto diet is such that it you should aim to get 60-75% of your daily calories from fat, 15-30% from protein and only 5-10% from carbohydrates. This usually means that you can eat only 20-50 grams of carbs in a day. What can you eat on this diet? The diet is a high fat diet that is somewhat similar to Atkins. However, there is greater emphasis on fats, usually 'good' fats. On the keto diet you can have Olive oil Coconut oil Nut oils Butter Ghee Grass fed beef Chicken Fish Other meats Full fat cheese Eggs Cream Leafy greens Non-starchy vegetables Nuts Seeds You can also get a whole range of snacks that are meant for keto followers. As you can see from this list, fruits are restricted. You can have low sugar fruits in a limited quantity (mostly berries), but will have to forego your favorite fruits as these are all sweet and/or starchy. This diet includes no grains of any kind, starchy vegetables like potatoes (and all tubers), no sugar or sweets, no breads and cakes, no beans and lentils, no pasta, no pizza and burgers and very little alcohol. This also means no coffee with milk or tea with milk - in fact, no milk and ice-creams and milk based desserts. Many of these have workarounds as you can get carbohydrate free pasta and pizza, you can have cauliflower rice and now there are even restaurants that cater to keto aficionados. What are the benefits of the keto diet? If you are wondering if this diet is safe, its proponents and those who have achieved their weight loss goals will certainly agree that it is safe. Among the benefits of the keto diet you can expect: Loss of weight Reduced or no sugar spikes Appetite control Seizure controlling effect Blood pressure normalizes in high blood pressure patients Reduced attacks of migraine Type 2 diabetes patients on this diet may be able to reduce their medications Some benefits to those suffering from cancer Apart from the first four, there is not sufficient evidence to support its effectiveness or otherwise for other diseases as a lot more research is required over the long-term. Are there any side-effects of this diet? When you initially start the keto diet, you can suffer from what is known as keto flu. These symptoms may not occur in all people and usually start a few days after being on the diet, when your body is in a state of ketosis. Some of the side-effects are: Nausea Cramps and tummy pain Headache Vomiting Diarrhea and/or constipation Muscle cramps Dizziness and poor concentrations Insomnia Carbohydrate and sugar cravings These may take up to a week to subside as your body get used to the new diet regime. You can also suffer from other problems when you start the keto diet - you may find that you have increased urination, so it is important to keep yourself well hydrated. You may also suffer from keto breath when your body reaches optimal ketosis and you can use a mouthwash or brush your teeth more frequently. Usually the side effects are temporary and once your body acclimatizes to the new diet, these should disappear. How safe is the keto diet? Just like any other diet that restricts foods in specific categories, the keto diet is not without risks. As you are not supposed to eat many fruits and vegetables, beans and lentils and other foods, you can suffer from lack of many essential nutrients. Since the diet is high in saturated fats and, if you indulge in the 'bad' fats, you can have high cholesterol levels upping your risk of heart disease. In the long-term the keto diet can also cause many nutritional deficiencies since you cannot eat grains, many fruits and vegetables and miss out on fiber as also important vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants among other things. You can suffer from gastrointestinal distress, lowered bone density (no dairy and other sources of calcium) and kidney and liver problems (the diet puts added stress on both the organs). Is the keto diet safe for you? If you are willing to forego your usual dietary staples and are really keen to lose weight, you may be tempted to try out the keto diet. The biggest issue with this diet is poor patient compliance thanks to the carbohydrate restriction, so you have to be sure that you can live with your food choices. If you simply find it too difficult to follow, you can go on a version of the modified keto diet that offers more carbs. However, the keto diet is definitely effective in helping you lose weight. According to a recent study many of the obese patients followed were successful in losing weight. Any problems that they faced were temporary. If you do not have any significant health problems except for obesity and have been unsuccessful in losing weight following any conventional diet, the keto diet may a viable option. You must be absolutely determined to lose the weight and be prepared to go on a restricted diet as specified. Even if you have any medical problems, you can take your doctor's advice and a nutritionist's guidance and go on this diet. Another study that was carried out for a longer time showed that going on the keto diet is beneficial in weight loss and also results in reduced cholesterol levels with a decrease in the bad cholesterol and an increase in the good cholesterol. Is the keto diet safe for you? Most doctors and nutritionists are agreed that the keto diet is good for weight loss over the short-term. As for the long-term, more studies are needed. Do keep in mind that obesity is not an apt choice as it comes with its own risk of health problems. Smiti Munwani has been writing for a very long time. She is a journalist, book author, content writer and dietitian. She has had two books published, The Snack-Time Cookbook and Count Your Calories to Slim and Stay Slim. She also has two books ready to be published, one on party menus and another on cooking for a healthy heart. She can be contacted via email: smitimunwani@gmail.com if anybody is interested in re-publishing the books (she has the copyright) or requires any articles. She has written extensively for the print media and done web content writing. A versatile writer, Smiti writes on a wide range of topics - please contact her via email for web content work. She writes on health, medical, alternative remedies, family, relationships, diet, finance, business, travel, beauty and other topics of general interest or niche interests.

Ingredients

    For the cinnamon roll dough:

• ¾ cup milk (whole, 2% or almond milk will all work)
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 2 ¼ teaspoons quick rise yeast (1/4-ounce package yeast)
• ¾ cup pumpkin puree
• ¼ cup melted butter
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 4 cups bread flour
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

    For the filling:

• 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup butter, at room temperature

    For the cream cheese glaze:

• 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• Pinch of salt

    For garnish:

• Sprinkle of ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Warm milk to around 110 degrees F. I like to do this by placing milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwaving it for 45 seconds. It should be like warm bath water. Transfer warm milk and sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and sprinkle yeast on top. Stir pumpkin puree, room temperature egg and melted butter, mixing until smooth and well combined and creamy. Next stir in bread flour, pumpkin pie spice and salt with a wooden spoon until a dough begins to form.
2. Place dough hook on mixer and knead dough on low speed for 8-10 minutes. Dough should form into a nice ball and be slightly sticky. (If you don’t want to use an electric mixer, you can use your hands to knead the dough for 8-10 minutes on a well-floured surface.)
3. Transfer dough ball to a large bowl greased with olive oil or nonstick cooking spray, then cover with plastic wrap and a warm towel. Allow dough to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. This may more or less time depending the humidity and temperature in your home.
4. After dough has doubled in size, transfer dough to a well-floured surface and roll out into a 14x16 inch rectangle. Spread softened butter over dough, leaving a ¼ inch margin at the far side of the dough.
5. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar and cinnamon. Use your hands to sprinkle mixture over the buttered dough, then rub the sugar into the butter.
6. Tightly roll dough up the dough, starting from the 14-inch side (the smaller side) and place seam side down making sure to seal the edges of the dough as best you can. You will probably need to cut off about an inch off the ends of the dough as the ends won’t be as full of cinnamon sugar as we’d want it to be. Then cut into 1 inch sections with a serrated knife. You should get 12 rolls. I like to make dents in the dough before cutting as demonstrated in the photos, to make 12 even rolls.
7. Place cinnamon rolls in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan. I highly recommend lining the pan with parchment paper as well, in case any of the filling ends up leaking out. Cover with plastic wrap and a warm towel and let the cinnamon rolls rise again for about 30 minutes, then preheat your oven.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap and towel and bake the cinnamon rolls for 20-25 minutes or until just slightly golden brown on the edges. You want to under bake them a little so they stay soft in the middle, that’s why we want them just slightly golden brown. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes before frosting. Makes 12 cinnamon rolls
9. To make the frosting: In the bowl of an electric mixer or in a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, maple syrup and salt. Beat until smooth. Spread over the pumpkin cinnamon rolls and serve! Sprinkle cinnamon rolls with a little cinnamon for a pretty look. Enjoy!