Hell Yeah It's Vegan!

There’s nothing quite like a waking up on a lazy weekend to a warm, gooey cinnamon bun. I bet you’re wishing it were Friday already! As am I, my friends, as am I. I always like to have things to look forward to, though, so here’s a recipe for pumpkin cinnamon rolls to help you start off your weekend right.

As is often the case, the pumpkin here is subtle, and mostly just acts to impart moistness and a warm hue to the dough. As I’ve said before, I tend to prefer my baked goods without embellishment, but it’s easy to put your own twist on this recipe. After sprinkling the dough with sugar and cinnamon (but before rolling it up), feel free to add raisins, cranberries, chopped pecans, candied ginger, or any combination thereof for a different flavor profile.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

BUNS
2¼ tsp active dry yeast
¼ c warm water

3/4 c pumpkin puree
2 tbsp margarine, melted

2 c flour, plus more for dusting
2 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt

FILLING
½ c packed brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
¼ c margarine, melted

ICING
1 tsp margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1½ c powdered sugar
2 tbsp water

In a small bowl, stir yeast into warm water; set aside to proof. (It’ll get very foamy in 5-10 minutes if your yeast is any good; if it’s not, hold off on this recipe!)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, nutmeg and salt. Add pumpkin puree and margarine to your foamy yeast mixture; blend well. Make a well in your dry mix and add liquid, stirring to incorporate. Knead for a couple of minutes until smooth, adding extra flour a little bit at a time as needed to keep it from sticking to everything. (Don’t add too much or your rolls will end up tough!) Gently poke the dough with your index finger; if the indent bounces back, you’re good to go.

Cover tightly with plastic, set in a warm, draft-free place, and go work on that cook zine you’ve always meant to finish for an hour while your dough rises. Once it’s about doubled, punch it down and roll out until it’s rectangular and about ¼-½” thick. Slather with melted margarine and sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the top.

I’m pretty sure you know how to do the rest, and you’re allowed some creative license here, so I’ll leave the directions open-ended:

Applying slight pressure, roll it up like a jelly roll. Firmly saw through the roll with a serrated knife. Basically, if you want wide, squat buns with a ton of rings, roll it up the long way and make thinner slices; if you’d rather have more, taller buns (like the ones pictured), roll it up the short way and make thicker slices. Arrange in a pan (9×13″ for squatter buns, else a 9″ cake pan); it’s okay for there to be a little bit of room between the rolls, as they’ll expand into each other and create that nice pull-away effect. Cover and set in a warm place to rise for another 40 minutes. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes.

While the buns bake, whisk together icing ingredients until smooth. Let sit at room temperature (refrigeration will make it difficult to pour). Drizzle generously onto warm buns. Devour, with reckless abandon.

Tags: bread, pumpkin

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 at 10:01 am and is filed under Breakfast, Desserts, Holiday, Recipes, Vegan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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