With the season of joy and family gatherings coming around the corner, what is better than a fresh baked pumpkin cinnamon buns for breakfast to go with a cup of coffee? This recipe will definitely be a winner for you guests and loves ones and yet it is so simple to make.

Ingredients

Dough

1 pkg. of instant dry yeast (about 2 1/4 tsp)
4 cups of bread flour
½ cup of white sugar
1 pinch of salt
⅓ cup of melted unsalted butter
1 tbsp of pumpkin puree (I used canned pumpkin)
1 tsp of pumpkin spice mix
1 cup of warm milk (heat up until it a little warm, but not too hot where you can’t touch it)
Before you put away the flour, make sure to save a little bit of flour for later

Filling

1 cup of brown sugar
2 ½ tbsp of pumpkin spices
⅓ cup of softened butter (leave at room temperature until butter is brought up to temperature)

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 pkg. of 3 oz cream cheese (brought to room temperature)
1 ½ cup of confectioner sugar (also known as powder sugar)
1tsp of pumpkin spice
½ tsp of vanilla extract1 pinch of salt
Note: If you love the frosty part of a cinnamon bun as much as I do, I would recommend doubling this frosting recipe. There can never be enough frosty.

Step 1: Start the Dough Making Process

Note: This recipe is designed to be made using a bread machine. If you do not have a bread machine please read No Bread Machine Version section below :)

No Bread Machine Version

Note: Although I have never make this recipe without a bread machine, I am pretty confident you can do the same with a stand mixer, but it just takes a lot of time, as it requires you to let the dough rises for about 30 minutes. The bread machine is only used in this recipe to knead the dough and help the dough rise at a warm temperature.

Add all the dough ingredients to the stand mixer. Mix until all ingredients combined and a dough ball is formed. Start off at the lowest speed unless you want to cover your kitchen with flour. Increase the speed to medium and mix until everything is well incorporated. I would recommend that you use a the flat beater hook, not a dough hook because I think it will mix better. Remove dough from the stand mixer and form it into a nice round ball.
Put it inside a bowl and cover with damped towel. To help the dough rise better, place the bowl with the dough inside into an off oven with the lights on. Please note that if you are living a cold climate area, you can set your oven to keep warm and put the dough inside.
Follow steps 2 - 6.

Bread Machine Version

Place all dough ingredients into a bread machine. Set the bread machine to the dough cycle and start. This process will takes about 1.5 -2 hrs depending on your bread machine. Once the cycle is complete, let the dough rest inside the bread machine. Meanwhile, prep your filling.

Step 2: Filling & Final Dough Prepping

Melt your butter in a small pot or in a bowl in the microwave. In a separate container mix your brown sugar and pumpkin spice. Remove the dough from the bread machine and place onto a floured board. Roll out the dough into a rectangle thin sheet ( about 16” by 21”). If you don’t have a measuring tool, just roll it out to be the size of a rectangular baking sheet pan.

Step 3: Time to Roll Them Into Buns

Brush the melted butter onto the dough and sprinkle on the brown sugar and pumpkin spice mix. Make sure to brush on a lot of butter. Too good to skip and keep back! Make sure to get the butter and sugar all the way to the edge. Roll up the dough sheet into a long log and cut into about 12 pieces. Make sure to make a long log, not a short one. Short log will make massive cinnamon buns and only about 4 pieces ;)

Step 4: Rise, Baby, Rise!

Place the 12 rolls into a baking pan. Cover with a wet towel and let them for 30 minutes. This will help them rise into Cinnabon size. Meanwhile, turn on your oven and set it to 400F. After 30 minutes, place rolls into the oven and bake for 12–15 minutes. Keep an eye on it around 12 minutes. Burned rolls are not tasty! While the rolls are baking, prep your cream cheese filling.

Step 5: Make Cream Cheese Frosting

Put all frosty ingredients into a stand mixer and blend it away with the mixing hook at a low speed. Mix until everything is well incorporated and looks creamy. Evenly spread the frosty all over the baked rolls right after it comes out of the oven. Save some extra frosty on the side to dip your cinnamon bun into if you love it that much.