Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
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Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are quite literally heaven on Earth. If you're a fan of regular sourdough cinnamon rolls, then hold onto your hat, these are going to knock it off! These rolls elevate the classic with the enchanting flavor and luscious texture of pumpkin puree, taking your taste buds on a remarkable journey.
If you love all things pumpkin spice, be sure to check out this collection of sourdough pumpkin recipes, as well as these sourdough pumpkin spice cookies, sourdough carrot cake and this sourdough discard pumpkin bread.
What You'll Love About This Recipe!
Full of Real Pumpkin - This soft and fluffy dough is full of real pumpkin, giving your rolls a wonderful color, texture and flavor.
Absolute Comfort Food - These gorgeously fluffy sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls are the comfort food you seek on those chilly fall mornings. Full of warming cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice) and delicious autumnal color, you will love these rolls as a sweet sourdough breakfast treat or the centrepiece of a special brunch.
Ingredients
- Sourdough Starter - And as a sourdough lover, the best thing is that these sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls are leavened with sourdough starter which give them a tangy flavor. Of course you can choose to add sourdough discard plus yeast instead of active starter if you wish (and there are notes for this in the recipe card).
- Milk - I've used whole milk, slightly warmed is better than chilled. I've gone with dairy milk, I have not tested this recipe with non dairy milk.
- Pumpkin Puree - you can use canned or homemade puree, I've tested this recipe with both and it works just fine. The only difference you'll see is in the color of your rolls. I found that the rolls I made with canned pumpkin puree were much brighter than the ones I made with homemade pumpkin puree. Just make sure you're using pure pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling.
- Sugar - I've used brown sugar, granulated sugar and powdered sugar in these sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls.
- Egg
- Bread Flour
- Salt
- Butter - I've used softened, salted butter to create this dough.
- Heavy Cream - this is a game changer for any cinnamon roll recipe! Make sure you use heavy cream, not thickened cream with anything added to it. It creates a deliciously gooey caramel sauce on the bottom of the baking tray.
- Ground Cinnamon - You can swap out cinnamon with pumpkin pie spice if you prefer.
- Cream Cheese - use a block, not spreadable cream cheese for the frosting.
- Vanilla Extract
How To Make Pumpkin Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Add the warm milk, sugar, pumpkin puree, sourdough starter, egg, vanilla, salt, bread flour and softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and knead to a rough dough using the dough hook attachment on low speed. Leave the dough to rest for around 30 minutes.
Now knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic (speed 1-2 for around 2 to 3 minutes).
Cover the bowl and allow the dough to bulk ferment at room temperature. You want the dough to rise around 30% and feel soft to the touch.
Once the dough has finished bulk fermentation, you will need to fill and shape the sourdough cinnamon rolls.
Fill & Shape The Rolls
Mix together the melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until it resembles wet sand. Set this aside while you roll out the dough.
Turn the dough out onto the counter. Do not use flour when rolling out the dough, it shouldn’t be sticky. Gently roll the dough out into a rectangle (approx. 20” x 12” or 50cm x 30cm). It should be around ¼" thick (½cm).
Spread the filling all over the dough, leaving a 2” (5cm) gap on one of the long edges. Once the filling is spread, roll the dough into a log, starting on the opposite long edge to the gap you've left. Roll the dough into a tight log, tucking the seam underneath.
Cut the log into approximately 12 even pieces and place them into a baking pan (I’ve used a 9” x 13” USA Pan). Face all the seams inwards so that they don't unravel. The best way to see how I've done this is to watch the video in the recipe card below.
Second Rise
Cover the pan and allow the dough to rise. The dough is enriched, so it will take a little longer than normal (especially since we are dealing with sourdough). Once the dough is soft and puffy and the rolls are touching, it’s time to bake!
Baking
Preheat your oven to 180C/350F.
Pour the heavy whipping cream over the sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls right before you place them in the oven (this is optional).
Bake rolls for 30-35 minutes at 180C/350F. Once they're finished baking, leave them to cool in the pan for around 30 minutes before adding the frosting.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Add cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt to your stand mixer. Beat the frosting using the whisk attachment until it's thick and glossy.
Once the rolls have cooled a little (I leave it about 30 minutes) smother them in the vanilla cream cheese frosting. You can use a vanilla glaze or even just dust them in icing sugar if you prefer.
Kate's Recipe Tip
- For something a little different you could also swap the vanilla cream cheese frosting for the maple butter glaze I've used on these maple pecan sourdough cookies or this spiced pumpkin cream cheese.
Baking Timeline For Sourdough Pumpkin Rolls
| TIME | PROCESS |
|---|---|
| 8:00 PM | The Night Before (Day 1) Feed your sourdough starter a bigger ratio like 1:3:3 so that it will peak in the morning when you want to mix the dough for your sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls. |
| 8:00 AM | The Next Day (Day 2) Mix and knead dough for sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls. |
| 9:00 AM | Cover dough and allow to bulk ferment (you want the dough to rise around 30%). |
| 5:30 PM | Roll out dough, spread filling and roll. Cut into individual rolls and place into baking dish. |
| 6:00 AM | Allow rolls to sit for around an hour before covering in plastic wrap and placing into fridge for the night. |
| 6:30 AM | Day 3 Take rolls out of the fridge and allow them to come to room temperature. |
| 10:00 AM | Bake the sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls (make frosting while they're baking). |
| 10:30 AM | Allow rolls to cool for around 30 minutes then smother in frosting and enjoy! |
How To Store + Freeze
These sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls are best eaten the day they are baked - fresh is best! Once they've been frosted or iced, they are harder to store because they will be sticky. If you are wanting to eat them the day after baking (if you have a few left over) I recommend warming them just slightly in the microwave to soften them a little.
Freeze - I recommend freezing these after baking and cooling. Wrap in aluminum foil and place into a ziplock bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. You can warm these in the oven or microwave before frosting.
Sourdough Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Video
Equipment
- Baking Dish (I've used a USA Pan Sheet Cake Pan measuring 13" x 9")
Ingredients
For The Dough
- 100 g Sourdough Starter (fed and bubbly)
- 100 g Milk (warm)
- 100 g Pumpkin Puree (canned or homemade)
- 30 g Sugar
- 1 Egg
- 1 Egg Yolk
- 100 g Butter (softened at room temperature)
- 500 g Bread Flour
- 7 g Salt
For The Filling
- 75 g Butter
- 100 g Brown Sugar
- 3 g Ground Cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)
For The Icing
- 70 g Cream Cheese use a block, not spreadable cream cheese
- 20 g Butter
- 150 g Powdered Sugar icing sugar
- 5 g Vanilla Extract
Instructions
- Mixing & Kneading the DoughAdd the warm milk, sugar, pumpkin puree, sourdough starter, egg, vanilla, salt, bread flour and softened butter to the bowl of a stand mixer and knead to a rough dough using the dough hook attachment on low speed. Leave the dough to rest for around 30 minutes.Now knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic (speed 1-2 for around 2 to 3 minutes).Cover the bowl and allow the dough to bulk ferment at room temperature. You want the dough to rise around 30% and feel soft to the touch. Once the dough has finished bulk fermentation, you will need to fill and shape the sourdough cinnamon rolls.
- Now knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic (speed 1-2 for around 2 to 3 minutes).Cover the bowl and allow the dough to bulk ferment at room temperature. You want the dough to rise around 30% and feel soft to the touch. Once the dough has finished bulk fermentation, you will need to fill and shape the sourdough cinnamon rolls.
- Cover the bowl and allow the dough to bulk ferment at room temperature. You want the dough to rise around 30% and feel soft to the touch. Once the dough has finished bulk fermentation, you will need to fill and shape the sourdough cinnamon rolls.
- Filling & Shaping the RollsMix together the melted butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until it resembles wet sand. Set this aside while you roll out the dough.
- Turn the dough out onto the counter. Do not use flour when rolling out the dough, it shouldn’t be sticky.Gently roll the dough out into a rectangle (approx. 20” x 12” or 50cm x 30cm). It should be around ¼" thick (½cm).
- Spread the filling all over the dough, leaving a 2” (5cm) gap on one of the long edges. Once the filling is spread, roll the dough into a log, starting on the opposite long edge to the gap you've left. Roll the dough into a tight log, tucking the seam underneath.
- Cut the log into approximately 12 even pieces (see notes on how I do this) and place them into a baking pan (I’ve used a 9” x 13” baking dish). Face all the seams inwards so that they don't unravel.
- Second RiseCover the pan and allow the dough to rise. The dough is enriched, so it will take a little longer than normal (especially since we are dealing with sourdough). Once the dough is soft and puffy and the rolls are touching, it’s time to bake!
- BakingPreheat your oven to 180C/350F.Pour the heavy whipping cream over the sourdough pumpkin cinnamon rolls right before you place them in the oven (this is optional). Bake rolls for 30-35 minutes at 180C/350F. Once they're finished baking, leave them to cool in the pan for around 30 minutes before adding the frosting.
- Vanilla Cream Cheese IcingAdd cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt to your stand mixer. Beat the frosting using the whisk attachment until it's thick and glossy.Once the rolls have cooled a little (I leave it about 30 minutes) smother them in the vanilla cream cheese frosting. You can use a vanilla glaze or even just dust them in icing sugar if you prefer.
Notes
Nutrition
Thank you so much for this recipe! I've made this about five times now and they are delicious, and much easier on my digestion than yeasted rolls. Do you have a suggestion for what dimensions to roll the dough to before spreading the filling on? I just kind of guess each time, and they come out tasty but always a different size haha.
Hello Cat,
Was curious about this as well if Kate's coming out with 16 rolls. 😉
I haven't made this recipe yet, I plan to start this one tonight, but my general rule of thumb for cinnamon rolls is to cut each about 2 inches thick.. I actually use a measuring tape to do this. So for my usual sourdough cinnamon roll recipe I roll it out in a 16x12 inch rectangle and cut the 16 inch roll into 8 pieces. Curious if this recipe has that much more dough that it can double the quantity to 16 or if Kate's are cut smaller than 2 inches.
Can this recipe be made with sourdough discard and 7 grams of yeast?
These look amazing. Do you have a discard version?
Well it's too late for me to change it now, but I do have a question in case I make these again. The ingredients in the recipe portions state 30 g of sugar, but the top portion of the blog you say brown sugar. I was following the recipe and put in sugar. Which is correct?
Thank you, Kellie for pointing that out! In the dough, it should be white sugar. 🙂