Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

The fall baking craze continues! I gave you all a bit of a break with the healthy beans and rice recipe I posted last week, but now I'm back with a delicious and sinful recipe for pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Tell your waistline I'm very sorry.

When I first saw the amount of spices in this recipe I was a bit nervous that I'd end up with something that tasted too strong, but these rolls actually ended up being quite lovely. They have just enough spice and pumpkin flavor to set them apart from regular cinnamon rolls without hitting you over the head with nutmeg or ginger. The cream cheese frosting really completes them, as it does most pumpkin goods. Make and enjoy, my friends.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (adapted ever-so-slightly from goodlifeeats.com)


Dough:
1/4 cup warm water (not hot, about 110 degrees)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/3 cup warm milk
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup pumpkin puree, either fresh or canned
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 cups (approximately) All-Purpose Flour
1 1 /4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom


Filling:
1 stick butter
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Directions:
1) In a large bowl, stir yeast into water to soften. Let rest for 5 minutes before stirring.
2) Add milk, eggs, pumpkin, butter, 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cardamom to yeast mixture. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.
3) Gradually add remaining flour (all purpose), a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead. Start with about 1 1/2 cups and increase if necessary.
4) Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.*
5) Put dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
6) Combine the white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves in a small bowl, set aside.
7) Transfer the risen dough to a lightly greased work surface, and pat or roll it into a 16" x 12" rectangle.
8) Spread softened butter over dough and then sprinkle with the sugar mixture.
9) Roll the dough into a log the long way; it'll stretch to about 20" long as you roll. Using a very sharp knife, slice the log into 15 slices. In order to cut down on drag, it helps to rinse the blade in hot water, and wipe it off, between slices.
10) Place slices in a greased 9x13 inch baking pan (or in two 8 or 9 inch round cake or pie pans). 11) Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.
12) Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, until rolls are brown around the edges and beginning to turn golden brown across the center.

*I had to knead in quite a bit of flour to keep the dough from being a sticky mess, so if you're nervous about using a lot, don't be.



Cream Cheese Frosting
4 ounces cream cheese
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 cups powdered sugar

1) Combine cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until smooth and combined.
2) Add sugar to cream cheese mixture 1/2 cup at a time and mix until desired consistency is reached (I used about 2 1/2 cups).
3) Spread liberally on warm cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon Rolls

It seems like Mormon culture dictates that a lavish breakfast be eaten during the Sunday morning session of General Conference. Some people make egg casseroles, others prepare German pancakes or french toast, but cinnamon rolls seem to be the most popular option when the time for “church in your pajamas” rolls around. Growing up I never had the standard Utah conference viewing experience because my parents interpreted the talks into Russian, so us kids were hauled downtown along with them when we were younger and left home to fend for ourselves as soon as we were old enough. This year's conference actually marked the first time that neither one of my parents had to interpret the Sunday morning session, so we celebrated this newfound normalcy by gathering the family together for some conference viewing and a breakfast of—you guessed it—cinnamon rolls.

Making homemade cinnamon rolls might sound like an unnecessary pain in the butt to some, my dear husband being among them (“why don’t you just buy the Pillsbury ones?”) but the finished product is well worth the extra effort. This is mostly because the homemade rolls taste a lot better, but also because you don’t have to worry about strange chemicals and preservatives creeping in. Plus I find the whole roll-making process, as long as you don’t feel the need to rush through it, to be very zen. There’s something soothing about rolling the dough out and feeling it under your hands as you shape it. Kind of like play-doh for adults. I’m already looking forward to making a batch on a snowy afternoon while listening to Christmas carols.

There seem to be many methods of making cinnamon rolls. Some produce a flaky, buttery roll topped with thick cream cheese frosting, while the opposite end of the spectrum yields hearty whole wheat specimens filled with raisins and nuts. The recipe listed below is my favorite take on the cinnamon roll: a soft, white yeast dough filled with plenty of cinnamon sugar and topped with a thin frosting that seeps into the warm rolls and acts like more of a glaze. Delicious.

Cinnamon Rolls (Adapted from The Pioneer Woman)
Do you read the pioneer woman’s blog? If not, you should. She is delightful. And her recipes, although not really my style of everyday food, are terrific. Besides her cinnamon rolls I’ve also made her pot roast, brisket, and chocolate sheet cake. All of which are fabulous.

I’ve scaled down the quantities of PW’s recipe and changed the ingredients around a bit for the filling and frosting, but you can find her original post here. It includes beautiful step-by-step photographs of the entire process (which you should know you won’t find around these parts) so use it as a guide when making these for the first time.

The Pioneer Woman also created a “Notes on Cinnamon Rolls” post to address some questions about this popular recipe. I would recommend checking that one out as well. And now, without further ado, a yellowish, low-quality photo of one these cinnamon rolls taken with my cell phone. Enjoy:
Oh, and the recipe (yields about 2 dozen rolls):

Dough:
2 cups Whole Milk
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1/2 cup Sugar
1 package Active Dry Yeast (2 ¼ tsp.)
4 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1/2 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt

Filling:
1 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
Generous Sprinkling of Cinnamon

1) Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2) When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
3) After rising for at least an hour, add 1/2 cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).
4) When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin (mine was probably about a ½ inch, maybe a little thinner), maintaining a general rectangular shape.
5) Spread about ½ cup (1 stick) softened butter over the dough. Then sprinkle 1/2 cup of sugar over the butter, followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon. (These quantities are all approximate- just add them to your liking).
6) Roll the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.
7) Cut the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and lay them in buttered pans (I’ve found a dozen rolls fit perfectly in a rectangular 9x13 pan).
8) Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes.
9) Bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.

Frosting
1 lb. Powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons melted butter
Enough milk to achieve desired consistency (about 1/3 cup)

Mix together all ingredients and whisk until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

The old adage “the whiter the bread, the sooner you’re dead” might be a bit extreme, but we all know that whole grains are better for us than the processed white stuff. I actually prefer wheat or multigrain bread to white in most cases (can’t say I’m too crazy about whole wheat pizza crust or whole wheat English muffins, though), and I am absolutely over the moon for whole wheat pancakes. To me they seem to have so much more flavor and depth than their plain white counterparts. And there is something about cooking them that makes me feel like I’m on Little House on the Prairie. I’m weird, I know.

I made these for dinner last night and my white bread junkie of a husband actually liked them. We ate ours with some pure maple syrup (in my case) or strawberry jam (Mike’s preference). I’m sure they would be delicious topped with some fresh fruit or a chunky fruit syrup as well. I think I’m going to try adding some blueberries to the batter as soon as they are in season again.

I found this recipe in my beloved Ivory Favorites cookbook. If you don’t have one, get your hiney down to Make-A-Wish foundation and buy one. I have yet to cook something out of this book that I didn’t completely love, and that’s no exaggeration.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
½ tsp. salt

1) Combine all ingredients and beat with a wisk until combined (careful not to overmix, though. A few lumps are okay).
2) Heat a nonstick griddle or pan on medium heat (350-375 degrees on an electric griddle).
3) When the pan is hot, drop the desired amount of batter onto it and cook until edges look done and the middle is no longer bubbling (about a minute for a ¼ cup of batter).
4) Flip the pancake and cook for a minute or two longer, or until the pancake is no longer doughy in the middle.

Waffles with Caramel Apple Syrup

I am a big fan of the “Breakfast for Dinner” concept. Mostly because I don’t have the time to make eggs, pancakes, or any of that other stuff in the morning, but also because I think there is a certain sense of whimsy in having French toast or egg-in-a-hole as your evening meal. It makes life seem a little less hectic and stressful, and a little more like the days of slumber parties and Saturday morning cartoons. Plus any excuse to eat things containing high amounts of sugar and call it a meal is just fine by me.

A while back I found this recipe on a blog called The Jet Set. I instantly knew that it would make a perfect Breakfast for Dinner, and I was right. The caramel apple syrup was full of flavor without being overly sweet, and it was a great way to use up some old apples I had sitting in my fridge. Besides being a topping for waffles I think this syrup would work well as a crepe filler or maybe just poured on top of some vanilla ice cream for dessert. I am still looking for a perfect waffle recipe, and, although these yeasted waffles were very good, I would like to experiment with some others so if you have a great one please send it my way.

I served these suckers topped with some freshly whipped cream, alongside some crisp bacon and orange juice. I suggest you take advantage of the dwindling days of apple season and do the same.

(I forgot to take a picture until I was almost done eating, plus it was taken with my ghetto camera phone. Sorry about that)

Caramel Apple Syrup
4-5 medium tart apples (the flavor of this syrup is going to depend almost entirely on the quality of apples you use, so choose wisely)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup

1.Peel, core, and dice the apples.
2. In a large saucepan heat 1/4 cup butter over medium high heat until melted. Add apples.
3. Sprinkle with salt and a couple tablespoons of the brown sugar.
4. Turn the heat to high and stir while apples caramelize, about 4-5 minutes.
5. As the apples brown, turn down the heat to medium to prevent scorching. Add the remaining butter and sugar.
6. Reduce for another 3 minutes, until sugar is melted, stirring often (I let mine reduce a little longer, about 5 minutes). Add syrup and serve over waffles or pancakes.

Yeasted Waffles:
1 3/4 Milk
1/2 cup butter
2 cups white flour*
1 Tbl sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat the milk up until hot, but not boiling.

2. Add the butter to the milk and melt. Cool slightly.

3. Beat the eggs lightly and then add to the milk mixture, along with the vanilla.

4. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the wet ingredients and stir until combined, a few lumps are OK.

5. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
6. Heat your waffle iron a good 10-15 minutes before you use it. Whisk your batter and ladle it into the iron. Cook until golden. Serve immediately.

*The recipe originally calls for 1 cup wheat flour, 1 cup white, but white is all I had on hand the night I made these.