Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Monique Volz’s perfect cozy dessert for fall! Check out the recipe at Ambitious Kitchen
Research Evaluation Google Doc

Description

Makes: 12 cinnamon rolls

Prep Time: 3 hours

Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredients

Cinnamon roll dough:

Filling:

Maple cream cheese icing:

Garnish:

Instructions

Step 1: Make the dough

Start by heating milk to around 110 degrees F (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.

Step 2: Knead the dough

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.

Step 3: Rise the dough

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 take more or less time depending on the humidity and temperature in your home.

Step 4: Roll out the dough

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, leaing a ¼ inch margin at the far side of the dough.

Step 5: Add the filling

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.

Step 6: Cut the rolls

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.

Step 7: Transfer rolls to baking tray

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.

Step 8: Bake

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

Step 9: 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!

Storing Tips

Store your pumpkin cinnamon rolls covered at room temp for 1-2 days, then transfer them to the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Simply reheat them in the microwave to get them soft again!

Sample Imagery

Rolled out rectangular dough Rolled up cinnamon rolls Cinnamon roll
Rolled out rectangular dough Rolled up cinnamon rolls Cinnamon roll

Recipe Websites

Having information such as reviews, comments, and 'jump to recipe' button at the top is a smart move, as most people who view a recipe look for those things first. I also like how the recipe description, ingredients, and steps are in their own colored box, separate from the rest of the body text earlier. Because they had a lot of body text, the table of contents is very helpful to jump the reader to the section they want to read.

The yellows throughout the page make the different sections of information look cohesive as the user scrolls. I also like the two options of written-out instructions and instructions with images, since visuals are important when making food.

I like how the recipe portion of the website is formatted with the big block of color, holding the basic information, and the color continuing in the border. In the ingredients section, I like how the measurements are lighter and the actual ingredients are bolded. Additionally, the bolded, summarized instructions before the explanatory part makes it easy for readers to get the gist of each step before they read into it.

Non-Recipe Websites

The choice of type and image follows the specific vibe the website is trying to achieve. I’m a fan of how the text interacts with the images and the user’s scroll. The moving images also make the website more visually interesting.

I like how the text takes up a lot of space horizontally, but there is a lot of breathing room to give the website a clean appearance. The grid of different-sized images at the top of the page is also nice, and how all the elements on the screen adjust when you make the tab bigger/smaller.

There is a clear hierarchy of information that makes it easy for the user to tell which bits are the most important on a page. Their use of boxes with borders helps information be further organized.