Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are a perfectly fluffy and sweet breakfast food for autumn.

Life gets busy this time of year. It’s a fact.

A busy life needs to be nourished, not spent waiting 4 hours for breakfast. You get where I’m going with this?

The beautiful thing about these cinnamon rolls is that they can either be made completely ahead of time and frozen for quick weekday breakfasts OR you can make prepare them almost completely (except for baking) the night before you want to dive in! Simply bake them in the morning!

Tada!

My freezer is now stocked with these babies and I can enjoy a hot Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll at 5 am to start my day.

It’s beautiful.

I digress.

The best thing I do for my family, besides the fact that they have their own personal baker and chef in house is to meal plan and to pre-make and freeze breakfasts just like this.

It makes life so much easier, especially as the holidays are fast approaching!

So, what are you waiting for?

Hop to it.

Make these this weekend and you’ll have breakfast already prepared for next week.

Beautiful.

What’s your favorite breakfast food?

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

adapted from Chocolate & Carrots

Ingredients

for the dough:

• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• 4-5 cups white whole wheat flour

for the filling:

• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  

for the frosting (adapted from Recipe Girl):

• 3oz 1/3 fat cream cheese
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup powdered sugar

How-To

1. In a microwave safe bowl, microwave the milk, water and butter until the butter is melted. Allow the mixture to cool until warm, should feel like warm bath water (110°F).
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the warm butter mixture, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Run the mixer for a few seconds until combined. Allow it to sit for 5 minutes until foamy. Note: If your yeast is old or the water wasn’t the correct temperature, hence didn’t foam correctly, simply add in another teaspoon of yeast and let sit for another 5 minutes.
3. Mix in the remaining sugar and eggs until combined.
4. Mix in the pumpkin until combined.
5. Switching to the dough hook attachment, mix in the white whole wheat flour until the dough comes together in a ball but is still sticky.
6. Lightly grease a large bowl. Place the dough ball into the greased bowl and turn the dough once to coat the dough with the oil. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft free place to rise for 1.5 hours until doubled in size. I used my glass stand mixer bowl with lid and placed it in the warm microwave with the door closed.
7. At this point you should be able to press two fingers into the dough and it should leave an indention. Carefully turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Let it rest while you wash the bowl that it rose in and mix up the filling. To mix the filling, combine the canola oil, sugar and cinnamon together. It should be like a sugar paste. However, if you need to add another tablespoon of oil, that’s okay too.
8. Sprinkle the top with some flour and roll into a large rectangle (16″ x 20″).
9. Spread the filling evenly on the rectangle, leaving 1/2″ boarder, gently patting down into the dough onces spread evenly.
10. Along the long side, roll into a long tight log.
11. Cut into 12 equal rolls using a serrated knife, also cutting off a little bit off of each end that doesn’t have any filling.
12. Place in a parchment paper covered 9″ x 13″ baking dish, making 3 rows of 4 rolls.
13. Cover with plastic wrap. If you’re cooking right away, place back in a warm, draft free place to sit for 30 minutes. Otherwise, place in the fridge overnight.
14. (Overnight rolls) Remove rolls from the fridge and let sit on the counter for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven.
15. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
16. Bake for 20-30 minutes until they are light golden brown on the top.
17. Meanwhile, assemble the frosting by beating the cream cheese until loose. Beat in the maple syrup until combined. Beat in 1/2 cup of powdered sugar at a time until combined. Set aside.
18. Once the rolls are out of the oven, gently spread the frosting on top. Let sit for a few minutes for the frosting to melt a little and spread evenly over the rolls.
19. Serve warm!
20. (Freeze leftovers) Freeze the separated rolls on a baking sheet. Place in labeled freezer safe bags or containers. Microwave to reheat.

Servings: 12 cinnamon rolls