Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike. -John Muir

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls


I am missing autumn something fierce here in Texas.  Not to say that I like Austin, TX any less, and I actually have recently discovered I really enjoy skeet shooting, but I miss my North East.  I miss those days when you wake up to frost on the red and orange leaves.  I miss throwing on my mom's Navy sweatshirt and bumming around the house.  I miss hiking where the leaves change to such vibrant and beautiful colors.  I miss apple picking and apple cider doughnuts.  I love everything about fall.  It's hard not to regret moving so far south, especially now that it's football season.  We are still in high 90's and it's the end of September.  So I have decided to crank up the AC and pretend.  In honor of my own private autumn in Texas I was in the mood for something pumpkin. 

What you need:
Rolls:
2/3 cup milk
4 tbsp room temp butter
1 can of pumpkin (I used the pie mix because the store didn't have plain)
4 tbsp sugar (I I used 2 because my pumpkin already has sugar in it)
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
4 tsp yeast

Filling:
1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
vegetable oil

Icing:
water
vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

To prepare the rolls: Add the roll ingredients to bread machine and set cycle to dough or follow the alternate dirctions below**.  The dough is very wet and should rise considerably.  When the dough cycle has completed, divide the dough into 2 balls.  Roll out each ball on a floured suface forming a 8x14'' ish sized rectangle.  Brush this with oil and sprinkleeach with 1/2 the filling on top.  Roll the dough up with the filling inside so that you end up with a 14'' ish log.  Cut each log into 12 equally sized peices and place into a well greased 9x13 cake pan.  Allow to rise for 40 min or til doubled in size.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  Mix icing with water to get consistency you like ( like mine pretty thick because I put it on the rolls while they are still warm and don't want it to go everythwere, so I really only used about 2 tbsp watter), frost, enjoy.  It should be noted that this makes 24 cinnamon rolls.  Which is quite intelligent actually because I popped one in the oven and one in the freezer for another time after the rolls were all set up in the pan but before they rose. 

**Alternately you can mix these ingredients in a large bowl until fully combined.  Allow to rise (covered) one hour in a warm dry place.

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