Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze

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My next foray into pumpkin deliciousness--Pumpkin cinnamon rolls.  I am a die hard cinnamon roll fan, it is no joke, I love me some cinnamon rolls.  When I saw everyone posting pumpkin cinnamon rolls, I knew I wanted to make them eventually.  When I read my husband off a list of pumpkin goodies from my fellow bloggers, the one he was actually interested in (other than the ice cream) was these cinnamon rolls.  Go figure, this coming from my savory loving husband. 

Since I had made King Arthur Flour's cinnamon rolls before and knew that I really liked them, I decided to give their pumpkin cinnamon rolls a try as my first pumpkin yeast bread endeavor.  Made some adjustments to the dough, filling, and glaze recipes, but it is adapted from their Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Rolls.  As usual, they did not dissapoint!  I like these even better than my KAF standby cinnamon roll recipe.  I am currently fighting the urge to go indulge in another one, and my three year old son has already eaten like two (well, he "shared" two and a half with his grandma, but I think he got more than his fair share), and my newly turned one year old is diligently working on his half of a cinnamon roll, and he is acting like it is the greatest thing he has ever eaten...which it vary well may be.  All in all, rave reviews! 

I tweaked KAF's glaze recipe a bit to make it a maple glaze, and the only negative I have to say about that was that I needed to double the recipe.  So, if you want truly ooey, gooey cinnamon rolls, double the glaze.  A few modifications were made to the dough as well, because it was what I had on hand.

Perfect with a cup of coffee, a news paper, and some wonderful fall weather.  Well, I guess here in SoCal I can get at least two out of three.

I made the dough last night, let the dough rise, rolled them out and made the cinnamon rolls, and then I put them in the pan I was going to bake them in and covered them and put them in the fridge to do their second rise.  When I pulled them out this morning I let them sit out for about an hour on the stove top before I baked them to finish their second rise, since my fridge is realllllly cold, they didn't rise much in the fridge.  They only needed to bake about 32 minutes, so not much more than the unrefrigerated dough.

PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS WITH MAPLE GLAZE
(Adapted from King Arthur Flour's Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Rolls)


Makes 12 rolls

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup lukewarm water*
• 1/4 cup soft butter
• 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar, light or dark
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• *Adjust the amount of water by the time of year or your climate. For summer, or in a humid environment, use the lesser amount of water. In winter, or in a dry climate, use the greater amount. It's always best to start with the lesser amount; you can

Filling

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbs. ground cinnamon
• raisins, cranberries, or nuts (optional, I omitted)

Glaze

• 1 cup glazing or confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• enough milk, apple juice, water, or coffee creamer to reach desired consistency

Directions:

1) Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients together — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until you've made a soft, fairly smooth dough. 

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise for 1 1/2 hours, until it's almost doubled in bulk.

3) Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface. Roll it into a 14" x 22" rectangle; the dough will be thin. 

4) Sprinkle the dough evenly with the brown sugar, and then with the cinnamon, pressing in the filling to the dough slightly. Spread a thin layer over the dough, leaving one short edge free of filling. 

5) Sprinkle with nuts or dried fruit (or both), if desired. 

6) Starting with the long end, roll the dough into a log. 

7) Cut the log into 12 slices. 

8) Place the rolls into a lightly greased 9" x 13" pan that's at least 2" deep. Set aside, covered, to rise for 1 hour, or until the rolls look puffy.

9) Bake the rolls in a preheated 375°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until they're lightly browned and feel set. (If they were refrigerated the night before, bake for closer to 30-35 minutes).  Remove them from the oven, and set them on a rack. Turn them out of the pan, and allow them to cool for about 15 minutes. Towards the end of the cooling time, make the glaze.

10) To make the glaze: Heat the butter and maple syrup together till the butter melts. Whisk in the sugar, salt, vanilla, and whatever amount of other liquid needed to get the desired consistency.

11) Drizzle the warm rolls with the warm glaze. Sprinkle with chopped nuts, if desired.

 

Apple Pie Mookies

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I really liked my chocolate chip banana mookie recipe.  Mookies, in case you are not familiar with my previous post, are what I dubbed this cross between a cookie and a muffin.  These are fluffy, slightly cakey cookies, with just a phenomenal hearty texture.  When I started to think about what other kinds of "mookies" I could make, I must have had apples on the brain.  Thus, apple pie mookies were born.  With oats, hearty chunks of apples, wonderful warm apple pie spices, and butterscotch chips, these just scream cozy fall day.  And considering it is 95 degrees out, I could very much use a mental escape to a more pleasant season.  The apples are softened but juicy, and a tart contrast against the sweet butterscotch chips.  Slightly chewy oats give way to a fine, cakey crumb.  Seriously, I don't know how many ways to describe the awesomeness except to say you just have to try them.

Let me just say, my house smells beyond amazing right now.  If I could eat the air I would.  But I guess I will settle for eating these cookies instead.  And at just around 100 calories each, I can afford to have a couple!  

These are absolutely a must try.  Really, seriously, in the stratosphere tasty.


APPLE PIE MOOKIES

Makes approximately 34-38 mookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 large egg
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup almond meal (if you don't have or don't want to use, add an extra 1/4 cup flour)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1-1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup tart apples, diced and peeled (like granny smith)
• 6 oz (1 cup) butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flour, almond meal, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger in a small bowl and set aside.  
3. Place butter, and sugars into a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until they are well combined.  Depending on how soft the butter is, it may take several minutes for the mix to come together.
4. Reduce speed to low.  Add egg, applesauce, and vanilla and mix until combined.   Beat for 1 minute on medium until well combined.
5. Add flour and spice mix and mix on medium until well combined and fluffier.  
6. Mix in oats, apple pieces and butterscotch chips with mixer or by hand until well incorporated. Don't fear, this dough is very moist.
7. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or 2 Tbs cookie scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets spacing about 2 inches apart.  Using a fork, flatten the dough into a disk shape, they do not spread much.
8. Bake cookies until they just start to turn golden brown and just set, about 12 to 13 minutes. The centers will be fairly firm, like a cooked muffin, when done.

White Chocolate Gingerbread Truffles

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To continue my exploration of ways to use the cookie butter from Trader Joe's, I have now subjected it to the wonderful world of truffles.  Since cookie butter is essentially gingerbread cookies in a peanut butter like spread, these truffles scream fall, and would be a wonderful addition to the holiday goodie list.  A little sprinkle of cinnamon on top is the perfect fall touch.

IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE, PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO PIN IT :)

WHITE CHOCOLATE GINGERBREAD TRUFFLES

Makes approximately 24, 2 tsp truffles

Ingredients:

• 14 graham cracker sheets (about 1 1/2 sleeves)
• 4 oz. cream cheese or neufchatel cheese
• 1/2 jar cookie butter (from Trader Joe's)
• 1 (11 oz.) package white chocolate chips
• ground cinnamon, for sprinkling

Directions:

1. In a food processor combine graham crackers, cream cheese, and cookie butter and process until well combined.
2. Using a 2 tsp cookie dough scoop, scoop out the centers and place on a foil or parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Place in refrigerator for about 30-60 minutes, until easier to handle.
3. Roll each center into a rounder ball.
4. Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe dish in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until melted and pourable.
5. Place a truffle center in the chocolate and roll around to coat, using a fork.  Shake off excess and return to sheet pan.  Sprinkle with light dusting of cinnamon.  Repeat with remaining centers, reheating the chocolate if it becomes to solid to work with.
6. Refrigerate until chocolate is set up and hardened, keep refrigerated.