Soft and fluffy overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls with a sweet and tangy maple cream cheese frosting. These vibrant sweet rolls can easily be prepped the night before and baked in the morning for a delicious and wonderfully pumpkin-spiced breakfast treat!

overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls recipe with maple cream cheese frosting from forkknifeswoon.com

Soft and fluffy pumpkin cinnamon rolls

Are you over pumpkin yet? I’m… not. In the slightest.

So the pumpkin train unapologetically continues, with these fluffy overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls, a recipe I’ve had in my mind ever since I shared these apple cider rolls two years ago now.

Quite a lot has changed since then in my personal life, but my basic cinnamon roll recipe – a winning combination of sweet and tender yeasted dough (in this case enriched with pumpkin puree), curled around a gooey, pumpkin butter filling, and packed with brown sugar and cinnamon and warming spice, remains a favorite.

AND, if you still have leftover pumpkin from making these chocolate muffins, homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls are a great way to use it up!

overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls recipe with maple cream cheese frosting from forkknifeswoon.com

Why you’ll love these pumpkin cinnamon rolls

These overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls begin with a flavorful enriched dough. Butter, milk, flour, yeast, a little sugar, egg, pumpkin, all humble ingredients that become a tender, fluffy pastry, curled around a generously spiced pumpkin-cinnamon-butter filling.

Don’t let the yeast and kneading and risings intimidate you – while cinnamon rolls require several careful steps, my version is not overly complicated and has a lot less hands-on time than many cinnamon roll recipes.

The milk and butter are warmed together, then added to the dry ingredients. This activates the yeast, which begins to work its magic as the egg and pumpkin are added to the mix. A few minutes of kneading are followed by a few minutes of rest, before the dough is rolled out and filled with that all-too perfect trifecta – butter and brown sugar and cinnamon – plus deeply flavorful pumpkin butter, and a pinch of ginger for good measure.

overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls recipe with maple cream cheese frosting from forkknifeswoon.com

I love using pumpkin butter in the filling. You can find it in most markets this time of year (I’ve seen it at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods etc.). It adds an incredibly concentrated pumpkin flavor, but if you don’t have any, a scoop of pumpkin puree will also do – the flavor just won’t be as intense.

You could easily add chopped nuts too – pecans or walnuts would be lovely – either in the filling or sprinkled on top right before baking.

At this point, you have a choice – either let the assembled cinnamon rolls sit somewhere warm and cozy to rise for about an hour, before popping them in the oven and awaiting your delicious fate, or effectively press pause.

Just wrap the buns tightly and refrigerate overnight, and continue baking in the morning. While the downside is you’ll have to wait longer to dive into these sumptuous, pumpkin-spiced sweeties, let’s be honest, there really is no wrong option here. Happy baking!!

overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls recipe with maple cream cheese frosting from forkknifeswoon.com

Looking for more pumpkin treats? Try these next:

If you make these pumpkin cinnamon rolls, be sure to tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #forkknifeswoon and leave a comment and rating below letting me know how you liked them! ★★★★★ Star ratings are especially helpful because they help others find my recipes too. xo, Laura

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overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls recipe with maple cream cheese frosting from forkknifeswoon.com

Overnight Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

  • Author: Laura Bolton
  • Prep Time: 115
  • Cook Time: 25
  • Total Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
  • Yield: 12 Cinnamon Rolls 1x
  • Category: Baking, Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegetarian

Description

Soft and fluffy overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls with a sweet and tangy maple cream cheese frosting. These vibrant sweet rolls can easily be prepped the night before and baked in the morning for a delicious and wonderfully pumpkin-spiced breakfast treat!


Ingredients

Scale

for the overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls dough:

  • 21/2 + 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
  • 3 Tbsp organic cane sugar
  • 1 tsp fine-grain sea salt
  • 21/4 tsp (1 package) quick rise yeast
  • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree, at room-temperature
  • 1 large egg, at room-temperature

for the pumpkin filling:

  • 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, at room-temperature (soft and easily spreadable)
  • 3 Tbsp pumpkin butter
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
  • 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger

for the maple cream cheese frosting:

  • 4 oz cream cheese, at room-temperature
  • 1 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar, sifted
  • 2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • splash of milk or cream, as desired

Instructions

for the overnight pumpkin cinnamon rolls:

  1. Whisk together 2-1/2 cups of flour, the sugar, salt, yeast, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl until combined. Set aside.
  2. Heat the milk and butter over medium heat (or in the microwave at 50% power), until it reaches 115-120℉. The mixture should be hot to the touch but not boiling.
  3. Pour the milk mixture over the dry ingredients, and stir with a nonstick spatula, to combine. The dough may be shaggy. It will come together once we add the other ingredients.
  4. Add the pumpkin, egg, and 1/4 cup flour, and stir until a soft dough forms. Add a 1-2 more tablespoons of flour as needed, if the dough seems especially wet. The dough is ready to knead when it becomes elastic and pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a clean, lightly-floured work surface and gently but firmly knead for 3-4 minutes.
  6. Place the ball of dough in a lightly-greased bowl and let rest for 10 minutes.
  7. Return the dough to your work surface. Be sure to scrape away any stuck-on dough (a bench scraper is great for this) and lightly flour again first.
  8. Shape the dough into a flat rectangular disk, then use a lightly-floured rolling pin to roll out the dough into a roughly 8×14-inch rectangle, about 1/4-inch thick. Dust the top and underside of the dough with flour as you work if the dough becomes sticky. Using a ruler to measure helps to ensure evenly-sized cinnamon rolls, but don’t fret if they aren’t exact.
  9. Spread on the butter, followed by the pumpkin butter, in even layers, leaving a half-inch border on the long sides.
  10. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger until combined. Sprinkle on the sugar mixture, then, starting from one of the long sides, slowly and roll up the dough into a tight spiral.
  11. Place the log of dough seam-side down, and use a very sharp serrated knife – or preferably, unflavored dental floss – to cut the rolls into 12 pieces.
  12. Place the rolls in a lightly greased 9×13-inch pan, leaving even spacing between each. Cover with plastic wrap. If making immediately, place in a warm, draft-free place to rise (I use the microwave). Let rise for 50-75 minutes, until roughly doubled in size.
  13. If making overnight pumpkin rolls, wrap the pan tightly in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge until the morning. When ready to bake, let rise in a warm place for 60-75 minutes before baking.
  14. Preheat the oven to 375℉. Bake until barely-browned, gently puffed, and cooked through, about 20-25 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning, as necessary.

for the maple cream cheese frosting:

  1. In a stand up mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened cream cheese on medium speed until light and creamy.
  2. Starting on low-speed, mix in the sugar. When combined, turn the speed up to medium-high and beat for a full minute, until light and fluffy.
  3. Mix in the maple and vanilla. Add a splash of milk or cream as needed for a thinner glaze.
  4. Spread over the cinnamon rolls while still warm. Enjoy!


Keywords: pumpkin, cinnamon rolls, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, overnight, from scratch, homemade, morning buns, sweet rolls, pumpkin spice, pumpkin butter,