These super soft pumpkin cinnamon rolls have a secret ingredient, and it’s not pumpkin. That would hardly be a secret as it’s in the title. No, these buns rely on my old standby for a feather-light bread dough; tangzhong. A simple technique whereby a little cooked flour and water is incorporated into the dough. I can’t bring myself to make enriched bread dough any other way now that I’ve discovered this method.
What I like about it is that it adds no time and only the barest effort to the process, but tenderizes the dough so beautifully. I know there are other methods and tricks and tips that can greatly improve enriched breads, but they often want an overnight rise, of half-hourly turns, or a weird ingredient like lard. When I want a cinnamon bun I want one same day at the latest. Although to be honest I am pretty intrigued by the lard.
These buns are the tender, North American counterpart to the sometimes chewier and heartier Scandi cinnamon rolls. They’re enriched with butter, made tender with tangzhong, and given some flavour and yet more tenderness with that most North American ingredient; pumpkin. In this case I snagged a shockingly rare can of pumpkin puree from a confectionery store of all places – I guess in Australia we consider canned pumpkin candy? I don’t know. And then I just stirred a little into the dough. If you wanted to you could replace the pumpkin entirely with milk, or make your own puree and add that.
I am a Halloween hater. I hate being scared. I never watch TV, but when I’m home alone I chuck it on for background noise while I putter around. I hate that for the entire week of October I have to keep one eye out for the next horrendous horror movie trailer that’s going to freak me right out (World War Z scarred me for life. Also Annabelle). But this year, I’m coming around. It’s a little chillier than usual, and that’s definitely helping me get in the spooky spirit. I’ve carved a jack o’ lantern, my boyfriend and I have plans to watch Hocus Pocus and some Treehouse of Horror eps…and I made these cinnamon buns.
So you know. Not much to report. I’m slightly coming around to Halloween. I made you some Pumpkin Cinnamon Buns. And it’s pumpkin week! Go and roll around in all the amazing pumpkin recipes on offer. There are some truly dope ideas there for the beautiful orange beast. Also, watch ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!’ because it’s just the best. OK, love ya bye.
Cake Over Steak • Quick Pumpkin and Kale Risotto + Arancini
Twigg Studios • Sausage Stuffing Baked in a Pumpkin
Donuts, Dresses and Dirt • Pumpkin Spice Latte Popsicles
Cloudy Kitchen • Pumpkin Cake with Vanilla German Buttercream
Vegetarian Ventures • Smoky Pumpkin & Black Sesame Hummus
Eat Boutique • Pumpkin Scallion Dumplings
A Little Saffron • Pumpkin Stuffed Shells
Two Red Bowls • Pumpkin & Maple Caramel Baked French Toast
Wallflower Kitchen • Mini Pumpkin & Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
Wit & Vinegar • Pumpkin Butterscotch Banana Split
Style Sweet CA • Pumpkin Creme Brulee Cake
Nommable • Pumpkin Biscuits with Mushroom Thyme Gravy
With Food + Love • Cinnamon Raisin Pumpkin Seed Bread
Hortus • Creamy Roasted Squash Soup + Pumpkin Risotto
Sevengrams • Vegan Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
Jojotastic • 1 Pumpkin, 2 Ways: Pumpkin Trail Mix & Dog Treats
Grain Changer • Pumpkin Spice Baked Oatmeal
Girl Versus Dough • Pumpkin Cranberry Flax Crisps
Earthy Feast • Pumpkin Grits + Pumpkin Home Fries + a Fried Egg
Harvest and Honey • Truffled Pumpkin Papardelle Alfredo
Tasty Seasons • Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake
Broma Bakery • Pumpkin Butter Pop Tarts
Tending the Table • Roasted Pumpkin and Barley Salad
The Sugar Hit • Super Soft Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Delicious Not Gorgeous • Waffles with Spiced Pumpkin Butter and Brown Sugar Walnut Crumble
Taste Love and Nourish • Pumpkin Bread Pudding
The Green Life • Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chunk & Hazelnut Skillet Cookie (Vegan)
Foolproof Living • Pumpkin Creme Fraiche Pasta with Sage
The Monday Box • Pumpkin Mini Bundt Cakes
Design Crush • Pumpkin Whiskey Cocktail
The Road to Honey • Pumpkin Pie & Chocolate Layer Cake
My Name is Yeh • Roasted Pumpkin with Yogurt and Hazelnut Dukkah
Give Recipe • Orange Chocolate Pumpkin Bread
Heartbeet Kitchen • Magic Vegan Pumpkin Pie Fudge
Beard and Bonnet • Marbled Pumpkin Muffins
Eat Within Your Means • Vegan Pumpkin Blender Muffins
Snixy Kitchen • Pumpkin Tapioca Pudding with Candied Pumpkin Seeds
Ruby Josephine • Moroccan Sweet Pumpkin + Beef Tagine
Lab Noon • Pasta Bake with Roasted Pumpkin and Saffron Sauce, Pistachio and Goat Cheese
An Edible Mosaic • Pumpkin Spice Chia Seed Pudding
Hey Modest Marce • Mascarpone Pumpkin Pie
Inspired By the Seasons • Pumpkin Applesauce Smoothie
CaliGirl Cooking • Pumpkin Praline Cinnamon Rolls with Spiked Cream Cheese Glaze
Sally’s Baking Addiction • Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bundt Cake
Well and Full • Spicy Chipotle Pumpkin Hummus
Appeasing a Food Geek • Cheese Fondue Stuffed Roasted Pumpkin
SweetPhi • Pumpkin Chili Biscuit Bake
Warm Vanilla Sugar • Buttermilk Pumpkin Doughnuts
Mademoiselle Poirot • Cinnamon-Pumpkin Mousse on Honey Panna Cotta topped with Hazelnut Brittle
Heart of a Baker • Pumpkin Sticky Buns with Vanilla Bean Frosting
Flourishing Foodie • Massaman Curry with Pumpkin and Chickpeas
Ginger & Toasted Sesame • Pumpkin Jeon
Lindsay Jang • Best Ever DIY Pumpkin Spiced Latte
Fix Feast Flair • Hokkaido Pumpkin + Sage Mac and Gouda
Will Frolic for Food • Pumpkin Kale Patties with Coconut Cilantro Rice
A Couple Cooks • Pumpkin Pecan Baked Steel Cut Oats
Vermilion Red • Pumpkin Pie Souffle
Britnell • Vegan Pumpkin Pie
Displaced Housewife • Brown Butter Pumpkin Donuts
Sweet Gula • Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
La Pêche Fraîche • Pumpkin and Condensed Milk Cakes
Kitchen Konfidence • Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi with Rosemary Brown Butter Sauce
Loves Food, Loves to Eat • Savory Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Kale & Caramel • Goat Cheese & Sage-Stuffed Pumpkin Challah
Okie Dokie Artichokie • Pumpkin Chorizo Chili with Sweet Potatoes + Pinto Beans
Salted Plains • Easy Pumpkin Bread
Liliahna • Chicken Legs with Pumpkin and Tortellini
TermiNatetor Kitchen • Whole Wheat, Pumpkin & Brown Sugar Brioche
Vermilion Roots • Sweet Rice Dumplings with Pumpkin
Celebrate Creativity • Pumpkin Mini Cheesecake Tarts
Serendipity Bakes • Pumpkin Chocolate Cheesecake
So Much Yum • Vegan Maple-Glazed Pumpkin Spice Doughnuts
The Brick Kitchen • Pumpkin, Pecan & White Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches
Lisli • Pumpkin Pie Cake
Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt • Pumpkin Pie Dip
Fig+Bleu • Pumpkin Granola
The Speckled Palate • Pumpkin Caramel Cream Cheese Swirl Blondies
Cook Til Delicious • Fall Cliche Cake (Pumpkin Spice Cake / Maple Cream Cheese Frosting / Apple Cider Caramel Sauce)
Floating Kitchen • Chicken and Pumpkin Chili
The Wood and Spoon • Pumpkin Pecan Cake with Burnt Sugar Frosting
Fork Vs Spoon • Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
Lemon & Vanilla • Pumpkin and Coconut Caramel Flan
Dunk & Crumble • Pumpkin Chocolate Icebox Cake
Chicano Eats • Pumpkin Butter Pan de Muerto
On the Plate • Pumpkin Pancakes, Salted Caramel & Pecans
Rough Measures • Cosy Pumpkin Spice Latte (Caffeine and Dairy Free)
Brewing Happiness • Pumpkin Ginger Breakfast Cookies
A Butterful Mind • Pumpkin Cheesecake with Vanilla Whipped Cream
The Little Loaf • Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Fork to Belly • Pumpkin Gnocchi
The Little Epicurean • Chocolate Hazelnut Pumpkin Pie
Bourbon and Honey • Spicy Roasted Pumpkin with Honey and Feta
What to Cook Today • Spicy Pumpkin Noodle Soup
Food by Mars • Pumpkin Pie (Grain-Free, Diary-Free)
The Bojon Gourmet • Pumpkin Butterscotch Pudding
Oh Honey Bakes • Pumpkin Cake with Gingersnap Toffee
Long Distance Baking • Layered Pumpkin Cheesecake
The Jam Lab • Pumpkin Madeleines Dipped in White Chocolate
The Lemon Apron • Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf with an Olive Oil Glaze
Sun Diego Eats • Thai Pumpkin & Sticky Rice Cakes
A Cozy Kitchen • Pumpkin Chai Scones with Black Tea Glaze
A Cookie Named Desire • Pumpkin Shrubs
Eating Clean Recipes • Vegan Pumpkin Chia Pudding
Kingfield Kitchen • Vegan Fresh Pumpkin Soup
Drink and Cocktail Recipes • Pumpkin Dirty Chai
The Pig & Quill • Pumpkin Sage Cannelloni (Dairy-Free)
My Lavender Blues • Pumpkin, Banana & Olive Oil Bundt Cake
Betty Liu • Pumpkin + Pear Butter Baked Melty Cheese
Happy Hearted Kitchen • Cinnamon Roasted Pumpkin with Tahini Yogurt + Hazelnut Dukkah
InHappenstance • Pumpkin Scones with Maple Butter
Live Eat Learn • Pumpkin Gingerbread Hot Cocoa
xx Sarah.
- 90ml (6tbsp) water
- 20g (2 tbsp) plain flour
- 2½ cups (375g) plain flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ cup (50g) caster sugar
- 1½ tsp dried yeast
- ½ cup pumpkin puree
- 2 eggs
- ½ stick (55g) butter, softened (or grated)
- 1 stick (100g) butter, soft
- ¾ cup (150g) brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp maple syrup (optional)
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp buttermilk
- First, make the tang zhong. Place the water and flour into a small saucepan or frying pan and whisk together. Place over a medium heat, and cool just until the mixture thickens to a gel. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
- For the dough, place the flour, salt, sugar and yeast into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook.
- Add the tangzhong, pumpkin and eggs to the dry ingredients, and knead on a low-medium speed until a dry dough forms.
- With the mixer on low, add the butter a little at a time, and knead until it's completely incorporated - about 5-10 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic, and set aside to rise until doubled in size OR place in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Roll the dough out into a 12in/33cm square, and spread over the filling in an even layer.
- Roll up, not too tightly, like a swiss roll, and then trim away the uneven end pieces. Using a serrated knife, gently cut the rest of the roll into 8 even pieces, trying not to squash them.
- Arrange the buns in a greased and lined baking dish, cover loosely with plastic and set aside to rise for a further 30-45 minutes.
- Bake for 25 minutes, or until light golden brown and cooked through. Leave to cool in the tin until just warm.
- To make the frosting, stir together the sugar and buttermilk. Drizzle over the warm buns, and serve.
These look amazing I love pumpkin cinnamon buns so I will have to try these x
I, too, am a total Halloween hater. I think its the self-inflicted pressures of having a great costume idea or wearing itty-bitty things that don’t fit with my donut-loving body shapes.
Screw all that; I’d much rather tuck into these.
Love!!! I really need to try out the tang zhong method, it’s on my to-do list for when midterms are done. :) Is Halloween a big deal in Aussie? Here in the US people go all out, and I’ve always wondered if it’s like that overseas. I feel you on all the scary stuff, I can’t handle it either lol.
This is my first time hearing of tang zhong, and now I really want to try it out!! These rolls are officially on the must-make list :) Happy Pumpkin Day!!
Don’t know if I could bring myself to buying a tin of canned pumpkin, I love pumpkin any way it comes, baked, steamed, in a pie, in soup, in a stew (jumbuck stew – YUM) and I’ve just realised I don’t have any at home so will buy some today. My grandma passed away when I was 6 and one of her “things” was pumpkin pie – nothing American about her, born in Tasmania, lived in Victoria, NSW and did missionary work in the Cook Islands but those pumpkin pies!! Anyway I am the pumpkin pie maker now in our family.
My kids knew nothing of Halloween until our neighbours alerted them to the fact they could dress up and get lollies! They’re now 17 & 18 and still think it’s a pretty good time of the year. No harm in it, and we are told to embrace other cultures so not sure why there’s such a backlash for this one?
These look amazing!! Question for you: Is there no rise after shaping the rolls and before baking?
So when I saw these in the party line up I got waaay too excited. Cinnamon rolls are my favorite thing to make ever- something about the process just makes me giddy all day. Plus I gotta say the fluffy tender ones are more my style than the chewy kind, so I cannot waaait to try this recipe. xo
Holy crap, YUM! These are so entirely crave worthy. I NEED!
I’ve heard of the tang zhong method Sarah, but I’ve never used it. These look so soft and delicious, I absolutely love them.
Gorgeous colour!
I LOVE the flavor combination of pumpkin and cinnamon – it’s so quintessentially autumn-y! What a great offering for the #VirtualPumpkinParty :)
Oh la la!! Loving those soft swirls! These look SO good!
WOAH I’ve never heard of this technique, it’s like everything I know about dough is being thrown out the window!
I’m in the middle of making of these and in the ingredients there is no milk or amount. Please let me know.
Thanks.
Hi lovely – there is no milk in these! The eggs, pumpkin and butter provide the moisture. xx Sarah
Oh these look lovely and fluffy! At the moment an overnight rise is my go-to way to get tender enriched dough, but will definitely have to try tangzhong sometime. And I’m seriously impressed you found canned pumpkin over here, I’ve never been able to locate any!! :)
These are a huge hit here in the States… I have been making them to much acclaim since Halloween!
My only upgrades are to give the buns a second proof for 30-45 minutes and to use dental floss to separate the buns. (My serrated bread knife tends to stick…)
But I can’t thank you enough for introducing me to the tang zhong method… my daughter says these are way better than the ones a famous chain here makes!
Better than Cinnabon!?! That’s high praise indeed! I am honoured, and so glad that you tried these and they’ve become a family favourite. That means the world to me, George, thank you very much for commenting and letting me know.
You should know that your baking instincts are excellent, because these buns do need a second rise! I just updated the instructions to reflect that. Happy Holidays! xx Sarah
These look really good! Yum. Cinnamon rolls forever!
Whoa! Your method is so interesting. I’ve never heard of tang zhong but now I’m totally intrigued. Must give these a try! Thanks!
It’s SO GOOD! definitely worth a try. xx
Where is Sarah Coates? I miss her blog!
Nawww, thanks Karen! I’m not dead, just taking a break! xx
I think I need to have these in my life – marked for baking next week.
Wow,This soft pumpkin rolls are so yummy and colourful,that my kids like so much! Thanks for sharing!!