Pumpkin Buns

Pumpkin Buns
Originally uploaded by Pictures by Ann

These rolls are made with canned pumpkin which gives them a rich, deep-orange color. The filling is butter, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The icing is from confectioners' sugar and dairy-free milk.

They were absolutely delicious...especially right out of the oven. The recipe came from a Family Circle magazine.

Made these for a 52 Weeks of Baking swap on Swap-Bot. Am trying about 3 new recipes per week (even though the swap is for 1 recipe).

My goal is to try recipes that I have from a variety of sources, but haven't yet made. If they turn out well, I'm typing the recipe and taking a picture of what the food looks like.

Eventually, I should have quite a few recipes and pictures - along with comments from the girls about what they thought about the food, and lessons I learned that week.

All these components will go into cookbooks that I'll make for Sophia and Olivia. Not sure if I'll give them the cookbooks for Christmas or wait until they are older. Still have time to think about this.

Here's the recipe for the Pumpkin Buns:

Ingredients:

1 envelope (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees)
1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup (1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted (I used dairy-free butter)
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
5 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon salt

Filling:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened (I used dairy-free butter)
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Glaze:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons milk (I used dairy-free milk)

Directions:

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in large bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of the granulated sugar; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Beat in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, the eggs, butter, and pumpkin.

Gradually add 5 cups of flour and salt, scraping side of bowl until soft dough forms. Turn out on a floured surface and knead remaining ½ cup flour into dough, adding more if sticky. (Note: I did add quite a bit more flour because it was quite sticky.) Knead for 10 minutes, until smooth. Dough will be soft.

Grease a bowl; add dough. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until doubled, about 1 ¼ hours.

Coat 2 13”x9” pans with non-stick cooking spray. Make filling: mix butter, granulated and brown sugars, and cinnamon in a bowl.

Punch dough down. Roll out into a big rectangle until it is about ¼” thick. Spread with the filling. Starting on one long side, roll up jelly-roll fashion. Pinch seam to close.

Cut the log crosswise into 24 generous 1” pieces. (I had about 36 pieces). Arrange half of the rolls, cut side down, in each prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot until bunds double in size, about 30 to 45 minutes. (You can refrigerate one pan overnight or cover plastic with foil and freeze at this point. Thaw in fridge overnight, then thaw on counter while preheating the oven.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover pans and bake buns until they are golden brown and bubbly, 28 to 33 minutes (thawed buns, 36 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack; let cool 10 minutes.

Glaze: blend confectioners’ sugar and milk. Drizzle over buns (about 1/3 cup per pan). Serve warm.