Pumpkin Buns

I’m posting lots of recipes this week.  Hopefully I’ll have something different to talk about in the next few days, but for now it feels like all I’ve been doing is cooking and baking lately, and I have a couple recipes that I just had to share!  I’ve had these pumpkin rolls on my Menu Plan for oh, about a month, and I’ve been thinking about them since I first saw the recipe in the October issue of Family Circle.

I FINALLY got around to making them last night and they turned out great despite 3 errors on my part.  These are some VERY forgiving pumpkin buns!  Things I did wrong:

1) Used pumpkin pie filling instead of pumpkin puree.  (I grabbed the wrong can at the store)

2) Only rolled out the dough into ONE rectangle, instead of 2.  This recipe makes 2 pans of buns, but I rolled out the dough, filled, and rolled them up before I looked back at the recipe to see that I should have done that twice.  This turned out okay though, because I liked how bready and big they were!  (If you do this, just make sure you split them into several pans so they have room to spread out).

3) Didn’t grease the pan.  Lots of crunchy cinnamon-y goodness got stuck to the bottom of the pan instead of the bottom of the rolls.

The pumpkin flavor in these isn’t very strong, but they are delicious!

Pumpkin Buns

from Family Circle, October 2009

Ingredients:

• 1 envelope (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees F)
• 1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Glaze:

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk

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 the flour and the salt, scraping side of the bowl, until soft dough forms.  Turn out onto floured surface and knead remaining 1/2 cup flour into dough, adding more if 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 1/4 hours.

Coat two 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking pans with nonstick cooking spray.  Make Filling: Mix butter, granulated and brown sugars, and cinnamon in a bowl.

Punch down dough.  Roll out half onto lightly floured surface to form a 16 x 10-inch rectangle.  Spread with half of the filling.  Starting on one long side, roll up jelly-roll fashion.  Pinch seam to close.  Repeat with second half of dough and filling.

Cut each log crosswise into 12 generous 1-inch pieces.  Arrange 12 pieces, cut-side down, in each prepared pan.  Cover with plastic wrap; let sit in a warm spot until buns 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 oven.)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  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.