Gluten-Free Real Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls!

October, month of pumpkins and winter squash is here!!! After quite a bit of trial and error, I finally discovered a way to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls that were fluffy and similar to regular cinnamon rolls!  Absolutely delicious, and approved by my friend Julie (who is an excellent cook, and I depend on her approval of baked goods often), in addition to the approval of my family, who inhaled them as quickly as possible.  The dough here is a bit trickier to work with than my normal fantastic cinnamon roll recipe, but it is also much EASIER than my normal cinnamon rolls, since you essentially just beat it all in a mixer.  Despite looking a bit messy in the pan, I found that, once cooked, they puffed up and looked like proper swirled cinnamon rolls.  They were so delicious, we ate most of them without frosting, too!

For both savory and sweet gluten-free pumpkin recipes, I have links to all my tasty pumpkin recipes here! Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls!

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 12 (9x13 pan)

Butter a 9x13 baking pan.

Mix the dry ingredients in a big bowl and set aside:  It is important to mix dry ingredients first in gluten-free cooking. *Note: I have made this recipe with Kristin's GF flour mix, but I found I needed to use extra flour to keep things from sticking too much, and I did not find the end product to be as fluffy as this version.
3/4 cup brown rice flour
1 cup white rice flour
3/4 cup tapioca starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
4 1/2 tsp rapid-rise/instant yeast

In a stand-mixer, mix together the following:
1 cup canned pumpkin or homemade pumpkin puree
1 egg
1/4 cup water (warm or cold work fine) ***see below***
1/4 cup softened butter

Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.  Beat 4 minutes at medium/medium-high speed. 

While the dough is mixing, prepare the filling by mixing together:
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves (optional)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted

Line two large sheets of plastic wrap side by side on the counter, overlapping a bit. 2 foot long pieces work well.

Spoon out large scoops of the dough and place along the middle of the plastic wrap.

Pull out another two large sheets of slightly overlapping plastic wrap to cover the dough. You’ll then flatten out the dough between the sheets until you have – more or less – a piece of dough that is flattened to somewhere near 15"x20". Try to make it nice and even. You have to slightly adjust the plastic wrap as you’re doing this, since it sometimes gets caught underneath the dough. But, you’ll find the dough doesn’t stick too much to the cling wrap, which is fantastic!  Use damp fingers to help un-stick dough, when necessary.

Carefully remove the top layer of plastic wrap. (NOTE: This dough IS stickier than my regular cinnamon rolls, raspberry-lemon swirl rolls OR lemon-blueberry rolls.  However, I have found that beating the dough 4 minutes, while making it a bit stickier to work with, results in a fluffier end result in the pumpkin cinnamon rolls, which I find is necessary since the pumpkin makes the rolls naturally more dense otherwise.)

Spread filling evenly over the dough. 

Carefully roll up the dough, so you have one 20" long roll of dough. Pulling up the plastic wrap can help you get the dough to roll over, since it will definitely stick to your hands if you try to use your hands!  This dough DOES get messy a bit, but it is worth it! 

One happy little girl making pumpkin cinnamon rolls. 

Once you have your long roll of dough, cut into 12 pieces as evenly as you can with a serated knife.  You can use slightly wet hands to help you lift each roll into the prepared pan.  I just tend to try to do it as quickly as possible and not worry that it is a little messy looking initially.  They will look fine once they rise and cook, but you can use slightly wet hands to fix any messy bits, if you like.  

Use a bit of saran wrap or damp hands to press down the tops of your pumpkin rolls a bit. 

Before and after rising uncovered.

Leave in a warm place uncovered to rise ~ 1 hour, or until your rolls looks significantly puffier, nearly doubled in size.

Bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes, until lightly browned at edges. 

Eat as-is, or top with a cream-cheese frosting, below.
Enjoy!!!

Cream Cheese Frosting (this is a very generous amount, so halve the recipe if you want a lighter bit of frosting/glaze):

In a bowl, warm in the microwave 20 seconds, or let sit to come to room temperature:

3 oz cream cheese

2 Tbsp butter

Add, and mix with a spoon until smooth (ish):

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract OR vanilla bean paste

Carefully add, ½ cup at a time:

2 cups powdered sugar

Milk, to desired consistency (add 1-2 tsp at a time)

Some people like a runny glaze, so they’ll find they end up adding more milk, others like a thick topping for cinnamon rolls, so you’ll just leave out the milk or add very little. Enjoy!

***If you want slightly fluffier rolls, you can use a bit of extra water - 1-3 Tbsp.  The dough will be stickier and harder to work with, but if you use wet hands, you can help undo any extra stickiness.