Vegan Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls. {OhSheGlows}

General Conference time... so I continue on my search for the cinnamon roll recipe. I grew up with awesome ones, made by my Mom. BUT, I was always a fan of the big fat, oooey gooey ones. I tried some last April, and they were good. But not "the" ones. This year I went pumpkin. I was going to go all out and do nonvegan and crack white sugar. But remembered the suger coma I put my family and I in last year... and the insuing sugar headache that went along with it, and decided against it.  

I found this recipe from one of my favorite sites, OhSheGlows, and knew it'd be goood. I loved the idea that she put the pumpkin flavor in the filling and not in the dough. Well played Angela. Well played.

So.Stinkin.Good.

Here's her recipe, and my notes... I wanted to knock out the white sugar (remembering the headache) so I used coconut sugar. And I did whole wheat pastry flour instead of white. That's what I think is funny about some vegan recipes.... you take out the animal product - but then use white sugar and white flour - and it makes it just as dumb. And like all good cinnamon roll recipes... here's the long sucka...

Yeast Mixture
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon coconut sugar
1 cup very warm water (but not too hot to touch)

Dough

1 cup almond milk
2/3 cup coconut sugar
2/3 cup vegan butter (Earth Balance)
2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg replacer egg ---OPTIONS
       #1 - 1 tsp Ener-g egg replacer + 2 tbsp warm water), optional
       #2 - 2 T. flaxseed meal + 3 T. water + 1/8 teaspoon baking powder... stir together and let gel}
yeast mixture, from above
6 cups all purpose flour + more for kneading (4 cups whole wheat pastry flour & 3 cups all purpose flour)

Pecan Cinnamon Streusel Filling

1/2 cup vegan butter, softened but not melted
1 cup coconut sugar
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

Pan Sauce

1/2 cup vegan butter, melted (i used 3 T.... the butter was starting to add up)
1/3 cup coconut sugar

1. Mix together yeast ingredients and set aside for about 5 minutes until foamy and bubbly.

2. Meanwhile, combine the wet dough ingredients (almond milk, sugar, vegan butter, salt and optional egg replacer) in a small sauce pan. Heat on medium until all ingredients are combined, mixing well as you go. Turn off the heat on the saucepan and allow this mixture to cool so it is not too hot to touch.

3. Grab 4 cups of the flour and place in a very large bowl. When the saucepan mixture has cooled off; add in the proofed yeast and mix. Add this mixture to the flour and stir with a large wooden spoon. The mixture will be very wet. Stir for about 15-20 seconds or so.

4. Add in the remaining 2 cups of flour. Mix with a spoon for about 10 seconds and then place spoon aside and use your hands to roughly knead the dough for another 10 seconds or so. Now place the dough (and flour) onto a floured counter.

5. Knead the dough, starting off quite slow as the mixture will look very dry and rough. This is normal so do not worry! Knead the dough for 8 minutes until it is no longer sticky to the touch. Only add more flour if the dough starts to stick to the counter as you are kneading.

6. After 8 minutes of kneading, shape into a ball and place into an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the oven with the light on and let it rise for 90 minutes.

7a. Meanwhile, prepare the pumpkin pie filling.

7b. Prepare the Pecan cinnamon streusel filling. In a bowl, mix 1 cup chopped and toasted pecans, 1 cup sugar, and 3 tbsp cinnamon together and set aside.

8. After 90 minutes of rising, poke the dough to make sure that it is ready. If you poke the dough and it does NOT spring back up, it is ready to roll! Now grab a rolling pin or simply use your hands to spread out the dough into a large 15 inch by 20 inch rectangle (approximate measure only). Go very slow so you do not rip the dough.

9. Once you have your rectangle shaped, spread on the vegan butter (1/2 cup slightly softened) with a pastry brush. Take the pumpkin pie filling and spread it onto the vegan butter. It will be difficult to spread and slippery, but have no fear it will all work out! Once the pumpkin pie filling is spread out as well as you can, covering the rectangle, now sprinkle on the entire amount of the pecan cinnamon streusel sugar topping.

10. Grab the end of the dough (short side of rectangle), and roll all of the dough, being careful to try and keep the sides as straight as you can. Don’t worry if it is a bit off though (and it will be!), all will work out. Let it rest on the seam once it’s rolled up completely.

11. Once the dough is rolled up, grab some floss about 1 foot long (mint flavored OK!) and cut the rolls taking the piece of floss and placing it underneath the dough and then bringing it up and crossing it to cut the roll (see my pictures). Let go of floss and gently pull away and repeat about 15 times.

12. Pan Sauce: Mix butter and sugar mixture together and pour into large casserole dish or deep dish cake pans. Grab your cut rolls and place into the pan. Cover with plastic wrap, place into the oven with the light on, and allow it to rise for 45 more minutes.

Note: You can make these the day beforehand if you want to make them for breakfast. Simply cover the casserole dish and let them rise in the fridge overnight. In the morning, remove from the fridge and let them sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes until the casserole dish is no longer cold. After that, you simply bake and serve!  This saves a lot of time in the morning.

13. Meanwhile, prepare the vegan cream cheese frosting. See recipe below.

14. After the second rise, remove the buns from the oven and preheat to 350F.

15. After preheating the oven, remove plastic wrap and place casserole dish into the oven. Bake rolls for 25-27 minutes at 350F until golden in color. Remove from oven and allow it to cool for about 10 minutes.

16. Frost your buns any way you like! You may have to thin out the frosting a bit with more almond milk depending on how you want to use the frosting. If you want to pipe it on, it is the perfect consistency as is, but if you want to drizzle, more almond milk (start with 1 tsp at a time) may be needed.

Ideas for frosting:

1) Pipe on the frosting with a pastry bag and round tip, 2) Use a plastic baggie with one corner cut off, 3) Spread on frosting with a palette knife, or 4) Drizzle thinned out frosting with a spoon.

 17. Serve immediately and enjoy! Makes about 16-17 large rolls. Please note that your rolls will vary in size and shape and this is normal- it all depends on what type of pan you use and where they were baking in the pan. A little character never hurt a cinnamon roll!

Pumpkin Pie Filling

1 cup pumpkin, canned
1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons almond milk
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

In a small bowl, mix together the arrowroot powder and almond milk until no clumps remain. In a saucepan over medium heat, mix the pumpkin and the arrowroot + milk mixture. Now add in the vanilla, sugar, and stir well. Finally stir in the spices. Heat over low and stir frequently until mixture thickens. Be careful not to burn as it burns easily. It takes about 5-8 minutes to thicken up. You want to use this mixture within about 5-10 minutes of preparing it so it spreads on a bit easier.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup vegan buttery spread (Earth Balance)
2/3 cup vegan cream cheese (Tofutti)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar (blended coconut sugar in the blender to make it powder)
[cut this in half, and glad I did... 1/2 was plenty!]

In a large bowl, mix together the butter and cream cheese with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Add in the vanilla to help along the process. Now slowly add in the icing sugar, stirring frequently until mixed. You want to keep mixing it until no clumps remain. This process takes at least 5 minutes or longer, so be patient. You could also use a mixer too of course!

Note: You may add milk if you want the frosting a bit thinner for drizzling, but I suggest waiting until it is fully mixed. The recipe above makes a frosting perfect for piping, but you may want it thinned out.

They just kept getting better and better with each passing day... warmed up in the microwave.