oh my sweet little pumpkin friend…

ETA:  I now have a new blog solely devoted to my food adventures.   From now on you can catch all my tasty creations on Oven Spring.

Taking a little break from the card posting with a different kind of yummy post.

Arizona weather is a tricky thing… we *had* cooled down to some amazing weather lately (earlier than usual).  So I had my mind set on making some cinnamon rolls this weekend to match the “cooler” weather.  Mind you, when I say cooler, I mean we are not in the 100’s.  Ha!  It was very lovely at night, nice and cool in the morning and then raised to high 80’s, low 90’s.  Well, someone forgot to tell me that it was going to be in the 100’s this weekend, which means the nice cool mornings go away quicker.  Boo!  Oh well, I still made some cinnamon rolls.

What do you think of these lovelies????  I tried the Cinnamon-Swirl Pumpkin Rolls from King Arthur this morning.  I think they turned out pretty darn good.  I have a history of making hockey puck-like cinnamon rolls.  Let me just say, no amount of melted butter can save a hockey puck roll.  Don’t waste the time or butter!

I did a few minor things different from the recipe.  First, I don’t have instant yeast, so I had to get mine started in some of the water before mixing.  I used some frozen pumpkin puree I had in the freezer from last year.  It had to be thawed and drained and turned out I had a little less than the cup of puree needed (oh well).  I also used the cinnamon/sugar mix instead of KAF’s Baker’s Cinnamon Filling.  Finally, I used chopped walnuts instead of fruit or ginger in the filling.

Despite one mishap… I think the rolls turned out really well.  I might have over kneaded the dough or it might have been a little dry.  The dough was really stiff and worried me a bit, but they really survived the beating well.  I decided at the last minute I would do the final rise overnight in the refrigerator.  As it sat overnight, it created a sugar glaze on the bottom of the pan that I think added to the flavor.  Highly recommend that part!!!  I pulled them out and let them warm up and raise about an hour before baking to see if they would get a little more height.

As a final review… they have an aweseome taste that could use a little more pumpkin flavor.  That could be due from not having the required amount of pumpkin.  I might also up the spices a little next time too.  They were pretty soft even though my dough seemed so stiff and they raised ok.  Not sure if it doubled in size either time.  The whole wheat doesn’t let them raise as much, so that could have contributed too.  All in all, a yummy cinnamon roll (with just a hint of pumpkin).  I will definitely be making these again, but most likely with canned pumpkin and less kneading.

Gonna take the plunge and submit this to YeastSpotting.  My first time, so I’m a little nervous.  Hee hee.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a yummy week!