Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, or Hanukkah, or whatever it is you celebrate. :)

Our supposed-to-be-relaxing morning began at the crack of dawn (6am) with an earsplitting fire alarm. Not exactly the way you want to wake up on Christmas morning.

The alarms in our building have gone ‘rogue’ (so says Taylor), and it’s beginning to wear on us. Something about the humidity, getting into the alarm boxes in the parking garage, and short circuiting the alarms in the entire building.

And it is LOUD.

We have to stuff kitty into her carrier box (after dragging her out from under wherever she attempted to seek refuge from the noise), make sure we remember the key so we don’t lock ourselves out, run down 3 flights of stairs with our hands over our ears, and stand, shivering, outside with our equally happy neighbors until the fire department comes and turns it off (obviously we’ve done this before).

Then, since we know it was a humid day, we go back inside and wait for it to happen again.

And it did. Twice. At 9:10 and 9:45.

You think they would have factored in humidity before installing the alarms.

As a result, Taylor and I have both become paranoid. We ‘imagine’ we hear the alarm starting, and our hearts jump. We had a tough time going to sleep last night, for that very reason. Every noise we heard could have been the dreaded alarm.

I hope you all had a better day off. :)

One thing that redeemed the bad start to the morning was these:

Pumpkin cinnamon rolls with caramel glaze. They might just be the most delicious thing we’ve eaten for breakfast in a long time. Mmmm. Which reminds me, that half of them are wrapped up in the fridge just waiting for me. With that in mind, on to the recipe!

Amish Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Icing

Makes 12 rolls. Recipe from RecipeGirl.

INGREDIENTS
For Dough:
1/3 cup milk or soymilk
2 Tbs butter
½ cup canned pumpkin or mashed cooked pumpkin
2 Tbs granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup bread flour

For Filling:
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbs melted butter

For Icing:
¼ cup (4 Tbsp.) butter
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 Tbs milk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
dash of salt
½ to ¾ cup sifted powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS
Prepare rolls: In a small saucepan, heat milk and 2 Tbsp. butter just until warm (120 – 130°) and butter is almost melted, stirring constantly.

In large mixer bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar and salt. Add milk mixture and beat with an electric mixer until well mixed. Beat in egg and yeast. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flours. Add half of flour mixture to pumpkin mixture. Beat mixture on low speed for 5 minutes, scraping sides of bowl frequently. Add remaining flour and mix thoroughly (dough will be very soft). Turn into lightly greased bowl, then grease surface of dough lightly. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Turn onto floured surface. Knead a few turns to form a smooth dough, sprinkling with enough additional flour to make dough easy to handle. On lightly floured surface, roll dough into 12×10-inch rectangle.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Brush surface of dough with melted butter. Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Beginning with long side of dough, roll up jelly-roll style. Pinch seam to seal. With a sharp serrated knife, gently cut roll into twelve 1-inch slices. Place rolls cut-side-up in greased 9-inch-square baking pan. (At this point the rolls can be covered and refrigerated overnight if necessary).

Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake rolls about 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove from pan to waxed paper-lined wire rack. Cool 10 to 15 minutes.

While rolls are cooling, prepare icing: In small saucepan, heat butter until melted. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Cool over medium-low heat for 1 minute. Transfer to a small mixing bowl and cool mixture slightly. Stir in vanilla, salt and powdered sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended. If necessary, add more powdered sugar for desired consistency.

Drizzle icing over warm rolls.