Healthy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Luscious Cream Cheese Frosting! My easy pumpkin cinnamon rolls are super fluffy and delicious. I made my pumpkin cinnamon buns with healthier ingredient swaps like whole wheat flour and pure maple syrup.
These are the best pumpkin cinnamon rolls you'll ever make! I love fall and winter for baking and I'm so excited to share my new cinnamon rolls recipe with you all. Cinnamon rolls are definitely my favorite dessert of all time.
If you love cinnamon rolls too, make sure to check out my easy sourdough cinnamon rolls and my pink cinnamon rolls!
HEALTHY PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS INGREDIENTS
I took a delicious pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe from ambitious kitchen, and made healthier substitutes. Here's what I used in my healthy pumpkin cinnamon rolls recipe.
In my healthy pumpkin cinnamon roll dough:
- Milk (I used unsweetened vanilla soy milk)
- Quick yeast
- Maple syrup (in place of granulated sugar)
- Pumpkin puree
- Egg
- Organic grass fed butter
- Pumpkin pie spice
- Flour (I used a mix of half unbleached white and half whole wheat)
- Pink sea salt
In my healthy pumpkin cinnamon roll filling:
- Organic grass fed butter
- Maple syrup (in place of brown sugar)
- Finely ground walnuts (mixed with maple syrup to get a brown sugar like texture)
- Cinnamon
My healthier cream cheese frosting:
- Organic cream cheese
- Organic butter
- Pure maple syrup
- Pink sea salt
HOW MANY CALORIES ARE IN A PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLL?
1 pumpkin cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting has 334 calories.
HOW MANY CALORIES IN TRADER JOE'S PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS- 330 calories.
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS AT HOME
My healthy pumpkin cinnamon rolls are so easy to make! They are made with 2 rises, so you'll get extra fluffy cinnamon rolls. I used whole wheat flour to make them healthier, but if you are not used to the taste of whole wheat flour, I suggest to start with 1 cup wheat flour and 3 cups white.
If you are making these pumpkin cinnamon rolls by hand, make sure to read the recipe notes in the card at the bottom! They are easy to make by hand, but definitely much less work in a standing mixer.
STEP 1- MAKE THE PUMPKIN ROLL DOUGH AND RISE
In the bowl of your standing mixer with the paddle attachment, mix together the warm milk, instant yeast, and maple syrup.
Next, add the pumpkin puree, melted (but not too hot or it will cook your egg) butter, and egg.
Mix the wet ingredients till completely incorporated, about 1 minute.
Add all of the flour, the pumpkin pie spice, and the salt. Mix until a ball comes together and the dough is not sticky. Drizzle oil over the top and rub all over the dough. Cover the dough and let it rise somewhere warm until it is double in size.
STEP 2- ROLL THE DOUGH AND RISE A SECOND TIME
Turn your risen pumpkin dough onto a floured counter top. Roll it into about a 14 x 16 inch rectangle. Brush the dough with soft butter.
(As you see in the video, I accidentally melted my butter too long and it was very watery which made a little more of a mess. Make sure your butter is soft and not totally watery).
In a small bowl mix together ⅓ cup maple syrup, 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, and ⅓ cup finely ground walnuts. This is my mixture I used in place of brown sugar. Spread the healthy cinnamon roll filling across the top of the butter.
Roll the dough tightly into a log and press the seams together to help seal in the filling. Score the dough into even pieces and use a string to cut. Place each piece into a 9 x 14 pan. Cover the pan and rise about 30 minutes while your oven preheats.
STEP 3- BAKE AND MAKE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
Bake your pumpkin cinnamon rolls for about 20 minutes till lightly golden brown on top. Do not over bake them or they will not have a nice tender texture.
Allow your pumpkin rolls to cool completely before adding the cream cheese frosting.
HOW TO MAKE HEALTHIER CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
In a bowl, I beat together 4 ounces of room temperature cream cheese, ¼ cup room temperature butter, ¼ cup pure maple syrup and a pinch of sea salt.
Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled rolls and enjoy!
These healthy pumpkin cinnamon rolls make the perfect breakfast cinnamon roll!
Hope you love them!
FAQ's
Frequently asked questions about my healthy pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe.
CAN I FREEZE HOMEMADE CINNAMON ROLLS?
Yes! Unbaked cinnamon rolls can be frozen for up to 8 weeks. Once they have thawed up and started to rise again, bake them in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. You'll never know the difference between frozen and unfrozen!
CAN I MAKE PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS OVERNIGHT?
Yes! After you have placed the cinnamon rolls in a parchment paper lined pan, cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge overnight.
Once ready to bake, rise at least 30 minutes or until the cinnamon rolls have doubled in size while your oven preheats. Once double, bake for 20 minutes as above.
HOW DO I MAKE DAIRY FREE PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS?
In place of butter, use a vegan butter and in place of the cream cheese use coconut cream or vegan cream cheese spread. All other ingredients are already dairy free friendly.
HOW DO I MAKE VEGAN PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS?
Use 1 flax egg or ¼ cup extra pumpkin puree in place of the large egg. In place of butter, use a vegan butter and in place of the cream cheese use coconut cream or vegan cream cheese spread. The remaining ingredients are vegan friendly.
More healthier fall recipes you can make with pumpkin puree
- healthy pumpkin brownies
- iced pumpkin spice latte
- pumpkin cream cold foam cold brew
- healthy pumpkin cheesecake bites
- mini pumpkin cheesecake
- pumpkin spice energy balls
If you try my Healthy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Recipe, please let me know your thoughts by leaving a rating and comment below! Ready for more? Subscribe to my newsletter or follow along on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube!
Healthy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- 9 x 14 baking pan
Ingredients
For the pumpkin cinnamon roll dough:
- ¾ cup milk of choice I used vanilla soy milk
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 2 ¼ teaspoon instant (quick) yeast
- ¾ cup pumpkin puree
- ¼ cup melted organic butter or coconut oil for dairy free
- 1 lg egg at room temperature
- 4 cups flour I used half whole wheat and half white, you can use any combination of the two
- 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon pink sea salt
For the healthy maple filling:
- ¼ cup butter softened
- ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- ⅓ cup finely ground walnuts
For the lightened up cream cheese frosting:
- 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup organic butter room temperature
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- pinch pink sea salt
Instructions
- Mix the milk, maple syrup and instant yeast together in the bowl of your standing mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Add the pumpkin puree, melted butter, and egg.
- Mix until wet ingredients are completely smooth.
- Switch to a hook attachment. Add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
- Run mixer on low speed until a ball comes together. This will take about 6-8 minutes. Drizzle with a little oil, rub oil all over and cover with a towel. Rise for 1 hour or until double in size.
- Once dough is double in size, turn onto a floured countertop. Roll into a 12 x 14 rectangle. Brush with butter.
- For the maple syrup walnut mixture, mix together the maple syrup, finely ground walnuts and cinnamon in a dish. Add maple syrup walnut mixture evenly across the top.Alternatively, you can mix together the butter, maple syrup, walnut, and cinnamon all at once and brush it over the top.
- Roll dough tightly and pinch the ends and seams to seal in the filling.Score roll into about 11-12 evenly sized pieces. Cut with a knife or using thread. Place each roll into a parchment paper lined 9 x 14 baking dish.
- Cover rolls and rise another 30 minutes while oven heats to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 minutes till lightly golden brown on top.
- Allow to cool completely before adding whipped cream cheese frosting. To make the frosting, simply beat together the soft butter, room temperature cream cheese, and pure maple syrup.
Beth
Ahhh finally a pumpkin cinnamon roll that actually has healthy ingredients!! I can't wait to make these this weekend I have all the ingredients in my fridge already
Dev
These are the best pumpkin cinnamon rolls ever!! I made them with the half wheat flour and they were perfect for breakfast like you said. I am so tired of overly sweet recipes and this one was just perfect! So much flavor and not too sweet at all. Thank you Rosemary!
Sam
I love how easy to make these are!! Also you are super creative to use the walnuts in the filling it made the perfect brown sugar like texture. Totally making these ones again.
Francine
I will certainly try this recipe, it looks wonderful. I would like to say, though, that when you mean whole wheat you should say whole wheat. The misinformation that wheat and whole wheat are equivalents is harmful, because white flour is also made of wheat, just processed, removing all the healthy parts. Many packages of "wheat bread" are mostly or all white bread. Please use whole wheat if that's what you mean. We have to correct this as much as we can for helpful suggestions.