Pumpkin Sticky Buns – one of my favorite ways to say YUM. The caramelized gooey pecan topping with a pumpkin cream cheese filling makes this recipe near and dear to Farmer Freds’ (and my) heart. These sticky buns shouldn’t be limited to breakfast. I love to serve them in the afternoon with coffee or tea. Farmer Fred loves to have them warmed up in the toaster oven as a before bedtime snack.
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Growing up on a small family farm meant we had milk cows. Imagine buying milk for 12 people. We would consume 3-4 gallons of milk a day. At today’s prices – WOW. When we had extra milk, we would separate the cream. We had a hand crank separator that separated the cream from the milk. The faster my dad turned the handle on the separator, the thicker the cream was. For this recipe, my mom would request extra thick cream. This cream was the consistency of yogurt. Even the heavy cream I purchase in the supermarket doesn’t come close to that cream. However, for this recipe, it works almost as well. Try my Pumpkin Cinnamon Chip Scones or my Apple Pie Fritter Cake for more great breakfast or brunch treats.
What do I Need for Pumpkin Sticky Buns?
Think of these Pumpkin Sticky Buns as having three-component.
- The bread
- The topping
- The filling
The Bread: The bread for these rolls is my moms’ bread recipe. It is a simple recipe with bread flour, yeast, salt, oil, and honey.
The Topping: The topping is the yum component of this recipe. You will need heavy cream, pecan, and brown sugar.
The filling is a cream cheese and pumpkin filling with pumpkin pie spice for extra flavor. Roast the pumpkin and make the puree the day before you start this recipe. Chill the puree. If you don’t have time to make the puree concentrate, use a can of solid pack pumpkin from the supermarket and remove the extra moisture using a nut milk bag. (see below)
How is the Bread Dough Made?
You will need a Stand Mixer for this recipe with the dough hook attached.
Put all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of the stand mixer and stir to combine.
Mix the wet ingredients and add to the dry. With the dough hook attachment, mix on medium for 2 minutes. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
Cover and let rise for 1 hour.
Concentrate the Pumpkin Puree:
For the pumpkin in this recipe, you want to roast a pumpkin or purchase a solid pack of pumpkin puree. Click here for my step-by-step instructions on how to roast a pumpkin. You will need to remove most of the water from the pumpkin puree. Put 2 cups of puree in a nut milk bag. Squeeze the bag and remove the water. Reduce the puree to about 1/2 of a cup of puree. It’s incredible how much extra liquid is in the puree. Chill the puree concentrate. The puree is now ready to use in your recipe.
Make the Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filling.
Cream together the pumpkin and the cream cheese. Then add all of the rest of the ingredients and mix with a hand mixer until well blended. Refrigerate for 1 hour before spreading on the rolled-out dough.
Prepare the Bottom of the Pan Gooeyness.
You need two baking pans. One 9 X 13 inches, and one 9 X 9 inches. Prepare the baking pans by adding the heavy cream to the bottom of a lightly greased pan. Add the brown sugar and mix. Sprinkle the pecans on top of this mixture and set them aside.
Make the Pumpkin Sticky Buns
Roll out the dough into a large rectangle about 16 X 21 inches. Spread the chilled pumpkin cream cheese filling on the dough and roll it up into a cigar-shaped roll. With a sharp knife, cut the roll into about 18 or 19 one-inch think segments. Put 12 pieces in the larger baking pan and the rest in the smaller pan. Cover both pans and let the rolls rise until they are just touching, usually about 30 to 45 minutes.
Bake the Pumpkin Sticky Buns:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees while the buns are rising. Bake for 10 minutes at 375-degrees and then reduce the temperature to 350-degrees. Bake another 20 to 30 minutes until the buns are brown on top and the cream mixture in the bottom carmelizes. Remove from the oven and cool until the pan is cool enough to touch. Remove the buns from the pan and flip upside down on a serving platter. Scrape all of the yummy gooey goodness out of the pan and put it on top of the buns.
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Equipment
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- baking pans size 9 x 13 and 9 x 9
Ingredients
Sticky Bun Dough
- 4 ½ cups white bread flour(510g) Bread flour, I prefer King Arthur Organic Bread Flour
- 2 tsp yeast instant ( 1 packet)
- 2 tsp salt sea salt
- 2 Tbsp oil vegetable
- 2 Tbsp honey
- ¼ cup powdered milk(35g) use bakers dry milk
- 1¼ cup lukewarm water (295g) water (lukewarm)*
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filling
- 4 ounces cream cheese (113g) softened
- ½ cup pumpkin puree concentrate (120g)
- ⅓ cup brown sugar(71g)
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
Bottom of the Pan
- 4 Tbsp butter (56g)
- 1 cup brown sugar (213g) packed, divided into ⅔ cup, ⅓ cup, and
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon Vietnamese
- ¾ cup heavy cream (165g) divided into 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup
- 1 ½ cup pecans(170g) optional I use halves**
Instructions
Pumpkin Sticky Bun Dough
- Mix all the dry ingredients together.
- Mix wet ingredients together and add to dry.
- Use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment to mix the dough. Mix on medium for 2 minutes. The dough will start sticky and become smooth and not sticky but still soft. You may need to add additional 1-2 ounces of water. If you add extra water, mix on low for 1-2 minutes until the water is incorporated, then increase the speed to medium and mix another minute.
- Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl large enough for the dough to double in size. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming on the dough. It will take about an hour for the dough to double in size.
Bottom of the Pan Goodness
- Prepare the 9 x 13-inch pan by adding ½ cup heavy cream and ⅔ cup brown sugar to the bottom of the pan. In the 9 x 9-inch pan, add ¼ cup heavy cream and ⅓ cup brown sugar. Thoroughly mix the cream and brown sugar with a spoon or whisk.
- Sprinkle the optional 1 cup of pecans on top of the cream and brown sugar mixture in the larger pan and 1/2 cup in the smaller pan. May add less or more as desired.
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Filling
- Cream together the cream cheese, and brown sugar
- Add all of the rest of the ingredients and mix together with a hand mixer.For how to make the pumpkin puree concentrate see my blog on how to:
- Chill for 1 hour while the dough is rising.
Assemble the Sticky Buns
- Once the dough has doubled in size, lightly flour your work surface and put the dough on the work surface - No need to deflate before rolling out.
- Roll the dough into a rectangle roughly 16 x 21 inches.
- Spread the Pumpkin Cream Cheese filling on the dough.
- Roll into a cigar-shaped roll.
- Cut the log into approximately 18 or 19 one-inch thick cinnamon rolls.
- Place 12 rolls in the large pan on top of the heavy cream mixture. Place the rest of the rolls in the smaller pan.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cover pans with plastic wrap and let the rolls rise until almost doubled in size. Rolls will be barely just touching each other. This takes 20 to 30 minutes.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 375°, then reduce the heat to 350° and bake another 30 minutes or until the rolls are browned on top, and the cream on the bottom has a caramel color.
- Delicious warm or room temperature. Once cool enough to handle, remove from the baking dish and turn upside down. Scrape out any extra topping left in the pan onto the rolls.
- Rolls can be stored at room temperature for 24 hours, refrigerated for five days, or frozen for two months.
- Reheat refrigerated rolls in an oven or toaster oven at 400 degrees for 5 - 7 minutes.
Video
Nutrition
