I may be jumping the gun a bit with this post. I know fall hasn’t officially arrived yet, but I’m ready for some fall flavors. It’s always interesting to observe how my cravings follow the change of seasons. During warm weather seasons, I’m drawn to lighter fare, like salads, veggies, chicken, and fish. Cooler weather finds me craving soups, stews, and casseroles.
When you grow up in the deep South, biscuits are in your DNA. My growing up years saw the advent of convenience food. Everything was packaged, processed, and easy to prepare. I’m sure I ate my fair share of canned biscuits at home, but at my grandmother’s house, where we ate regularly, I could always look forward to freshly baked, homemade ones.
If you have a good basic biscuit recipe, you can easily adapt it with different flavors. Herbs and cheese make delicious savory biscuits while sweeter ingredients transform biscuits into a dessert. For today’s post, I’ve created a biscuit and cinnamon roll mashup. To introduce a bit of autumn, I flavored the biscuit dough with pumpkin puree. This recipe is much easier than regular cinnamon rolls where you have to let the dough rise. You simply make the dough; roll it out; spread with sugar, cinnamon, and walnut filling; roll into a log; slice; and bake.
Keep this recipe handy for that cool weekend morning when you’re craving a fall treat.
Ingredients
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, separated
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
3/4 cup canned pureed pumpkin, plus 1 tablespoon for the glaze
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, separated
1 cup confectioners sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons half and half (or milk)
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut 8 tablespoons butter into 1/2-inch cubes. Place in freezer for 15 minutes.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Place flour mixture in the bowl of a food processor. Add cubed butter and pulse 7 or 8 times until mixture looks like coarse meal. Some larger pieces of butter are fine. Transfer flour/butter mixture back to the bowl and place in freezer for 5 minutes.
3. Melt 4 tablespoons of butter. Mix with brown sugar, sugar, and walnuts. Set aside.
4. Whisk buttermilk, 3/4 cup pumpkin, maple syrup, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour mixture into dry ingredients. Gently fold into flour mixture until dough comes together. Do not over mix. Transfer dough to well-floured surface. Knead 8 to 10 times, adding flour if dough is tacky.
5. Cut 16-inch piece of wax paper and generously spread with flour. Place dough on floured wax paper and roll into a 10"x14" rectangle, sprinkling with flour if dough is tacky.
6. Spread sugar and walnut mixture evenly over dough. Lift one end of wax paper and separate dough to begin rolling. Roll dough from one end to the other, forming a log.
7. Cut log into 10 to 12 1-inch slices. Spray a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray. Place rolls in a cake pan. Place pan in oven and bake for 13 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool on rack for 10 minutes.
8. Whisk together confectioners sugar, half and half, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 tablespoon pumpkin until well-combined. Drizzle glaze over rolls and serve immediately.
https://southernboydishes.com/2015/09/05/pumpkin-biscuit-cinnamon-rolls/You may also like:
Bill Harris
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Hi Bill,
I stumbled across your blog from the Food Blogger Network. I LOVE this recipe. You have combined two of my favorite dishes together and once I make this dish, I fear I may never leave my house! Would the Pumpkin Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls taste good with a few raisins mixed in?
Thanks so much for dropping by, Thamica! I hope you enjoy the recipe.
I don’t think I’ve ever made cinnamon rolls, but I’ve eaten many of them. Could probably eat a batch of these.
These look fabulous! I love pumpkin and cinnamon rolls so this is the perfect combination!
Thank you so much, Elizabeth. I really appreciate your visit!
Biscuits are (indeed) in my DNA and I know you make them perfectly. This mashup makes sense too. Lastly, I can’t blame you for wanting to “tweak” the season forward. I’ve spent a few summers in GA. However, I must (with congeniality) tease you a little bit about that crazy Southern habit of ending your sentences with a preposition! GREG
Are you and Jim sure you don’t want to adopt your poor transplanted 2nd cousin? I would swear that the older I get, the more homesick I am for good ol’ Mississippi! However, with your cooking and a few well-played concertos I am sure I would be quite at home in the ATL! I would even wash the dishes!
I love your stories and food histories that you write with your recipes. You are quite talented in so many areas…Owen blood, perhaps? Someday, I will get my Jim headed down home and maybe together we can convince him that he has eaten the wrong end of the turnip all of his life! He says the greens are just a handle, lol!
Grandmommie (Jessie ) used to make a batter out of eggplant and fry it like potato pancakes. Yummy! I would love you even longer than forever if you could come up with a recipe that would produce a reasonable facsimile.
My love to all. Thanks for the memories you provide here. Oh, and the great recipes, too!!
Hi Cuz! Come on down South and I’ll be happy to cook for you!