Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Tomorrow is a day of true indulgence. We’ll pile our plates high with turkey and stuffing and sides, eat until we’re on the brink of explosion, then go back for dessert. Unbuttoning our pants and falling asleep on the couch are perfectly acceptable, if not encouraged behaviors. And as punishment for uttering that dirty, four letter d-word, “diet”, our mouths are washed out with pie. It’s a day where calories don’t count and seconds and thirds are mandatory. So why not start the day with a truly indulgent breakfast as well? How about a batch of delicious, gooey pumpkin cinnamon rolls?

They’re soft and fluffy and full of warm spicy goodness. And Oh. So. GOOD! Believe me when I say these are seriously incredible. I made smaller rolls because I had every intention of taking them to work to share, but it was dark by the time I got around to taking pictures (darn you, Winter!) so I had to wait until the next day to shoot. In the meantime, I ate a couple. And then a couple more. And a few more after that. By the end of the night, I’d eaten about a quarter of the pan. Oh darn.. Now I don’t have enough to share. Guess I won’t take them with me to work.. Over the next couple days, I ate them for breakfast. I ate them for dinner. I ate them as a midnight snack. I ate the entire pan. by. my. self. And I thought about making more.

In addition to tasting incredible, they’re actually incredibly easy to make. There’s no kneading involved. Heck, I didn’t even use my mixer! At all. For any of it. I did every bit of it with a whisk and a rubber spatula. Even the frosting. So there’s no excuse not to make these! I’ll even give you my secret proofing tip if it’ll help convince you. My house is always freezing cold. (seriously. I JUST turned the heat on a couple days ago when the thermostat finally dropped down to 55 degrees. Inside my house.) That’s exactly how I like it. So that “warm” place to let your dough rise doesn’t really exist in my house. My trick? I put it in the oven and turn the preheat on for about 30 to 45 seconds, then turn it back off. Makes a perfect little warm spot for my rolls to do their proofing. And now you truly have no excuse.

Cinnamon rolls take some time to put together, and you’ve already got so much to do for Thanksgiving, so make it easy on yourself by doing most of the work the night before. You can do up through most of step #5 tonight. Instead of allowing to rise in a warm area the second time, cover the dish and put them in the fridge to proof overnight. In the morning, pull them out of the fridge, let them finish rising in a warm area for about a half an hour, then pop in the oven to bake! Just make sure to snag a couple before everyone devours them to pack as a snack to enjoy while you’re standing in the early morning Black Friday lines! Gotta keep your energy up!