Recipe: Pumpkin Rolls

My grandson, Jonathan, asked me to provide a pumpkin pie recipe for Patch, but everybody makes pumpkin pie. I wanted to spice things up with a recipe for something that is not found on every Thanksgiving table. The pumpkin roll is a tasty treat, and best of all, it is not difficult to make.

Ingredients 

Rolls
2 1/2 cups flour                                         
1/4 cup sugar                                             
1 teaspoon lemon peel                             
3/4 teaspoon salt                                         
1 package yeast
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup butter (or margarine)
2/3 cup milk 

Crumb topping
3/4 cup flour                                               
1/2  cup brown sugar (firmly packed)          
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon                              
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon (approximately) milk 

Directions

1) Getting the Rolls Started

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, lemon peel, salt and yeast; mix well. In a small sauce pan, heat 2/3 cup milk, pumpkin and butter until very warm. Add warm mixture to flour mixture. Mix well. Stir in additional flour for rolls 1/2 cup at a time until the dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.

Transfer to a lightly floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic, adding flour as necessary to keep dough from sticking. Place dough in a greased bowl; spray top of dough with vegetable spray, cover; let rise until the dough doubles in size, which will be about 30 to 40 minutes.

2) Adding the Crumb Topping, and into the Oven

In a small bowl, mix the crumb topping flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice and butter.

Punch down dough to remove the air bubbles. On a lightly floured board roll dough out to 16x10 inch rectangle. Spoon 1 1/4  cups of the crumb topping evenly over the dough; sprinkle with the chopped nuts. Starting with the 16-inch side, roll up tightly, pressing edges to seal. Cut into 16 slices. Place cut side down in two 8-inch cake pans, 8 in each pan spread several inches apart.

Cover with plastic or cloth towel. Let rise in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 40 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Uncover dough. Sprinkle with remaining crumb topping. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

3) The Final Glaze 

In a small bowl, blend together all glaze ingredients, adding enough milk for drizzling consistency. Drizzle over warm rolls.

Mix some of these pumpkin rolls in with your regular dinner rolls and enjoy.

Albert Friedman lives in Pembroke Pines, Fla and is an experienced baker. He is the grandfather of Malibu Patch editor .

This article first appeared on Malibu Patch.