PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS

I came back from New York with 10 extra kilos of body fat, a spotty face, 10 litres of maple syrup and an obsession with all things pumpkin. In this recipe, you’ll find two of the above – that is, the maple syrup and pumpkin, if there’s any need for clarifying.

Weeeell, these moistest-ever-moist pumpkin cinnamon rolls with a super sticky maple glaze are such a mouth-watering twist on the traditional cinnamon rolls. It makes me a little bit emotional because my life is not the same now that I don’t have my pumpkin spice soya latte twice a day anymore and don’t see lines of pretty, pretty (massive) pumpkins in front of every house on every street.

Let’s just devour them celebrating my newfound friend America and by the way also that Adam got me this internet domain and my blog is all serious now (he is, oh, the best). And that today I chopped all my hair off (don’t ask). And lastly, that my friend Kris gave me the vegan bible as a present for my birthday. I’m making everything that’s in there. Omnom – tears of gratitude/melancholy – omnomnom – repeat.

PUMPKIN CINNAMON ROLLS

with maple glaze

Dough recipe slightly adapted from hell yeah it’s vegan

6g (2¼ teaspoons) dried quick yeast

60ml (¼ cup) lukewarm water

160g (¾ cup) pureed pumpkin

2 tablespoons margarine, melted

260g (2 cups) plain flour

2 tablespoons sugar

¼ teaspoon pumpkin spice mix

½ teaspoon salt

70g (½ cup) soft brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

55g (¼ cup) margarine, melted

Glaze:

60g (1 cup) icing sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon maple extract

First mix yeast and lukewarm water in a small bowl, mix well until all combined and set aside for about 10 minutes or until it bubbles up. In a separate bowl mix together flour, sugar, pumpkin spice mix and salt. Add pureed pumpkin and melted margarine to the yeast mixture, mix well, then make a well in your dry mix and pour the liquids in, stirring well. Knead for a couple of minutes until smooth, adding extra flour a little bit at a time if the dough is too sticky.

Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside to rise for an hour. After an hour the yeast beast should have doubled in size – on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangle about 1cm/½ inch thick. Spread the melted margarine over the top then sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon evenly. Starting at the short end, roll the dough up tightly into a log, then cut into 6 even slices. Arrange in a lightly greased cake tin, cover and leave to rise for another 40 minutes. Preheat your oven to 190°C/375°F and when ready bake for 25 minutes. Leave the rolls to cool in their tin placed on a cooling rack, and in the meantime make the glaze. Simply mix together the sugar, maple syrup, water and maple extract until smooth, then pour over the rolls and seeeerve.