A healthier and simple recipe for cinnamon rolls with one special ingredient…pumpkin!

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With fall approaching, that means one thing…PUMPKIN SEASON! 

If you’re at all like me, then you’ve been waiting for the temperature to drop so you can bust out the baking supplies and comfy sweaters. 

These healthier pumpkin cinnamon rolls are the perfect fall weather treat. Great for breakfast or as a dessert, they are fully loaded with all the comforting fall flavors. 

We’re calling these ‘healthier’ because we’re using Greek yogurt instead of butter or eggs to make our dough, making these cinnamon rolls really low in fat! 

The best part about this dough is there is no rise time required. Once you’ve formed the dough into a ball you can immediately begin to roll it out into a rectangle to make your cinnamon rolls. No yeast = no rise time = the faster you can devour these pumpkin cinnamon rolls!

What Ingredients are Needed for Healthier Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls?

All Purpose Flour: Regular all-purpose flour or for those with gluten sensitivities you can use a gluten-free flour blend like this one.

Baking Powder: To help our cinnamon roll dough rise.

Greek Yogurt: Greek yogurt is our secret weapon for making the dough and icing. It offers a lighter option for the icing and helps to bind our dough together without the use of eggs or yeast.

Salt: Table salt to add to our dough.

Pumpkin Puree: 100% canned pumpkin to be used in our dough. Do not use canned pumpkin pie mix.

Pumpkin Butter: This will be used to spread onto our rolled out dough. You can use store bought or attempt to make your own. Pumpkin butter is simply a combination of pumpkin puree and other fall ingredients like apple cider, cinnamon, brown sugar, and cloves. 

Ground Cinnamon & Pumpkin Pie Spice: These will be sprinkled generously over top of the pumpkin butter to make our filling extra delicious. 

Coconut Sugar: A refined-sugar free substitute for white or brown sugar. 

Powdered Sugar: This will be the base for our icing. Feel free to swap for a sugar-free powdered sugar instead if you’re looking to decrease the added sugars.

Vanilla Extract: Used for our icing.

Kitchen Tools Needed for this Recipe

• Deep 8x8 baking pan
• Floss or very sharp knife
• Mixing bowls

Looking for Similar Recipes? Try These:

• Vegan Chocolate Fudge Banana Bread
• Savory Tahini Banana Bread
• Carrot Cake & Banana Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

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How to Make Healthier Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Prep: Preheat the oven to 350° F and grease an 8x8 baking tray with cooking oil.

Make the Dough: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and 1 tbsp of coconut sugar and whisk together. Add the Greek yogurt and pumpkin puree and fold together until a dough ball starts to form.

Lightly flour a hard surface and transfer the dough ball to the floured surface. Knead the dough with your hands until it is no longer a sticky ball, may need to add more flour as you go. 

Using a rolling pin, dusted with flour, roll out the dough into a ½ inch thick rectangle.

Add the Filling: Brush the pumpkin butter over the top of the dough and then evenly sprinkle the dough with coconut sugar, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.

Form the Cinnamon Roll Log: From the shorter end of the dough, slowly roll it up until a log shape is formed. Using a sharp knife or a piece of floss, slice into 9 even pieces. I find the floss method most effective. To do the floss method, get a big piece of unflavored floss and slip it under the edge of your cinnamon roll log. Place it where you want the first roll to be sized and criss-cross and pull to cut the cinnamon roll out from the log. Repeat until all your cinnamon rolls are cut.

Bake the Cinnamon Rolls: Place each cinnamon roll, spiral side down, in the greased pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until rolls start to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes. 

Make the Icing: While the rolls are cooling, prepare the glaze by mixing the powdered sugar with the yogurt and vanilla extract. Drizzle over the top of the pumpkin cinnamon rolls and enjoy!