Pumpkin Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls

The two most popular recipes on this blog so far have been these paleo coconut s'more bars and this healthy pumpkin bread. 

So naturally I thought it would be a good idea to make a recipe that sort of combined the two. Paleo Pumpkin Cinnamon rolls. The alliteration even makes them sound good, right? 

Wrong. They were a complete disaster. In fact, they were inedible. 

This lead me to the conclusion that some things are best left un-paleo, and cinnamon rolls are one of them. 

So after throwing my first batch of cinnamon rolls into the trash, I started on these. 

The goal was to create cinnamon rolls that didn't require yeast. Ones that you could whip up start to finish in an hour, maybe on a holiday morning with lots of people over and limited time to wait for things to rise. (The day before/after Thanksgiving, perhaps?)

Luckily, I found Joy's recipe for biscuit cinnamon rolls, which I adapted slightly with some pumpkin puree and extra spices. 

These are not your traditional chewy stretchy cinnamon rolls. They're more like soft flaky biscuits that happen to be pumpkin flavored, stuffed with cinnamon sugar, and covered with icing. YUM.

I made a simple maple powdered sugar icing, but you could take things up a notch and add a couple of tablespoons of cream cheese. 

There's a good chance you have all the ingredients on hand to make these today, or tomorrow, or next weekend. Do it!

By the way, if you really want to make some paleo cinnamon rolls, try your hand at these.

Pumpkin Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

For the rolls:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
pinch of salt

For the icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9-inch round pan with cooking spray. Prepare a clean, floured space on your counter for kneading/rolling.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar baking soda, salt, and spices.

In a medium bowl, combine pumpkin puree, egg, milk, and vanilla extract.

Cut butter into dry ingredients using a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should be crumbly.

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Dough will be slightly sticky.

Pour onto prepared counter and knead 10-15 times, adding flour as needed. (up to an additional 1/2 cup).

Use a rolling pin* to roll dough out into rectangle of 1/2 inch thickness. (about 10 by 12 inches if you can)

Sprinkle with filling mixture. Starting from the long side of the triangle, roll toward the other side. (The underside of my dough was sticky here, so add a little extra flour if you need to)

Use a serrated knife to cut into 1-inch thick slices. Place in pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until dough is set and slightly browned.

To make icing, simply mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Use a spoon to drizzle over warm rolls.

Devour!

*Once when I was without a rolling pin, I used an old wine bottle. Do what you have to do!

Adapted from Joy the Baker.