From the kitchen: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls {with cream cheese glaze!}

Who’s ready for fall?!! This girl has both hands way up in the air! I’m ready for leaves on the ground, cozy blankets, wearing tights, and pumpkin everything! Fall may be a whole week away, but I’m getting a head start on the baking adventures that come with the season – beginning with pumpkin cinnamon rolls! These delicious, fluffy, cinnamony, sweet buns are the perfect addition to an autumn Sunday morning. Serve them warm with cream cheese glaze and a hot cup of coffee. Simply perfect. Enjoy! -xo

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Glaze {adapted from Smitten Kitchen}

Makes about 16 rolls

Dough
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, to be divided
1/2 cup whole milk
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (from 7 gram envelope yeast)
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling out
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon table salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
2/3 cups pumpkin puree, canned or homemade
1 large egg
Oil for coating rising bowl

Filling
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Glaze
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Brown butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Butter will foam (this is the moisture being removed) and very soon after you’ll begin to smell a wonderful nutty aroma. That’s good! Let the butter cook just a little longer until it becomes slightly golden with small brown bits, but don’t leave it unattended as it burns in the blink of an eye! Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.

Warm milk over low heat to no more 116 degrees F. Combine warmed milk and yeast in a small bowl and set aside. After five to seven minutes, it should be a bit foamy. If it’s not, you might have some bad yeast and should start again with a newer packet.

In the bottom of the bowl of an electric mixer combine flour, sugars, salt and spices. Add 1/4 cup of browned butter (set the rest aside) and stir to combine. Add yeast-milk mixture, pumpkin and egg and mix until just combined. Switch mixer to a dough hook and run it for 5 minutes on low, scraping down any dough that has stuck to the side of the bowl.

Place dough in a large, well oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for 1 hour in a draft-free place; it should just about double. While it’s rising, line the bottom of two 8-inch round or square cake pans  with parchment paper and butter the sides of the pan and the paper.

Scoop dough onto a very well floured surface and flour the top of it well. With a rolling pin, roll the dough to an approximately 16×11-inch rectangle. Brush reserved browned butter over dough. Stir together remaining filling ingredients and sprinkle mixture evenly over dough. Starting on a longer side, roll the dough into a tight spiral. Don’t worry if some filling spills out.

Using a sharp serrated knife, gently run the knife back and forth and cut log into 1-inch sections.

Divide buns between two prepared pans. You can sprinkle any sugar that fell off onto the counter over them. Cover each pan with plastic wrap and let rise for another 45 minutes.

If you’re doing this ahead of time, you can now put them in the fridge overnight. In the morning, leave them out for an hour to warm up and finish rising.

15 minutes before you’re ready to bake them, heat the oven to 350°F. Meanwhile, you can make the glaze. Beat your cream cheese until it is light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Add milk and mix until you reach a drizzle consistency. You may need to add a little more milk if your glaze is too thick.

Remove the plastic and bake buns for 25 minutes, until puffed and golden. Transfer pans to wire cooling racks and drizzle with cream cheese glaze. Now eat up!