These easy pumpkin cinnamon rolls combine the classic flavor of cream cheese-frosted cinnamon rolls with a golden flaky twist, thanks to using crescent dough in place of traditional dough. You have to try it!
Things get a little sweeter at both of our houses when fall begins its steady approach. Our dessert recipes involve more and more pumpkin and apples, and we routinely make our sweet breakfast recipes to keep fall festive, as well.
We make everything from pumpkin spice and sweet apple cakes and pies to dessert dips during the fall. If it tastes like crisp weather and falling leaves, it’s on our table, and one of our favorite ways to serve up those flavors is with cinnamon rolls.
We love plating up delicious treats like these apple walnut cinnamon rolls, maple variations, and now, these easy pumpkin cinnamon rolls.
We got creative with this recipe and used crescent dough in place of traditional cinnamon roll dough. Also created braids and wrapped them in a pinwheel pattern to really take advantage of the texture of the dough and make the presentation a bit more unique.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: These cinnamon rolls are made with basic ingredients found in your kitchen or at your local grocery store.
- Easy: Using canned crescent rolls makes this an easy, semi-homemade recipe that requires no proofing or waiting and drastically reduces the work required to make it.
- Full of Fall Flavor: Every bite is full of sweet, pumpkin-infused cinnamon flavor, sweet cream cheese frosting, and golden, flaky crescent dough.
- Customizable: You can easily switch things up to make this recipe your own.
- Versatile: These are the perfect breakfast or brunch treat, afternoon snack, or dessert.
- Great for Meal Prep: These are freezer-friendly when unfrosted, so you can make extra and store them for future use.
Ingredients
You’ll find a complete list of ingredients and their exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Variations
- Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls: Use an equal amount of sweet potato puree in place of pumpkin puree for a different, but equally delicious cinnamon roll treat.
- Traditional: For a more traditional version, use canned cinnamon roll dough, cover it with the filling, roll it into a log, and slice it like regular cinnamon rolls.
- Frosting: We love cream cheese frosting on these cinnamon rolls, but you could go sweeter and use buttercream.
- Super Semi-Homemade: Use pumpkin pie filling in place of our homemade filling and prepackaged frosting in place of our homemade frosting for a super-fast version.
How to Make Easy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
1. Step 1: Unroll the crescent dough onto a lightly floured surface, pinch the seams together, and lightly roll it out until smooth.
2. Step 2: Mix the pumpkin filling ingredients in a medium bowl. Then, spread it over the crescent dough and sprinkle with chopped pecans.
3. Step 3: Roll out the second package of crescent dough in the same way as the first. Then, place it on top of the first dough sheet, pressing down gently.
4. Step 4: Cut the filled dough lengthwise into 8 strips.
5. Step 5: Pinch the sides of each strip together to seal them, twist them into a pinwheel, and place them in a prepared 9×13 baking dish.
6. Step 6: Bake at 375°F until golden brown.
7. Step 7: While the cinnamon rolls cool a bit, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Then, mix in the powdered sugar until creamy.
8. Step 8: Spread the frosting over the warm cinnamon rolls and enjoy!
Tips
- Roll your crescent dough lightly after pinching the seams together. You only want to smooth it out, not stretch it out.
- Use firm, gentle pressure when pressing the top piece of dough onto the filling-topped bottom piece of dough to ensure they are nicely sandwiched together.
- We find it easiest to make the pinwheels by keeping our finger on one end of the strip and using it as the center. Then, we wrap the rest of the strip around it while holding it in place.
- Spray your baking dish with nonstick spray just before filling it to avoid pooling at the bottom of the dish.
Easy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls FAQ
Using crescent dough creates a cinnamon roll that is flakier and more buttery than traditional cinnamon roll dough.
Yes, you can. Our homemade filling is basically pumpkin pie filling, so feel free to skip a couple of steps and use canned pie filling.
Chopped pecans and walnuts are the two most commonly used nuts for any cinnamon roll. However, other nuts such as hazelnuts, almonds, and even pistachios work very well.
More Delicious Cinnamon Roll Recipes
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Easy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 2 crescent rolls
Pumpkin Filling
- ½ cup canned pumpkin
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 ounce cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 and spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out crescent dough. Pinch seams together and roll out a bit to smooth.
- In a medium bowl, stir pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves together until combined.
- Spread pumpkin mixture over crescent dough.
- Sprinkle chopped pecans over pumpkin mixture.
- Roll out the second package of crescent dough, pinch seams together and roll a bit more.
- Place on top of the pumpkin mixture, press and then cut lengthwise into 8 pieces.
- Take one strip and pinch the sides together. Twist each strip about 6-7 times and roll into a pinwheel.
- Place each crescent roll into the prepared dish.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.
- Add vanilla and slowly add powdered sugar. Beat until creamy.
- Spread cream cheese frosting over cinnamon rolls and enjoy.
Notes
- Refrigerate for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Wrap individual cinnamon rolls in plastic wrap and freeze for up to a month in an airtight, freezer-safe container or heavy-duty freezer bag.
- Bring to room temperature before serving.
- Roll your crescent dough lightly after pinching the seams together. You only want to smooth it out, not stretch it out.
- Use firm, gentle pressure when pressing the top piece of dough onto the filling-topped bottom piece of dough to ensure they are nicely sandwiched together.
- We find it easiest to make the pinwheels by keeping our finger on one end of the strip and using it as the center. Then, we wrap the rest of the strip around it while holding it in place.
- Spray your baking dish with nonstick spray just before filling it to avoid pooling at the bottom of the dish.
I love this fall take on one of my favorite classics. I made these, and we just devoured them.
This is the best use of pumpkin I’ve tried. These are crazy good.
I paired these with a hot pumpkin spice latte for a cozy and delicious morning treat!
These were so delicious! They came out so soft and moist…and perfect with the frosting!
The pumpkin filling had a wonderful flavor and I really loved the texture of the crescent rolls. I will definitely make again.
I made these for breakfast and they were so soft. The pumpkin adds great flavor and the cinnamon filling is perfect!