Christmas Cinnamon Rolls | My Secret Ingredient |

Once your dough has nicely doubled in size, gently place it onto a lightly floured surface to work. Press all of the air out of your dough ball, then grab your rolling pin. Lightly coat your rolling pin with flour and begin to roll out your dough into a rectangular shape. It does not need to be a perfect rectangle, just the basic shape will do. I roll mine out until it is about a quarter of an inch in depth. If you find that your dough is not cooperating after you de-gas it, let it rest for a few minutes before trying to roll it out.

You will not be using butter to make your cinnamon rolls. My secret to perfect cinnamon rolls that will stay fresh and moist for days is to use canned pumpkin puree! I promise, you will not be even be able taste the pumpkin. (NOTE: Do NOT use pumpkin pie filling).

Take 1 cup of pumpkin puree and spread it evenly over your rolled out dough. I like to use a small offset spatula, but a butter knife would work just fine also. (I always save the remaining from the can and mix it into a batch of cookies).

Once the pumpkin puree is nice and evenly covering your dough, sprinkle 1/2 cup light brown sugar over it. Then, generously cover with ground cinnamon. I don’t measure out the cinnamon, I just make sure it has a really nice layer to it.

Roll your dough into a tight spiral starting from the long side of your rectangle. I start in the middle and work my way to the end to make it easier. As you roll ,you might find that the middle gets thicker than the ends. When this happens to me, I pull on the dough a bit from the middle to help even it out. Once I roll it up completely, I give a gentle to pinch to the seam to seal it just a bit and make it easier to place in the pan.

My trick for making nice crisp looking cinnamon rolls is to use unflavored dental floss. I just slide it under and cross it at the top, then pull it through the dough. Before I begin slicing my actual cinnamon rolls, I cut off the ends. I find that they just don’t look nice and don’t have a lot of filling so I discard about a inch from each end. One I do that, I slice about 1 1/2 inch cinnamon rolls using the dental floss and place them into a lightly greased pan.

Once all of your cinnamon rolls are placed into your greased pan, it is time for the second rise. I place a tea towel gently over them and just let them sit for about 45 minutes or until they are nicely doubled in size. I always make sure to preheat my oven during this point as well. You will be baking them at 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Celsius.

Once they are nicely doubled in size, it is finally time to bake. You will bake for 10 -15 minutes depending on your oven. Once the cinnamon rolls are nicely golden brown it is time to take them out. To prevent them from getting tough be sure to remove them from the baking dish after about 5 minutes or so. I place mine into a large serving bowl covered with a tea towel until they are completely cooled.

And there you have it! Perfect Christmas cinnamon rolls. If you prefer to have icing with yours you can make some cream cheese frosting very easily by mixing together 1/2 cup unsalted butter, 8 oz softened cream cheese, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp. salt, and 4 cups powdered sugar. So simple, and so delicious!

Enjoy your yummy treat and have a very Merry Christmas ❤