Description
Golden pumpkin-shaped yeast buns made with real pumpkin purée, filled with an easy maple cream cheese mixture, and coated in buttery cinnamon sugar.
Ingredients
Scale
Ingredients You'll Need
We're making three components: soft pumpkin dough, maple cream cheese filling, and cinnamon-sugar coating.
For the Pumpkin Dough
- 4 cups (480 g) all-purpose flour, plus a little for handling
- 2¼ teaspoons (7 g) instant yeast
- ½ cup (120 ml) whole milk, lukewarm
- ¾ cup (180 g) pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (65–70 g) light brown sugar
- 5 tablespoons (70 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Maple Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz (226 g) full-fat block cream cheese, softened
- ⅓ cup (40 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- A small pinch of salt
For the Cinnamon-Sugar Coating
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- Short cinnamon-stick pieces, optional decorative stems
Instructions
- Combine milk, pumpkin purée, egg, brown sugar, vanilla, and instant yeast. Add flour, pumpkin pie spice, and salt. Mix with a dough hook until a rough dough forms.
- Knead for 3–4 minutes, gradually add softened butter, and knead another 6–10 minutes until smooth and slightly tacky.
- Cover in a greased bowl and rise for 60–90 minutes, until roughly doubled.
- Divide into 12 balls. Shape with four lengths of loosely tied, food-safe oven-safe cotton twine per bun, creating eight pumpkin sections.
- Cover and proof for 35–60 minutes, until puffy. Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Bake for approximately 18–23 minutes per batch, until golden and about 190°F internally. Cool completely and remove all twine.
- Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, maple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until smooth. Chill briefly if too soft to pipe.
- Make a small pocket underneath each bun and pipe in the filling without overfilling.
- Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with the cinnamon, sugar, and pumpkin spice mixture.
- Add optional decorative cinnamon-stick stems, removing them before eating.
Notes
- Pumpkin: Use plain pumpkin purée, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Flour: Weigh the flour if possible to avoid dense buns.
- Dough: It should be soft and slightly tacky. Avoid adding too much flour.
- Shaping: Use food-safe, oven-safe cotton twine and tie loosely to allow expansion. Remove all twine before filling.
- Filling: Beat the maple cream cheese ingredients together until smooth. Chill for 15–20 minutes if needed, then pipe into completely cooled buns.
- Make ahead: Bake unfilled buns one day ahead and refrigerate the filling separately.
- Storage: Refrigerate filled buns promptly and enjoy within 2–3 days for best quality.
- Decorations: Cinnamon-stick stems are decorative and must be removed before eating.
- Prep Time: 35 mins
- Cook Time: Yield: 12 buns
- Category: Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American