Raise your hand if you love homemade cinnamon rolls. OK, now that you’ve all raised your hands and are craving some warm, gooey goodness, this recipe is for you!
During the holiday season, I love waking up on chilly weekend mornings and making a sweet breakfast item, like cinnamon rolls. But if we’re being honest, I don’t really enjoy the time that goes into making cinnamon rolls. Some of them you must let rise, then roll them up and cut them…there can be a lot of steps!
I figured I would cut down on steps by putting the classic cinnamon baked goodness into a cake.
And since we’re fully into the late fall/winter season, I thought these bad boys needed to be pumpkin flavored!
Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake
Ingredients:
For the cake
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, divided
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup whole wheat flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅔ cup 100% pumpkin puree
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon
For the glaze
- ¼ cup cream cheese, room temperature
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8-by-8-inch baking pan with parchment paper and grease the sides.
Add the softened butter, sugar and ¼ cup brown sugar in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until well combined.
In a separate bowl, combine both flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt with a whisk.
Alternate adding the flour mixture and the pumpkin puree into the wet ingredients until well combined. Take the remaining ¼ cup of brown sugar and mix it with the cinnamon. Set aside.
Pour ½ the batter in the pan, sprinkle with ½ of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Spoon the remaining batter into the pan, spread evenly. Top with the rest of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Create that typical cinnamon sugar swirl in the cake by sprinkling the mixture in between layers of batter and swirling together with a knife.
Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool before removing from the pan. While the cake cools, make the glaze. Combine all the glaze ingredients and beat until smooth. Frost the cake once completely cooled.
Cut into squares and serve.
