Pumpkin Part Deux
Did you check out those delicious Pumpkin Donuts from earlier this week? Obviously one post for the first week of fall dedicated to pumpkin is not enough... So next up, the Pumpkin Cinna-Biscuits!
Okay, now these were an experiment, and I'm happy to say I think they turned out better than I though they would. Remember a while back when I made Cinna-Biscuits? These are a fall spin off from that recipe! I took them to the office and most people seemed to like them. I re-heated mine the next day in the toaster oven and it was the perfect breakfast treat!
Anytime I'm trying a new recipe, or really just cooking and baking in general, I like to get everything out there on the table. When I'm experimenting, it's nice to have all the ingredients there, just incase I have to add more flour, sugar, or what have you, and when I'm cooking a meal, it helps me feel not so exhausted when I'm finished, because I haven't been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get everything I need. I know a lot of my friends always say, "I'm always so exhausted after I cook!" or "It feels like a chore to make dinner!" - those my friends are not good excuses. You can make cooking fun! You just have to prepare and prep.
Since my little kitchen is so little I am constantly using my dinning table, having a small kitchen should never be an excuse to not make a home cooked meal or bake something from scratch. I highly recommend gathering all your materials before you ever start a recipe, cutting your onions, slicing your apples, measuring out any ingredients, etc. and finding a space in your kitchen or near your kitchen that is big enough for you get all your ingredients out and divide and conquer your recipe. Don't be afraid to dirty some dishes! If you're the type of person who really thinks cooking is a chore, this will help you get out of that mentality.
Okay... that was my soap box speech for this post... now back to the cinna-biscuits!
These are fairly easy, and the biscuits themselves can be made a day or two ahead, and then the next day you can warm them up and ice them, making them the perfect brunch/pot luck treat! They have quite a bit of pumpkin, so that flavor really stands out, the texture is definitely more biscuit-y, not really yeast roll-y. The nice thing about that is since there's no yeast, and in turn no wait, they're great to make if you're having someone drop by that you're not expecting or if you're pantry isn't stocked with yeast, and you really don't want to go to the store but you want to make something special for breakfast.
Pumpkin Cinna-Biscuits
Step-By-Step
Don't have buttermilk? Don't worry! Just squeeze some lemon in milk/cream, give it a sir and let it sit...
make your buttermilk pumpkin mixture...
now to the dry ingredients... flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt...
cube the butter...
cut the butter into the dry ingredients... the mixture should look crumbly...
add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture...
stir until just combined... don't over mix or it'll get tough!
stick the dough in the fridge and start on the filling... melt the butter and whisk together the brown sugar and spices...
take half of you dough and roll on a HEAVILY floured surface...
cover the dough with butter and then your brown sugar-spice mix...
roll it up!
cut into 11/2 inch pieces...
place into parchment lined-greased pan...
bake them up...
make your icing...
don't forget the spices!
cover your cinna-biscuits with some delicious cream cheese-ness...
PUMPKIN CINNA-BISCUITS
INGREDIENTS
Dough
1 cup chilled pumpkin puree
3/4 cup chilled buttermilk*
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
1/2 stick melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
Icing
3 oz. cream cheese
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup powder sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon milk
1 tablespoon cinnamon
big pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cloves
INSTRUCTIONS
to make the dough start by making your buttermilk...if you have buttermilk ignore this step
mix the pumpkin and buttermilk together
gather all your dry ingredients into a large bowl: flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
cut your cold, cubed butter into your flour
refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes or so
make your filling, start by melting the butter and combining the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutment, cloves, and ginger
preheat your oven to 370 F and take the chilled dough and divide it into two
take the 1st half of the dough and roll it out on a HEAVILY floured surface into a large rectangle
cover with half the melted butter and then half the cinnamon-sugar mixture
roll it up and slice into inch and a half pieces
repeat the steps above with the second half of the dough
line a 9 in round pan with parchment and a little butter
starting from the inside of the pan and working out place your roll pieces in the pan
bake for 35-40 minutes
let cool in the pan for 20 minutes or so
while they're cooling make the icing (if you're serving these the next day wait to add the icing until after you reheat them!)
to make the icing combine your softened cream cheese and butter
add 1/2 of the powder sugar and give it a good stir
add your milk, stir it up
add the rest of the sugar and then the spices and vanilla, stir some more... and then some more
if it seems too thick add a drop of milk to thin it out... but remember if you're icing hot rolls, this will "melt" a little
remove the rolls from the pan and pull them apart just a little
pour the icing over the top and let it flow into all the nooks and crannies
serve and enjoy!
notes:
*did you know you can make buttermilk with a good squeeze of lemon and regular milk/cream/half 'n half? Just stir it up and watch the curdles form. You'll never have to throw out unused buttermilk again!