These pumpkin pie sticky buns are a delicious twist on a classic pastry. The soft, sweet buns are swirled with pumpkin pie filling, then topped with pumpkin syrup and chopped hazelnuts. One bite and you’ll be hooked!
A few years ago, I went on a pumpkin rampage. I made everything from homemade pumpkin ravioli to pumpkin chili. I must have overdone it, because I hardly used any pumpkin at all for the next few years. This year, I’m ready to tiptoe back into the world of pumpkin.
I’ve been in the mood to bake lately, and have spent the past few weekend in the kitchen perfecting some new pastry recipes. These pumpkin pie sticky buns were an immediate favorite – they’re perfect as an easy breakfast along with a cup of steaming hot coffee.
When I first started dreaming up this recipe, I thought I would use pumpkin in the sweet dough and fill them with a classic cinnamon roll filling. After giving it some more thought, though, I decided to keep the dough plain and make an easy pumpkin pie filling for the rolls instead. I couldn’t be happier with my choice! The custardy filling gives the buns loads of pumpkin flavor and eliminates the need for any butter in the filling.
I topped the pumpkin pie sticky buns with chopped hazelnuts and Amoretti Crema di Pumpkin Pie syrup. I love the way the sweet, buttery hazelnuts pair with the pumpkin-pie flavor but, if you prefer, you can also use pecans for a more traditional sticky bun. Whichever you choose, be sure to completely cover the bottom of your pan with chopped nuts – they’ll form a barrier between the syrup and the dough, ensuring you’ll get that nice, sticky topping that’s so important in a sticky bun.
Amoretti Crema di Pumpkin Pie Syrup made the perfect sticky topping without having to mess around with boiling sugar.It has a great pumpkin pie flavor – I can really taste the nutmeg in it – and I love that it’s made from all natural ingredients. It’s richer and more concentrated than other flavored syrups, without being as cloyingly sweet. You can buy it on Amazon here.
I’ve been enjoying the syrup in my coffee for the past few weeks (it’s delicious in hazelnut coffee, which is where I got the idea to use them instead of pecans on these buns) but since a little goes a long way, there’s plenty in the bottle to use in culinary experiments, too (call me crazy, but I really want to try it in baked beans. I think it would be fantastic!)
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk or unsweetened nondairy milk of your choice
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 1 packet 0.75 ounces instant yeast
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all purpose flour
For the filling:
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 Tablespoon milk or nondairy milk of your choice
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
For the topping:
- 12 pumps Amoretti® Crema di Pumpkin Pie syrup
- 2 tablespoon butters cut into 12 pats
- 1 cup hazelnuts roughly chopped
Instructions
- Add the milk and butter to a medium saucepan set over low heat. Cook until the butter is melted and the milk is very warm, but not hot (about 120ºF.)
- Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle the yeast into the warm milk; let sit 10 minutes. Stir in the sugar and salt. Add the flour little by little, stirring to form a thick dough. When the dough gets too thick to stir, turn it out onto the counter and knead it a few times to work in the lats of the flour. Shape the dough into a ball.
- Lightly grease your mixing bowl, then add the dough. Cover loosely and let rest in a warm place until doubled in size – about 40 minutes.
- Heat your oven to 350ºF.
- While the dough rests, prepare the filling by mixing together the pumpkin, milk, cinnamon, and sugar. Prepare two 6-cup cupcake tins by adding 1 pump of syrup and 1 pat of butter to each cup. Divide the hazelnuts among each cup.
- Roll the dough into a large rectangle (about 9x13 inches). Spread the dough with a thin, even layer of the pumpkin filling. Working from a long side, tightly roll the dough.
- Use a serrated knife to cut the dough into 12 rolls. Place 1 roll into each prepared cup.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, until the buns are puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes, then run a knife along the edge of each roll to help loosen it and invert onto a baking sheet. If any topping remains in the pan, spoon it back onto the sticky buns.
Notes
I developed this recipe for my client, Amoretti. For more information about their products, visit them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep me inspired in the kitchen.
The hazelnut topping is awesome! I cannot recall the last time I had sticky buns (prob my grandma).
So, I’m actually not a huge fan of pumpkin (call me crazy, especially for a blogger), but I could definitely be tempted by a warm one of the buns, fresh from the oven. All those hazelnuts! And that sticky syrup! Yessssssss!
I want to shove my face in the pan. These are so pretty. I can almost smell them. Great recipe.
You can never go wrong with pumpkin pie sticky buns! Great idea to use the syrup as the glaze.
Oh. Em. Gee!! Pairing hazelnuts with pumpkin is such a great idea. You can have two without guilt because of the no butter in the filling thing, right?
They look delicious and I love your pan!
One of the most delicious sounding sticky bun recipes I’ve seen in a long time! Love the idea of using the syrup in the topping. Gotta get a bottle of that asap.
Oh hi….can you send this to me for breakfast tomorrow morning? That Amoretti syrup sounds amazing and totally perfect for including in these buns….yum!
I’ve been pumping out pumpkin recipes left and right and quite frankly I’m all done and it’s not even October. Oh well, but love the topping on these!