October Sweet Rolls

Hot out of the oven!

I have been craving cinnamon rolls for a couple of weeks now and wanted to find way to create a version that didn't have butter or vegan margarine but still tasted great.  I had the idea to use ground nuts as the fat in the gooey insides along with ground dates and talked to my daughter, the pastry chef about it this morning.  She recommended I use pumpkin puree as a spread over the dough.  I combined our two ideas into a new invention which I like to call, October Sweet Rolls.

This isn't a low fat recipe, just lower than my old standard cinnamon roll recipe which called for lots of butter, loads of sugar and even heavy cream poured over the top.  Geez, those don't even sound good now.

Ingredients for the dough:

1 cup near boiling water
1 cup cold rice milk
     —Combine, make sure it isn't too hot and then add:
2 teaspoons dried yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon raw sugar
2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
1 cup better for bread flour
2 cups whole wheat plus enough additional to make into a not too sticky dough
Mix until smooth dough forms, let rise until double in warm location.

Filling:
Wet:
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, organic "Ceylon" type to get the health benefits
     —
1/2 teaspoon vanilla to be added after cooking
1/4 cup vegan cream cheese to be added after cooking.

Dry:
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup figs
dates, about 8 pitted
2 teaspoons flaxseed meal
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, organic "Ceylon"
1/4 cup brown sugar

Place walnuts, figs and dates into a food processor and grind to a fine crumb, then toss with remaining dry ingredients. Set aside. (Note: I used a Ninja for this but had to divide this into 4 parts to complete the task.)

Place first four wet ingredients into a 2 or 3 quart saucepan, stir over medium heat and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes to reduce the moisture.  Remove from heat and let cool for 15 minutes. Place vanilla and cream cheese in small blender (like a Ninja) along with half the pumpkin puree mixture. Pulse to combine. Then stir in remaining pumpkin mixture. Let cool to just warm.

Roll out dough to form a large rectangle, about 16"x24".  Spread pumpkin puree mixture to cover dough.  Sprinkle dry nut crumbly mixture over pumpkin. Roll tightly to form 24" loaf. Slice into 1 1/2" rolls using dental floss to cut.

October Sweet Rolls, ready for the rise before placing into the oven.
A new take on cinnamon rolls.

Place rolls into prepared glass casserole pans so that they have room to expand. (Prepare by coating with coconut oil and a light dusting of brown sugar on the bottom of each pan.)
After they rise to double, bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.