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I love making these easy pumpkin shaped cinnamon rolls. They’re so good for breakfast and so tasty and sweet! These cute pumpkins made from Pillsbury Grand Cinnamon Rolls are simple enough for a beginner home baker. You will be so impressed with how these autumn cinnamon rolls come out, I guarantee it! You only need three ingredients for this canned cinnamon roll hack, plus two colours of food dye. It’s such a clever pumpkin shaped dessert idea. So let’s take a look at what you need for these homemade pumpkin treats.
Thanksgiving or Halloween cinnamon rolls are sticky buns which would also be perfect for a school party or other event. If you like cinnamon rolls, I just know you will love this easy Thanksgiving recipe. They’d make a nice Halloween treat too.
Thanksgiving turkey cookies are also a lot of fun to make. And you might want to try pumpkin s’mores cookies or pumpkin spice latte.
I always love a good cinnamon roll hack, like these heart shaped mini sugar donut holes. This pumpkin shaped dessert idea makes the CUTEST homemade pumpkin treats. They are almost too cute to eat! This recipe is inspired by the Pinning Mama. You will love these adorable Pillsbury pumpkin cinnamon rolls!
Easy Pumpkin Shaped Cinnamon Rolls Ingredients
So what do you need to make these cinnamon buns for the holiday season? To make these homemade pumpkin treats, you need a can of Pillsbury Grand’s Cinnamon Rolls plus powdered sugar, milk, and green and orange food dye. In addition to those basic ingredients you will need toothpicks, parchment paper and other things you already have like spoons and measuring cups.
Have you used Pillsbury Grand’s Cinnamon Rolls before? They’re so perfect for this pumpkin shaped dessert idea. You can make plain cinnamon rolls by arranging the dough in a baking pan and giving it about 25 minutes in the oven. You can frost the Pillsbury pumpkin cinnamon rolls when cool.
However, these pumpkins made from Pillsbury Grand Cinnamon Rolls step that recipe up a notch! Whether you go weak at the knees for cinnamon pastries or you want to make colourful autumn cinnamon rolls, these are great. It’s such an easy recipe and all you have to do is follow the directions and find out how to shape cinnamon rolls to make this super cute pumpkin cinnamon roll recipe.
How to Make these Homemade Pumpkin Treats
So now you’re wondering how to make this canned cinnamon roll hack for autumn cinnamon rolls. Well, these easy pumpkin shaped cinnamon rolls are certainly straightforward! So roll up your sleeves, put on your apron, learn some cinnamon roll hacks, and get ready to enjoy the tastiest, soft cinnamon rolls ever!
Open the package of rolls and arrange them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Pinch the tops and secure them all with toothpicks to get the pumpkin shape right. The toothpicks are necessary to get the stem shape on there. Don’t skip this step! You can then bake them following the directions on the package.
Now it’s time to make these plain cinnamon rolls into easy pumpkin shaped gooey cinnamon rolls! This easy treat is perfect for Thanksgiving morning or a weekend fall morning. Nothing is better than warm cinnamon rolls on a cool morning. This is one of those great recipes that you will make on repeat.
How to Make the Icing
Prepare the icing for these homemade pumpkin treats by combining milk with powdered sugar. You need to be careful in getting the consistency right. It should be thick enough to coat the rolls without being too thin enough to settle. Just use your own judgment.
Next up, you need the orange food coloring or food dye. This goes over the rolled part of each roll (everything except the pumpkin stem you pinched up before baking). The green food dye is to coat the stem. It is the green icing and the orange icing that make these yummy treats adorable!
You can use either brushes or small spoons to get the frosting/icing in the right places. Ideally you will want no orange frosting on the pumpkin stems and no green frosting on the pumpkin bodies.
Practice makes perfect though and unless you’re a professional baker these pumpkins made from Pillsbury Grand Cinnamon Rolls might not be 100% perfect. But it doesn’t matter too much and they’ll definitely taste great! Don’t frost them while they’re hot though or you will make a real mess with the icing.
Another Pumpkin Shaped Dessert Idea or Two
Although this canned cinnamon roll hack is great, there are more ideas to try if you’re looking for seasonal treats. What about a chocolate Bundt cake with white frosting running over the top or even a pumpkin Bundt cake? You could frost it in orange!
I have to say though these easy pumpkin shaped cinnamon rolls are by far the easiest option. And they look so cute! You will love how easy they are to make. For sure, this canned cinnamon roll recipe is ideal for pumpkin season or any time of year.
Canned Biscuit and Rolls History
Pillsbury rolls and other similar instant biscuits and rolls are really popular because they’re easy to work with. Of course they taste great too and you can make different recipes using them. These partially baked pastries are simple to work with. You just need to whack them on the countertop and then stretch them out and bake.
Pillsbury dates back to 1869 on the banks of the Mississippi and their offerings include biscuits, pie crust, crescent rolls, cookies, and cinnamon rolls. There are other brands of cinnamon rolls but I find with Pillsbury I know the quality I can expect so it’s worth paying a few cents more for the quality.
Storing this Pumpkin Shaped Sweet Treat
If you by change have leftovers of this cinnamon roll recipe, you can store them in an airtight container (or covered in plastic wrap) at room temperature for a day.
Pumpkin Shaped Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Super Easy Pumpkin Shaped Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 Can cinnamon rolls dough, Pillsbury Grand Cinnamon Rolls
- 1 1/2 Cup icing sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. milk
- 5 Drops food colouring, gel, green
- 5 Drops food colouring, gel, orange
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line an average sized baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the cinnamon rolls on the baking sheet, evenly spaced apart, with the end of the cinnamon roll facing to the left.
- Grip the end of the cinnamon roll and gently unroll it about 3 inches. Pinch it at the top of the cinnamon roll and make a little peak, about ½ an inch in height. Roll the rest of the flap like normal.
- Secure the middle of the pinch with a toothpick. Repeat for all cinnamon rolls.
- Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
- Remove and let cool fully.
- Once cooled, place 1 cup of the powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon of the milk in a small mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. You don’t want your icing to be too thin, you want it nice and thick, but still runny enough it will coat things well.
- Add the orange dye and mix until no streaks appear.
- Slowly and carefully spoon the orange onto the rolled portion of the cinnamon rolls, being careful to direct it with the spoon to cover every visible part of the roll. Do not cover the visibly peaked part you created with the toothpick.
- Place the rest of the milk and powdered sugar in a separate bowl and mix well.
- Add the green food dye to the bowl and mix until no streaks appear.
- Using a clean spoon, coat the stem portion that was covered by the orange icing. Direct the icing as you did with the orange and be sure it covers every portion of the pumpkin stem.
- Allow the cinnamon rolls to sit and dry for a few minutes.
Notes
- The icing turns out to be just enough for the 5 cinnamon rolls. If you don’t direct the icing and just let it drop everywhere, you may have to make more, and they won’t turn out as pretty.
- Be careful to not mix the colors as they will make some unsightly colors if so.
- The spoons were the MVPs of this recipe. I used them to glide and direct the icing to make the perfect coverage. This recipe is super easy, but to make it the prettiest, you have to be patient when applying the icing.
- If desired, you can add the dye to the icing that comes with the cinnamon rolls instead of making your own. I found that it didn’t come with near enough frosting and the coverage wasn’t as great or pretty as the homemade. Totally up to you.
- You can use other brands and shades of green and orange food dye. Just know that it might look different than these if you do as all dyes are not made equal.
- It’s important the cinnamon rolls cool before adding the icing or it will thin it out and the colors will be dull and not as visible, ruining the look of the cinnamon rolls.
- You have to use the toothpicks or the stems won’t appear. When baking, without the toothpick, the rolls will just form back into place.
Nutrition
With so few ingredients required to make the best and most easy pumpkin cinnamon roll shapes, this recipe is a keeper. Homemade pumpkin treats like these Halloween cinnamon rolls are a favourite around the time of Halloween or in fact just during fall. These autumn cinnamon rolls are definitely going to impress the entire family!
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Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
These pumpkin-shaped cinnamon rolls are adorable! They made my breakfast so festive and fun!
Just adorable. I made them for my daughter’s birthday last week and everyone loved them
I was a bit nervous making these because they look like something from a professional bakery but my concerns were unfounded because these were so easy and mine came out looking just like the ones in your photos. I made them for family brunch last week when my son came home from university because I know cinnamon buns are his favorites and he loved them and so did everyone else, so thank you for this wonderful recipe.
These are so cute! My kids would love them