Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake

This sweet casserole is a combination of pumpkin pie and cinnamon rolls, pecans and crystallized ginger. Topped with sweet glaze and a dollop of fresh whipped cream.

Imagine this delicious morsel in front of you right now – Pumpkin pie flavor infused into warm cinnamon rolls with nutty pecans, drizzled with sweet-buttery icing topped with  homemade whipped cream.  Creating this festive, sweet casserole couldn’t be easier.

I started with 2 cans of cinnamon rolls. Open the cans, separate, and cut each cinnamon roll into smaller pieces.

The entire batch is then dumped into a 9×13-inch baking dish and covered with a mixture of canned pumpkin, spices, brown sugar, milk, crystallized ginger and chopped pecans.

Ingredients in Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake

Canned cinnamon rolls- I use two cans of cinnamon rolls from the refrigerated section of my grocery store

Canned pumpkin puree- Pumpkin with no sweeteners or spices. In other words, don’t use pumpkin pie mix

Pumpkin Pie Spice- Pumpkin pie spice differs from brand to brand, but my favorite (Trader Joe’s) is a combination of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, lemon peel, and cardamom

Eggs- Four eggs help to hold everything together as it bakes

Brown sugar- The cinnamon rolls are already sweet but adding just a third cup of brown sugar is needed to sweeten the pumpkin mixture

Evaporated milk- Evaporated milk is nicely rich and thick but you can replace with a lesser quantity of regular milk or an equal amount of cream

Crystalized or candied ginger-

Pecans- You may substitute walnuts or leave out the nuts completely, if you like.

What’s the best canned cinnamon roll?

I’ve used almost every brand I can think of for this recipe for Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake. I’m partial to Immaculate Bakes or Annie’s because they both have fewer ingredients, but both of these, as well as Pillsbury or your local store brand provide a delicious base to ensure success in the recipe.

What’s the difference between canned pumpkin and canned pumpkin pie filling?

Canned pumpkin and pumpkin puree are both just simply canned, cooked pumpkin. Pumpkin pie filling is pre-sweetened and has been spiced up with cinnamon, clove, allspice, and ginger. Make sure you’re purchasing the correct ingredient specified in whatever recipe you’re making. They are not interchangeable.

After baking, it’s nicely puffed and ready to cut and serve.

Top the cake with glaze while it’s still hot. Use the glaze packets that come with the canned rolls, or if you want to offer more glaze to go around, I provide a simple recipe below so you can add as much as you want, more than you need!

Can Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake be made ahead of time?

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Cake is best served warm but you can definitely make it up to 24 hours ahead of serving, refrigerate, then reheat in a low oven until heated through again. Top with glaze and whipping cream. This recipe is so simple, yet so impressive.

In the spirit of the season, this pumpkin cinnamon roll goodness isn’t complete without a nice dollop of fresh whipped cream and extra cinnamon or ginger.

This is such a great recipe during the holidays. It’ll satisfy pumpkin pie lovers, as well as anyone craving cinnamon roll-goodness. Easily served at brunch, a buffet, or a dinner-party. To customize serving options for your guests, dish up individual servings and then pass around the icing, and whipped cream so everyone can have it the way they want.

Tips for success-

Seriously, this recipe is so easy, there are no special “remember to do this” things to say, other than to follow the recipe as written. You can’t get it wrong! 🙂

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5 from 12 votes

Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Bake

This recipe can is best served warm. Either serve right out of the oven, or refrigerate up to 24 hours before serving, reheat in a low temperature oven until warmed through, and top with icing and whipped cream.

Course Baking

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 12

Calories 320

Author Sally Humeniuk

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• 2 17.5 oz. cans refrigerator cinnamon rolls
• 4 eggs, large
• 1 cup canned pumpkin, (unsweetened. Should be just pumpkin)
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 5 oz. can evaporated milk, (or ½ cup any milk)
• ⅓ cup crystallized ginger, chopped (optional)
• ½ cup coarsely chopped pecans, more, if desired
• 16 oz. whipping cream
• Vanilla and sugar, to taste, for beating into whipped cream
• Additional crystallized ginger for grating over top of whipped cream

For Homemade pumpkin pie spice if you can't find pre-made-

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

For An Easy Classic Glaze Recipe:

• For this recipe, I like to offer extra icing which means the icing packets that come with refrigerator cinnamon rolls may not be enough.
• 2 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon milk
• Mix the sugar, butter and vanilla together. Add about half the milk and stir until a creamy glaze starts to form. Then add a drop at a time of more milk until desired thickness is reached. If glaze starts to form a crust, just stir again before pouring.

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 375F degrees.
• Unroll 2-17.5 ounce cans cinnamon rolls on baking parchment. Reserve icing packs for later. Separate into 10 rolls. Cut each roll into 8 pieces; place in lightly buttered 13x9-inch (3 quart) glass or ceramic baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, beat 4 eggs, 1 cup pumpkin, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, ⅓ cup brown sugar, 5 ounces evaporated milk and ⅓ cup ginger until well blended. Pour evenly over cut rolls in dish. Sprinkle ½ cup pecans over top.
• Bake uncovered 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, cover baking dish with foil and bake covered 10 minutes longer (this prevents the top from over-browning but allows the bottom to continue to bake).
• Remove from oven to cooling rack. Uncover; cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, whip 16 ounces cream with vanilla and sugar, to taste.
• Cut into individual servings and drizzle glaze over top (if making your own glaze, pour glaze into plastic sandwich bag, cut small hole in corner and squeeze over individual pieces).
• Serve with dollop of whipped cream topped with grated crystallized ginger.
• This recipe can be made a day ahead. Store at room temperature without the glaze or whipped cream for up to a day before serving.

To reheat-

• Warm in a preheated (300°F) oven for about 10-12 minutes before serving.

Notes

• Icing- For this recipe, I like to offer extra icing which means the icing packets that come with refrigerator cinnamon rolls is not enough. See above for an easy icing recipe.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice-If you don't have pumpkin pie spice on hand, I've included a recipe above to make your own.
• Additional tips for adding pumpkin pie spice- I added just a bit of extra pumpkin pie spice into the glaze and it was delicious. But you can overdo the spice... I have also added some pumpkin pie spice to the whipped cream and we felt that took away from the simple creaminess of the whipped cream. When I made the recipe a second time and left out the spice from the whipped cream. It was perfection.

Nutrition Facts

Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Bake

Amount Per Serving (1 piece)

Calories 320 Calories from Fat 180

% Daily Value*

Fat 20g31%

Saturated Fat 11g69%

Trans Fat 0.1g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2g

Monounsaturated Fat 6g

Cholesterol 102mg34%

Sodium 52mg2%

Potassium 131mg4%

Carbohydrates 33g11%

Fiber 1g4%

Sugar 31g34%

Protein 4g8%

Vitamin A 3877IU78%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 54mg5%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.