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 and then topped with ginger-spiked homemade whipped cream. You want some right now, don’t you? Well, creating this festive, sweet casserole couldn’t be easier so let’s get started.
Using my favorite brand of canned cinnamon rolls (Immaculate Baking) I started with 2 cans of cinnamon rolls.
Once both cans of cinnamon rolls have been opened and separated, cut each one into eight pieces. The entire batch is then dumped into a 9×13-inch pan. The dough gets covered with a mixture of pumpkin, spices, brown sugar, milk, crystallized ginger (or candied ginger, same thing) and chopped pecans before baking. Very easy! And when it’s baked and ready…
You can serve Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Bake right out of the oven or make it a day ahead and re-heat just before serving. And speaking of serving, why not make extra glaze for those who want to go crazy? (See printable for easy glaze recipe)…
…and since we’re indulging in pumpkin pie goodness, this morsel isn’t complete without a nice dollop of fresh whipped cream topped with even more crystallized ginger.
Pumpkin Pie Breakfast Bake will be the creme de la creme of any holiday brunch or dinner-party. To customize serving options for your guests, dish up individual servings and then pass around the icing, whipped cream and candied ginger so everyone can have it how they want. You could even offer maple-glazed pecans to sprinkle more nuttiness for those who might be craving some extra nutty goodness.
Cook’s note: I receive no compensation from Immaculate Baking Company for my comments about their products. I just really like their approach to using healthier ingredients in their products.
To see just how easy this recipe is, see video of a segment I recently did on Utah’s Studio 5 with Brooke Walker.
- 2 large cans (17.5 oz) refrigerator cinnamon rolls (Immaculate Baking is the best!)
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 4 eggs
- ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 can (5 oz.) evaporated milk (or ½ cup almond 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
- A few cook's notes for you:
- I don't have pumpkin pie spice on hand so I make my own. The following makes more than you need for this recipe. Just mix:
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- A note about the icing: For this recipe, I like to offer extra icing which means the icing packets that come with refrigerator cinnamon rolls is not enough. This is an easy classic glaze recipe:
- 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.
- Additional tips about adding even more pumpkin spice flavor: 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.
- Pre-heat oven to 375F degrees.
- Unroll 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 eggs, 1 cup pumpkin, 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, brown sugar, evaporated milk and ginger until well blended. Pour evenly over cut rolls in dish. Sprinkle 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 your 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. In fact, it is at its peak about 8 hours after baking. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days, covered.
- Additional serving ideas: To give your guests options for how they'd like their "pie", cut individual pieces and serve with icing, whipped cream and extra crystallized ginger on the side so they can add what they'd like.
- To reheat, warm in a preheated (275F) oven for about 10-12 minutes before serving.
