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Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls

Let’s get seasonal, without the guilt.

I even wore UGG boots while making these…..

This time of year is full of opportunity to devour decadent treats laced with butter, cinnamon, sugar, and pumpkin. I’m as basic as everyone else when it comes to pumpkin spiced EVERYTHING… and the seasonal cravings have officially kicked in.

It’s so easy to put on a few pounds over the holidays enjoying a myriad of goodies; this year I made a reasonable promise to myself that I would maintain weight by being more mindful so as not to have to start the new year losing the same five pounds AGAIN. One way I’m helping myself is to home bake treats that capture the fall flavors I’m craving but with lower sugar and fat. This prevents me raiding the seasonal bread and cookie section of Trader Joe’s. 🙂 So, I’m swapping pumpkin spice lattes and scones for these homemade high protein pumpkin spice cinnamon rolls and my absolute favorite – Zero Carbon Coffee Sumatra espresso.

This is a great healthy swap. I’ve made a comparison between these Pumpkin Spice Rolls and a Starbucks Pumpkin Scone. For the same amount of food (2 of these rolls versus one Starbucks Scone), you save just about 200 calories, more than half the carbs (a whopping 40g of sugar!), and 15 g of fat. Plus, you get an additional 22 g of protein to keep you full.

These rolls are not overly sweet. If you wanted to make them sweeter, you could add SF vanilla syrup to the icing, Swerve Brown sugar substitute, or more real brown sugar (adds cals).

Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls

Makes: (6) 1.25″ tall rolls (denser), or (10) 0.75″ tall rolls (airier)

Per Roll (6): 153 kcal, 14 g Carbs, 13 g Protein, 4g Fat

Per Roll (10): 97 kcal, 9g Carbs, 8g protein, 2.3g fat

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

  • 90 g Kodiak Cake pancake mix
  • 20g white flour
  • 60 g fat free Greek yogurt
  • 20 grams reduced fat margarine (I used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter- Original)
  • 40 g pumpkin puree
  • 15 g brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
  • 2 tbsp sugar-free vanilla syrup
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder

For the Filling and Frosting:

  • 70 g fat free Greek yogurt (I used Fage 0%)
  • 60g Neufchatel Cheese
  • 40 g Trutein Vanilla protein powder (order here) use code modus20 at checkout for 20% off
  • 15 g brown sugar
  • 4 tbsp sugar-free vanilla syrup
  • 1.5″ Tall Rolls before frosting
  • 3/4″ Tall Rolls before frosting

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F and place parchment paper onto a baking sheet.
  2. For the dough: in a large bowl combine Kodiak cakes mix, flour, pumpkin spice, and baking powder. Stir until thoroughly blended.
  3. In a separate small bowl, combine pumpkin puree, dough Greek yogurt, I Can’t Believe It’s not Butter, brown sugar and SF vanilla syrup. Blend thoroughly using a hand mixer.
  4. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and blend thoroughly with a hand mixer. Dough will be a bit sticky, form it into a ball and set aside.
  5. For the filling and frosting: in a separate small bowl, mix together Greek yogurt, Neufchatel cheese, protein powder, brown sugar, and sugar free vanilla syrup. Mix on high for 30 seconds until whipped. It will be very thick. Set bowl aside.
  6. Lightly flour a cutting board and place your dough ball on it. Using your hands and a rolling pin, gently roll out the dough into a rectangle. Flip the dough over after every few passes and flour it as needed to keep it from sticking to the cutting board and the rolling pin.
  7. After you have the dough flattened out to roughly (7.5″ x 8.5″). Cut into 6 equally sized horizontal strips for large rolls, or 10 for small.
  8. Take your filling/frosting and apply a very thick coat to the top of each strip, then loosely roll up each strip. Use only 3/4 of the mixture, reserving the remainder for frosting after baking.
  9. Place rolls onto parchment paper. 1.25″ rolls: bake for 18 minutes. Check them at about 16 minutes by sticking a toothpick into one of them. They are done cooking when the toothpick comes out clean. 0.75″ Rolls: bake for 15 minutes. Check them at about 14 minutes by sticking a toothpick into one of them. They are done cooking when the toothpick comes out clean.
  10. Allow rolls to cool to room temperature, then place the remaining icing on top.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, let me know if you tried it out. It definitely helped with my pumpkin cravings.

If you need additional support to make it through the holidays without the weight gain, please feel free to reach out!