These Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are soft and sweet and delicious. With perfect cinnamon gooey centre and a sticky glaze. Perfect with a cup of coffee for the indulgent Sunday brunch or as an afternoon pick-me-up snack.
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What is your favourite cooking smell? It’s a simple question. One that I usually answer decisively but by the end of the sentence my resolve starts to waver.
My favourite cooking smell is onions frying in a golden pool of melting and foaming butter. I imagine the sound as the tiny cream-coloured cubes of onion hit the hot skillet. In my minds eye, I see the bubbles forming around the edges. I feel the heat of the pan.
Then my mind starts to wonder. The pictures behind my eyes dissolve and see myself opening the oven door and the yeasty aroma of fresh baked bread envelops me.
I blink and I hear the sharp grinding sound as the air gets permeated with the floral and pungent and energizing smell of coffee.
I don’t have time to stop or to take a fresh breath as one smell after another engulfs me and brings memories: perfectly roasted chicken with its crackling skin, stark contrast of white and orange in a frying egg, the warmth of just-picked tomato.
And on and on and on… And, of course, cinnamon. Warm, spicy, cozy, comforting. Cinnamon, one of my favourite cooking smells.
What is your favourite cooking smell?
Am I allowed a silly joke here? I am on a roll! I created an Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls recipe.
Get it? Cinnamon Rolls… on a roll… No? Ok, moving on…
Try my other Instant Pot No Knead Rolls
Cinnamon is one of the spices that I absolutely adore. As most of my cooking, it goes back to my childhood.
My mom rarely used spices: salt, very rarely pepper, Vegeta seasoning (I just recently bought it at Costco and use it often now), vanillin sugar (it was very popular in Soviet Union since we didn’t have vanilla extracts), and, of course, cinnamon, lots of cinnamon.
So, even though I’ve never had Cinnamon Rolls when I was little, the flavour and the smell is so familiar!
These Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are soft and sweet and delicious. With perfect cinnamon gooey centre and a sticky glaze. Perfect with a cup of coffee for the indulgent Sunday brunch or as an afternoon pick-me-up snack.
Why use Instant Pot to make dough for these No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Two words: easy and fast! You need a model of Instant Pot that has a yogurt function. Using a yogurt function, means that it’s just an ideal warm temperature for the dough to rise and it rises fast, in just one hour.
Mixing dough in the Electric Pressure Cooker also means that you don’t have to use separate pots to heat up the milk and melt the butter, everything is done in the same pot, making the dough a one-bowl recipe.
What if you don’t have a yogurt function on your electric pressure cooker?
If your Instant Pot doesn’t have a yogurt function, it means that you would need to make the dough an old-fashion way and let it rise on the counter.
I know some put the dough in the microwave, some in the oven. I prefer to let my dough rise in a bowl in a sink full of hot water.
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Important notes about flour
Most websites will say that 1 cup of flour weighs 120g. I do not know how that can be true! I have been systematically weighing my flour for about six months now.
I have done in the in cool temperature, hot temperature, dry temperature, humid temperature. I used three different sets of cups. Not once have I had 1 cup of flour weigh 120g.
My cups of flour weigh ALWAYS 150-160g. So, in all my recipes, 1 cup of all-purpose flour = 150-160g.
How much flour to use to make dough for Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Many people complain that my bread recipes result in the dough that is too sticky. Here’s the thing: sticky dough is not bad!!!
I have made these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with 2.5 cups of flour and with 3 cups of flour. Personally, I prefer 2.5 cups but in this recipe I will use 3 cups so that people don’t complain (or at least complain less).
I, however, urge you to try and use less than 3 cups of flour. It will make the dough more airy even if it’s a bit more difficult to work with. Just remember about the weight (in the point above).
Can you bake No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls in Instant Pot?
Well… Yes, you can! I have done it! I actually baked these Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls in my electric pressure cooker. Yes, baked, not steamed!
I still prefer the texture of the real oven-baked rolls but if you do not have an access to an oven, then you can bake these cinnamon rolls in your Instant Pot.
Here’s the trick: you need a ceramic insert to do the baking, you line it with parchment paper and bake for 1 hour on low pressure. No water. It will not pressurize and it will bake.
Tips for make Dough for Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Yeast
- The most important thing: DO NOT KILL THE YEAST!
- Make sure that the melted butter and milk mixture is cool enough that it won’t kill the yeast.
- The liquid must be between 105F and 110F (40C to 43C) which is just above the body temperature.
- Flour
- When you mix in the flour, the dough shouldn’t be hard but it shouldn’t be liquid either.
- You should be able to spread it around the bottom of the pot with a spoon but barely.
- It’s better to have less flour than more flour. You can always add a bit more when you roll out the dough.
- Glaze
- I am not a big glaze fan so I use a very simple glaze for my Instant Pot No Knead Cinnamon Rolls.
- Feel free to use your favourite glaze or frosting.
Ways to make the Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls healthier
These Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are by no means healthy but you can do a few things to make them just a tiny bit healthier. The changes will result in different taste and texture though.
- Reduce the amount of sugar in the dough from 4 tablespoons to 2 tablespoons
- Use only 3 tablespoons of butter in the dough
- Use only 3 tablespoons of butter in the cinnamon filling instead of 4
- Reduce the amount of sugar in the filling to 3 tablespoons instead of 4
- Add a bit of pumpkin purée to the filling for extra fibre
- Omit cream cheese in the glaze
- Use only 1/3 cup icing sugar for the glaze
Notes about making Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
This is NOT a recipe for beginners! Making dough (any kind of yeasty dough) requires finesse and persistence. It took me dozens and dozens of tries to learn how to make dough many years ago.
Although, I find that making dough, including dough for Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls, is easy, it may not work for you the first time you try it.
I very highly recommend reading all my points about making dough in Instant Pot in my TWO articles:
- Instant Pot No Knead Dinner Rolls: I provide A LOT of points on how to deal with yeast and flour for the rolls.
- Vegan Instant Pot No Knead Hawaiian Rolls: I provide suggestions on how to make sure that the amount of the flour works for you.
Try my other Instant Pot Pumpkin Recipes:
DO YOU WANT MORE INSTANT POT RECIPES?
Join my Real Ingredients Instant Pot Recipes Facebook Group!!! It’s a fun and safe place to share your own Instant Pot recipes made with Real Ingredients.
Don’t forget to watch the video to see how these Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls are made.
Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 1/4 c unsalted butter
- 1 cup milk
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
- 1/2 cup pumpkin purée
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 large egg
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- pinch salt
Filling
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (room temperature, spreadable)
- 4 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Glaze
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese (room temperature)
- 1/4 lemon juice (optional)
Instructions
Make Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Dough
- Turn the sauté function of your Instant Pot on. Add the butter and just as the butter is halfway melted, turn the sauté function off.
- Wait to make sure that the butter has fully melted with the residual heat.
- Add the milk, brown sugar, and mix.
- Let the mixture cool to 105-110F (40-43C). It might take a few minutes. Alternatively, run the metal Instant Pot insert under some cold water. Important: if liquid is too hot when the yeast is added, it'll kill the yeast. If the liquid is too cool then the yeast won't work either.
- Add the yeast and wait for about 5 minutes until it foams.
- Add the pumpkin purée, cinnamon, and egg. Mix to incorporate.
- Add the flour and salt, mix with a wooden spoon or a sturdy spatula until all the flour is mixed into the liquid.
- Close the lid on your Instant Pot, press the Yogurt function and change the timing for 1 hour.
- After 1 hour, open the lid. The dough should be soft and doubled in size.
Form the Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Flour your hands liberally and turn the dough onto a well-floured work surface.
- Flour a rolling pin well and roll the dough into an 11x17-inch (28x43-cm) rectangle.
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon for the filling.
- Spread the softened butter all over the rolled out Pumpkin Dough, sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the butter.
- Starting from the long side of the rectangle, roll the dough tightly.
- Cut the roll into 10 pieces.Note: depending on the size of the rectangle or the desired height of the rolls, you might be able to cut the roll into 12 pieces.
- Arrange the rolls in a small, parchment-covered pan. I use 7x10-inch (18x25-cm). You can use a round pan as well.
- Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Make the glaze
- In a small bowl, whisk together the icing sugar and milk until the mixture is smooth.
- Add the cream cheese and whisk it vigorously into the glaze to make sure it's smooth.You could use a hand mixer if you'd like, but I find that a whisk works fine.
- Optionally, add a bit of freshly squeezed lemon juice to cut the sweetness of the glaze.
Bake the Instant Pot No Knead Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Once the oven is preheated, bake the pumpkin cinnamon rolls for 15-20 minutes or until they are all puffed up and baked through.
- Take out of the oven and let cool slightly.
- Drizzle with the glaze.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Mara Frost says
What is the serving size for the nutritional info? Thank you!
Julia says
It makes 10 rolls and one serving is one roll. Keep in mind that I’m not a nutritionist and the nutrition information is calculated automatically by a plugin
Merry says
Basically my favorite cooking smell is of garlic frying in oil.