November ABC challenge: Pumpkin Pecan Rolls

How do you eat a cinnamon roll?  Do you dive in with a big bite, rising to the surface with frosting all over your nose?  Delicately employ a knife and fork?  I must unwind them, and sometimes have to hunt diligently for the beginning point.  Of course, this is a two-handed effort, and a messy one.

7" x 22"

These rolls are enhanced with pumpkin and spices in the dough.  I halved the recipe and added chopped pecans to the cinnamon-sugar filling.  Also, I didn't realize the recipe called for WHITE whole wheat -- I used regular.  It worked out fine.

A mini roll -- half the full recipe length.

It always gets a little tricky halving a rolled recipe, particularly when the full recipe produces an odd number of rolls, like this one.  I had initially decided to cut the loaf into 4 equal rolls, as each would be only slightly larger than the original recipe.  But after rolling up the loaf, it had squished out to about 8", which allowed me to easily produce 5 rolls.  Once cut, though, I realized the last end piece had been shorted and was considerably less dense than the others.

Risen, and ready for the oven.

The other issue is a matter of finding the right pan. Nine rolls would fit nicely in the suggested square pan, but how does one bake 5 rolls? I split the rolls into two pans, squeezing the little end roll between two others.

The pans produced entirely different results.  The darker, non-stick pan browned more and even burned the sugar.  I prefer the result from the aluminum pan.

I drizzled the rolls with a penuche glaze rather than the white glaze from the recipe.  Love the orange color!

Conclusion:  These were only okay.  I thought they needed a little more salt, as I found them a bit flat tasting despite the pumpkin and spices.  Furthermore, I found the flavors made me want the dense moistness of pumpkin bread, while the yeasty dough made me want a traditional pecan roll.  

Recipe:  Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Rolls via King Arthur Flour