Pear-Ginger Cinnamon Rolls
If you want to mix up your cinnamon roll game a little, these rolls are filled with gingered pears (plus other fall spices) and topped with either cream cheese or brown butter frosting!
Servings rolls
Equipment
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 cups milk, whole
- ½ cup canola oil
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour divided
- ½ heaping teaspoon baking powder
- ½ scant teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
Filling
- 1 ½ cups pears, diced about 3 medium pears; you can peel them if you'd like, but it's not necessary. See recipe notes.
- ½ lemon, small juiced
- 1 teaspoon ginger fresh or dry
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch salt
- 6 teaspoons butter, salted melted
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
Frosting
- ½ cup butter, salted 1 stick
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup milk, whole plus more if needed
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Dough
- Combine the milk, sugar, and oil In a large (at least 4-quart) pot or saucepan. Heat just to boiling, stirring occasionally, and then remove from heat to cool.
- Tip: If you’ve got lots of ice handy, dump all that you have into a clean sink and then place the pan of scalded milk over the ice. This way, the milk mixture cools quickly and the melted ice just drips down the drain.
- When the milk is warm (around 105-115 degrees), remove from ice and sprinkle yeast over the milk mixture. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. Stir.
- Mix in 4 cups flour and cover. This can be done with a wooden spoon; the dough is VERY soft, more like a batter. Allow to stand for 1 hour.
- Mix remaining ½ cup of flour with baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Sprinkle over the dough and then mix it in with the wooden spoon. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the pan and refrigerate for at least a few hours and up to a few days. You can also allow it to rise at room temperature for about an hour if you want to make these right away.
- When you’re ready to make the rolls, lightly spray a work surface with non-stick cooking spray and roll the dough out into a rectangle that’s about 6×18″.
Filling
- In a medium bowl, mix the pears, lemon juice, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt and set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix the melted butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Spread the butter mixture over the dough and then top with the pear mixture. Roll up tightly, making a log about 18″ long. With a very sharp knife or dental floss, trim off about 2 inches on either side.
Bake
- Preheat oven to 375℉.
- Spray a 9×13″ pan with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- Using dental floss or a sharp knife, mark the dough into 12 equal pieces. Use the dental floss to cut the dough along the spots that you marked (grab about 8 inches of floss and slip it under the log. Cross the top pieces and pull, so it cuts the dough).
- Place the dough pieces, cut side up, in the pan. Cover and rise for 30 minutes. Bake the rolls for 15-22 minutes or until golden brown and the innermost rolls are cooked through. If the edge pieces are getting too brown, lightly place a sheet of aluminum foil over the pan to prevent further browning.
- When done, remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool.
Frosting
- While the rolls are cooling, prepare the frosting.
- Place the powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and set aside. Measure out the milk and vanilla and set aside.
- Heat the stick of butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring very frequently. When the butter melts, stir constantly. The butter will get clear and yellow and then very suddenly become frothy, turn brown, and smell like caramel. When this happens, remove from heat. Don't walk away, things can go south very quickly.
- Add the milk/vanilla mixture to the powdered sugar. Add the butter and mix with an electric or stand mixer until combined. The frosting will probably feel very wet and heavy at first, and that's okay.
- Spread frosting over cinnamon rolls.
Notes
- How to Peel Pears: Pear skins are so thin that they’re pretty unobtrusive. But if you'd like to peel them, you can! To peel them super easily, bring a pot of water to a boil and fill another bowl with ice water. When the water is boiling, drop the pears in it for 20 seconds, then plunge them into the ice water and their skins slide right off. Then you just cut out the core and chop them up!
Nutrition
Calories: 605kcal, Carbohydrates: 98g, Protein: 7g, Fat: 21g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Monounsaturated Fat: 9g, Trans Fat: 0.4g, Cholesterol: 31mg, Sodium: 405mg, Potassium: 161mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 60g, Vitamin A: 378IU, Vitamin C: 1mg, Calcium: 76mg, Iron: 2mg
Calories: 605kcal
Cost: $8
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