There’s something so nostalgic about a honey bun. That soft, slightly sweet dough with cinnamon swirled through it and a sticky glaze on top. I wanted to bring that same feeling into fall, so I took my go-to fried cinnamon roll dough, worked pumpkin puree and warm spice right into it, and gave the whole thing a honey glaze finish instead of the usual icing.
These come out golden and crisp on the outside, soft and pillowy inside, with pockets of brown sugar cinnamon filling running through every bite. The honey glaze sets into a slightly sticky, shiny coating, just like a bakery honey bun. It’s somewhere in between a cinnamon roll, a donut, and a honey bun!
What Makes This One Special
This isn’t a cinnamon roll baked in the oven! Instead, it’s fried, which is what gives it that honey bun texture and crust. The dough itself is enriched with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice, so the pumpkin flavor comes through in every layer, not just the filling. And instead of a classic powdered sugar icing, these get dunked in a honey glaze while still warm, which soaks in slightly and sets into that signature glossy coating.
What You’ll Need
This recipe comes together in three parts:
- Dough — bread flour, warm whole milk, active dry yeast, salt, egg plus an egg yolk, light brown sugar, pumpkin puree, melted butter, and pumpkin pie spice. Bread flour gives the dough more structure and chew than all-purpose would but you can use the latter too.
- Filling — room-temperature unsalted butter mixed with pumpkin puree, plus light brown sugar mixed with cinnamon. Keeping these as two separate mixtures makes them easy to layer onto the dough.
- Honey glaze — powdered sugar, honey, whole milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract, whisked into a smooth, pourable glaze.
You’ll also need vegetable oil for frying.
How To Make It
Proof the Yeast and Make the Dough
Start by proofing your yeast. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the warm whole milk, active dry yeast, and a tablespoon of the light brown sugar until dissolved, then let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes until it looks foamy on top. That foam is your sign the yeast is alive and ready to go.
To that same bowl, whisk in the remaining brown sugar, egg, egg yolk, pumpkin puree, and melted butter until combined. Then add the salt, pumpkin pie spice, and bread flour. Using a stand mixer with the hook attachment on low speed, or a wooden spoon followed by hand kneading, bring everything together into a dough and knead for 6 to 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
🤎 TIP: The dough should feel slightly tacky to the bottom of the bowl. If it feels dry as you knead, add a splash of milk at a time until it loosens up.
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover it, and let it rise in a warm spot for 1 to 1 and a half hours, until doubled in size.
Make the Filling and Glaze
While the dough rises, make your filling. In one small bowl, stir together the room-temperature butter and pumpkin puree. In a separate small bowl, stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Keeping them separate makes layering the filling much easier once the dough is rolled out.
You can also whisk together your honey glaze at this point too. Just combine the powdered sugar, honey, whole milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl until smooth and creamy, then set it aside.
Roll, Fill, and Cut
Once your dough has doubled, flour a work surface and roll it out with a rolling pin into a large rectangle, until it’s about 1/2 an inch thick and about 14 by 20 inches. Spread the butter and pumpkin puree mixture evenly over the dough with a rubber spatula, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture over that, pressing down firmly so it sticks.
Starting from one of the shorter ends, roll the dough up tightly into a log, then pinch the seam and both ends together tightly to seal everything in.
🤎 TIP: Unflavored dental floss is the cleanest way to cut the log. Slide it underneath and cross the ends over each other to slice through without squishing the dough. A sharp knife works too if that’s what you have on hand.
Cut the log into 12 slices, about 1 inch thick, and transfer them to a large tray.
Shape and Second Proof
Place each roll on its own parchment paper square, then top with a second parchment square and lightly roll it out to flatten slightly, until it’s roughly the size of a donut.
🤎 TIP: Insert a toothpick through the seam of each roll and into the center to keep the end from unrolling as it fries. You can leave the toothpick in the whole time it’s in the oil.
Cover and let the rolls proof again for about 30 minutes, until they look visibly puffy.
Fry and Glaze
Meanwhile, heat vegetable oil in a deep pot or pan to 325°F to 350°F. Fry the rolls in batches of 3 to 4 so you don’t overcrowd the pan, about 2 to 3 minutes per side, until deep golden brown, then transfer to a wire rack to drain any excess oil.
While the rolls are still warm, dunk each one into the honey glaze, let the excess drip off, and set them back on the wire rack for about 5 minutes to let the glaze set before digging in.
Tips & Variations
A few things worth knowing before you make these:
- Make sure your milk is warm, not hot, so it activates the yeast without killing it
- Keep the filling mixtures separate until you’re ready to layer them onto the dough
- Dental floss gives the cleanest cut through the log without squishing the layers
- Dunk the rolls in the glaze while they’re still warm so it sets into that glossy honey bun finish
Make Ahead & Storing Leftovers
These are best enjoyed fresh and warm the day they’re made, but leftovers keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Give them a quick 10-second zap in the microwave to refresh them before serving.
Craving More Like This? Try These Recipes Out!
- Pumpkin Bread with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting — The moistest pumpkin bread on the blog, topped with a rich brown butter cream cheese frosting.
- Pumpkin Coffee Cake — A spiced pumpkin base with a thick, buttery cinnamon crumb layered throughout.
- Pumpkin Bagels — Chewy, perfectly spiced bagels packed with cozy fall flavor.
- Pumpkin Pie French Toast — Crispy, golden French toast dipped in a pumpkin spice custard.
- Pumpkin Pie Hawaiian Roll French Toast — The classic French toast recipe made fall edition with soft Hawaiian rolls.
If you make this recipe, make sure to leave a comment below and let me know how it turns out — I love hearing from you! And if you snap a photo, don’t forget to tag me over on Instagram or TikTok so I can see your creations too.
You can also find this recipe and so many more on my Pinterest — perfect for saving to your board for later. And if you’re more of a visual learner, check out my YouTube channel, where I walk you through recipes step-by-step just like this one.
Pumpkin Honey Bun Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 4 1/4 cups bread flour
- 3/4 cup warm whole milk, more as needed
- 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk, room temperature
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, divided (1 tablespoon reserved for the yeast)
- 2/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
FILLING
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
HONEY GLAZE
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons whole milk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
FOR FRYING
- vegetable oil, for frying
Instructions
PROOF THE YEAST
- In a large mixing bowl, add the warm whole milk, active dry yeast, and 1 tablespoon of the light brown sugar, then whisk by hand until dissolved. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, until foamy on top.
MAKE THE DOUGH
- To the same bowl, add the remaining light brown sugar, egg, egg yolk, pumpkin puree, and melted butter, then whisk by hand until combined.
- Add the salt, pumpkin pie spice, and bread flour to the bowl.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment on low speed, or a wooden spoon followed by hand kneading, combine the mixture into a dough, then knead for 6 to 8 minutes until smooth and elastic. The dough should be slightly tacky to the bottom of the bowl; if it feels dry, add a splash of milk as needed.
- Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 and 1/2 hours, until doubled in size.
MAKE THE FILLING
- In a small bowl, add the room-temperature butter and pumpkin puree, then stir with a spoon until combined.
- In a separate small bowl, add the light brown sugar and cinnamon, then stir together until combined.
MAKE THE HONEY GLAZE
- In a medium bowl, add the powdered sugar, honey, whole milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract, then whisk by hand until smooth and creamy.
SHAPE AND FRY
- Once the dough has risen, flour a work surface and roll the dough out with a rolling pin into a large rectangle, until it is about a little less than 1/2 an inch thick and 14 by 20 inches in width and length.
- Spread the butter and pumpkin puree mixture evenly over the dough with a rubber spatula, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture evenly over that, pressing down firmly.
- Starting from one of the shorter ends, roll the dough up tightly into a log, then pinch the seam and ends together tightly to seal.
- Using unflavored dental floss, slide it under the log and cross the ends over each other to cut through cleanly without squishing the dough — this is the cleanest method, but a sharp knife works too. Cut the log into 12 slices, about 1- to 1.5- inches thick.
- Place each roll on its own parchment paper square, then top with another parchment paper square and lightly roll it out with a rolling pin to flatten slightly, until it’s about the size of a donut. Insert a toothpick through the seam of each roll and into the center to keep the end from unrolling — you can leave the toothpick in while frying. Then transfer them to a large tray.
- Cover and let proof again for about 30 minutes, until visibly puffy.
- Heat vegetable oil in a deep pot or pan to 325°F to 350°F.
- Drop the rolls in the hot oil, lifting off the parchment square. Fry them in batches of 3 to 4, making sure not to overcrowd the pan, for about 2 to 3 minutes per side, until deep golden brown.
- Transfer to a wire rack to drain any excess oil.
GLAZE AND SERVE
- While the rolls are still warm, dunk each one into the honey glaze, letting any excess drip off, then return to the wire rack to set for about 5 minutes, then enjoy!
Notes
A: Yes, you can substitute instant yeast in the same amount. Instant yeast can be added directly with the dry ingredients rather than proofed first, but proofing it the same way as active dry yeast still works fine and gives you a visual check that it’s active. Q: Can I use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour?
A: You can, but the rolls will be a bit softer and less chewy since bread flour’s higher protein content is what gives this dough’s structure. If it’s all you have, all-purpose flour will still work. Q: Why do I need to reserve brown sugar for the yeast?
A: A small amount of sugar helps activate the yeast faster and gives you a visual cue that it’s alive and ready to use once it turns foamy.
Did You Make This Recipe?
If you make this recipe, leave a comment below and let me know how it turns out. I love hearing from you!
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