Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls and a Red Star Yeast Giveaway!

Red Star has a new yeast called PLATINUM Superior Baking Yeast that could help ease some of your yeast fears. As an avid bread baker, I couldn’t wait to dig into my new yeast packets to see the results for myself. With the advent of fall,  Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls was an obvious first recipe to try with their new yeast.

 This Giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who participated! The winner is Irma and I sent you an email.

Red Star Yeast helps making homemade bread a little more easy and enjoyable. Just looking at these gorgeous pumpkin cinnamon rolls again today, I am reminded about why I’m so in love with baking my own bread. The smell of pumpkin and fall spices baking on a Sunday morning in magical fluffy buns is like paradise. 

In deciding on a recipe to try with the yeast, I was brainstorming all over the place with different breads and rolls. Since it is officially fall and more importantly, pumpkin baking season, I knew exactly what to bake: Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls.

Look at these beautiful soft rolls beckoning you to pull them apart and dig in. I liked my rolls just as they were right out of the oven. I’m not too crazy about overly sweet treats. My dad happened to come by as they were just baked and he took a couple home. I surprised my neighbors with a plate of these and they loved the pumpkin glaze.

I had some extra slices of the dough and popped them into my muffin pan.

Red Star’s PLATINUM Superior Yeast is a premium instant yeast blended with dough improvers commonly used by professional bakers that will make your dough so forgiving that you will never be intimidated by yeast again!

I was intrigued with trying Platinum also because of the fact that it is very effective in making whole grain recipes light and larger in volume. You know that sometimes when baking a whole grain recipe it could be a little more solid-this is no longer a baking issue using Platinum. I was extremely satisfied with the result.

• Simple to use.  So forgiving it takes the intimidation out of baking with yeast!
• Strengthens the dough and improves dough tolerance to variations in kneading, rising, and flour quality. 
• Produces consistent baked products home bakers will enjoy.
• Increases the amount of leavening retained in the dough.
• Decreases the risk of the dough collapsing after proofing or during baking.
• Increases oven ‘spring’ and the finished volume of the baked product.
• Works great in any bread recipe, but is particularly effective in producing healthy whole grain and sweet breads that are light, airy, and larger in volume.

Learn a little more about Red Star Premium Superior Baking Yeast with this fantastic video from Gesine Bullock-Prado on You Tube.

VIP Package Giveaway

Open to residents of the US and Canada!
One of you will receive a VIP Package from Red Star for your very own! It comes in a beautiful black box tied with a silver bow, and includes:

• Samples of Red Star PLATINUM Superior Baking Yeast so you can see the difference for yourself.
• A beautiful pinstripe Red Star apron.
• A Red Star wood cutting/serving board.
• A reusable grocery bag.
• Coupons for the yeast.

As a bonus, the winner of this VIP Package will also be entered to win a KitchenAid Mixer! The fabulous KitchenAid drawing will be held on November 12, 2012.
Here’s how to enter:

{1} Like Red Star and/or Cake Duchess on Facebook for 1 entry. Leave a separate comment here saying you did.
{2} Follow Red Star and/or Cake Duchess on Twitter for 1 entry. Leave a separate comment here saying you did.
{3} Follow Red Star and/or Cake Duchess on Pinterest for 1 entry. Leave a separate comment here saying you did.
{4} Tweet about this giveaway, and leave a comment here saying you did.

Bonus entry: What is the first thing you’d like to bake with Red Star Yeast Platinum?
So that’s 5 different ways to win!

Now, the boring stuff: THE RULES–

Contest opens September 24 at 2 PM EST and will close September 30th at 11:59 pm EST. Contest open to residents of the US and CANADA. Winner will be chosen randomly via random number generator and notified by email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.
Good Luck!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
rolls adapted from: King Arthur’s Flour 

Ingredients:
1/4 cup warm water (100 to 110 degrees)
1 (1/4 ounce) envelope Platinum Superior Baking Yeast
1/3 cup warm milk (100 to 110 degrees)
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 Tablespoon melted butter (I used Earth Balance margarine)
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur )
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger (adjust according to your taste)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (adjust according to your taste)

Filling:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used Earth Balance margarine)
1 cup sugar (you could also use brown if you like)
3-4 teaspoons cinnamon (adjust to your taste)
add chopped pecans if you like

Pumpkin Glaze:

1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon melted butter (I used Earth Balance margarine)
2 Tablespoons canned pumpkin (I had some leftover from my can I opened for the dough)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:

In a mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer) sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Let stand until foamy; about 5 minutes.

Beat in on medium-low speed the milk, egg, pumpkin puree, melted butter and brown sugar until combined.

Gradually add the flours and salt, scraping down side of bowl, until a soft dough forms. I ended up adding a little extra flour until I had a workable dough.

Remove the dough from the mixer and knead until smooth (add more flour if too sticky.  Knead until smooth. The dough will be a little more sticky. That’s fine. You just want the dough to hold its shape).

Grease a large bowl. Place the dough in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hour (until puffy-not necessarily doubled in bulk).

Make the Filling:
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and spices; set aside.

back to the dough:
Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly floured work surface. Cut the dough in half.
Roll the dough out into a rectangle, approximately 12×16 inches. Spread the butter all over. Sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar.

Starting on one long side roll up jelly roll fashion and pinch seam to close. Cut crosswise into 12 generous 1 1/2 inch pieces.

Place the slices in a greased 9×13 pan (this was a 9×9 pan) or two 9 inch cake.

Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Repeat with the other half of the dough.

Cover with clean kitchen towel and let sit in a draft-free spot spot until buns double in size, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 350°F. Uncover pans and bake buns until they are golden-brown and bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes.

While rolls bake, put together the pumpkin glaze:

In a small bowl, whisk together the glaze ingredients.  Add more milk as necessary to make a smooth glaze. Invert buns to a serving platter.

Drizzle glaze on top of warm buns. Serve warm! ENJOY! If you have any left, refrigerate them. I doubt you will have any leftovers.;)

To make the night before: You can prepare the rolls and place them in the greased pans and leave overnight in the refrigerator. The next morning, remove the pans from the refrigerator and let the rolls rise. Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes.
 
Discloser:  This post was sponsored by Red Star Yeast. I tested recipes myself with samples I received and am truly smitten with their product. Opinions written here, as always, are entirely my own.

Thanks for stopping by today:)Happy baking!
xo
Lora