These bubble buns are made from scratch and flavored with fall spices. The soft cinnamon pumpkin bread is topped with a sweet glaze. Pumpkin bubble buns are an indulgent weekend breakfast treat perfect for the Fall.
Bubble buns are a fun breakfast treat and this version has a fall-inspired twist with pumpkin and cinnamon. If you’ve never had bubbles buns, they’re a lot like monkey bread, but smaller so that you have individual-sized buns. Just like money bread, you can eat these buns with your hands and pull off pieces of the bread.
I love them because the balls are soft like the center of a yeasty donut. The pumpkin taste is light since pumpkin puree on its own has a pretty mild taste. But the inside of the buns turns a nice, festive orange.
I love these bubble buns because it’s so fun to pull apart the little round bread balls. They’re also great because, once you know how to make them, you can change up the flavors. I’ve cinnamon bubble buns, savory bubble buns and bubble brioche.
These bubbles buns are made completely from scratch. I love the scent of fresh-baked bread and rolls and these pumpkin bubble buns are a great way to indulge for a special weekend breakfast.
The actual prep time is pretty minimal but like all yeast recipes, there is a lot of waiting time. About 1 hour and 40 minutes of wait time for this recipe. But it’s worth it.
Ingredients
- Active dry yeast
- Warm water
- Melted unsalted butter
- Sour cream
- Pumpkin puree
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Baking soda
- Cinnamon
Recipe Tips
You will want to plan ahead when you make the dough because the dough needs around 1 hour and 40 minutes to rest and rise before you bake the buns.
You can make this dough by hand, but I recommend using a stand mixer. You can use the paddle attachment to mix the dough ingredients and then switch to the hook attachment to knead the dough.
Once the dough has risen the first time, all you do is form the dough into a long cylinder shape and divide it into 12 equal-sized pieces. Divided each of those pieces into five smaller pieces so you have a total of 60 dough pieces.
Each bubble bun is made with five dough balls. Roll each dough ball in melted butter and then in cinnamon and sugar. Once you’ve coated five dough balls, place four of them in the bottom of a muffin cup. Make a well with your finger and then place the fifth ball in it pressing on it lightly. Repeat this process with the rest of the dough balls. You should have 12 bubble buns when you are done.
At this point, the buns will need time to rise again which will take about 40 minutes. They should be double in size.
Bake them at 350°F for 20 minutes or until they are golden and baked through.
Cool them in the muffin pan and then transfer them to a baking rack. Place some parchment paper under the rack to catch the glaze that drips off of the buns.
The glaze is just icing sugar, milk, and vanilla. I like to drizzle it over the tops of the buns.
These cinnamon pumpkin bubble buns are so good with a cup of coffee and smell so delicious while they’re baking. They’re perfect for a fall breakfast or brunch.
More Fall Baking Recipes
- Invisible Apple Cake
- Sweet Potato Butter Cake
- Apple Cranberry Bread with Pecan Streusel
- Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins
Cinnamon Pumpkin Bubble Buns
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 3 1/2- 3 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
Coating
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 3 tsp cinnamon
Glaze
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Place water in bowl of stand mixer and sprinkle yeast over. Let stand until bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Stir in butter, sour cream, sugar, egg, pumpkin and vanilla. Beat in 3 cups of flour, the salt and baking soda until incorporated. Add remaining 1/2 cup of flour and continue to mix until a smooth, soft dough forms. If dough does not come together, add another 1/4 cup of flour. The dough should remain sticky and wet (you don't want to add too much flour and dry out the dough) but you should be able to remove entire dough from mixing bowl.
- Knead dough until smooth, using the dough hook attachment, about 2-3 minutes. Place dough in a glass bowl greased with oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- In a small bowl, mix cinnamon and sugar for coating. In another small bowl, melt butter in microwave. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
- Roll dough into a long cylinder and then divide into 12 equal portions. Divide each of the 12 portions into 5 equal pieces and roll each piece into a ball.
- For each bun, coat five balls with melted butter and then roll them in cinnamon sugar. Arrange four balls in the bottom of a prepared muffin cup. Using your fingertip, make a small well in the center and press in the fifth ball. Repeat with remaining dough and muffin cups.
- Cover buns loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until puffy and have doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake buns until golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pan.
- Place buns on a wire rack. Place a piece of parchment paper underneath wire rack. In a small bowl, mix glaze ingredients and stir until smooth. Drizzle each bun with glaze.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
Hi! I am so excited to make these, but there’s just one problem- I have a big dislike for pumpkins. 🙁 Is there a substitute for them/would it change the recipe if I just removed it? Thanks!
I’m sorry to hear you aren’t a fan of pumpkin. I would suggest trying a bubble bun recipe with no pumpkin. I wouldn’t just remove the pumpkin from this one though because your dough will be too dry. Here is one I love https://kirbiecravings.com/2011/04/bubble-buns.html
These looks so good and they are beautiful…great photo’s!
Simply can’t wait to make them..thank you for posting…saw you on Wild Yeast Spotting.
I hope you like them as much as I did!
Okay, seriously brilliant take on the bubble buns I posted. Love it, so great for the fall.
I love your Easter bubble buns recipe! I knew I had to make a version for the Fall.