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brown butter pumpkin rolls with a vanilla bean crème fraà che glaze

brown butter pumpkin rolls with a vanilla bean crème fraà che glaze

Guys. It's finally fall.

There's a crisp, coolness in the air, and everybody's breaking out their wool sweaters and coats. The stores are lined with autumn produce like apples, pears, and of course, all things pumpkin. And today I'm jumping on that pumpkin bandwagon and bringing you these incredibly tasty brown butter pumpkin rolls.

They're basically my regular cinnamon roll, but spiked with pumpkin to give them that beautiful orange color and that unmistakeable fall flavor. The rolls are filled to the brim with all sorts of goodness like browned butter, dark brown sugar, and all the pumpkin spices that we all know and love. The crowning glory here, however, is that tangy vanilla bean crème fraîche glaze. It's amazing. They're delicious and I ate two buns in one sitting because I'm gross like that.


But can I be honest with you guys?

It took me three freaking times to get the recipe right. I don't know what was going on,  maybe I just had a mental block or something — but the first batch didn't rise, the second batch rose too much, I forgot certain ingredients, made terrible proportions, blahdeblahdeblah. And so when I finally perfected the recipe, it just seemed so sad to type up three weekends' worth of work in a generic Google doc.

Enter these beautiful recipe cards:


With the internet quickly eradicating all things pen-and-paper, it never even occurred to me to record my recipes in anything other than this blog or a Google doc. And it's not something I probably would have done on my own, had Birch Press Design not sent me this pretty Recipe Box from Rifle Paper Company.

So instead of doing my usual 'hunching-over-my-laptop-while-blogging-and-simultaneously-watching-SVU' routine, I sat down at my marble kitchen island and did nothing else but actually, physically write down the recipe on one of these beautiful cards. And you know what? It felt really, pretty freakin' good. Like when you pick up a book for the first time after squinting at that discount Kindle you bought on the cheap during Prime Day, or when you see finally see that friend in real life who you spent the last year texting and g-chatting with because you live on opposite sides of the country.


In addition to their beautiful paper products (seriously, their laser-cut and letterpress collection is on point), Birch Press offers gorgeous kitchenware like real wood rolling pins from Vermont Rolling Pins (like the shaker cherry one seen in the pictures for this post), cake stands, Staub cast-iron cookware, and more. Right now, Birch Press is offering a 20% discount of your entire purchase to all readers of my blog — just use the code HUMMINGBIRD at checkout! The offer expires November 6, 2015.

Thank you to Birch Press Design for sponsoring this post by providing the props and the compensation to make it happen. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I really think Birch Press has some gorgeous stuff. To wit, I've got my eye on these vases, these cake toppers, these beautiful nesting bowls and these matching thimble cups. Thank you for supporting Hummingbird High and my sponsors, and I really hope you guys take advantage of that sweet discount!


Some baker's notes:

• Plan ahead for this one! The dough requires a ton of proofing time — 1 1/2 hours for the first rise, and another hour for the second rise. If you're strapped for time, you can allow the dough to rise overnight in the refrigerator — follow the instructions for doing so in this recipe for black sesame buttermilk rolls.


• Remember that yeast is a living thing — it thrives when the water's not boiling, but just warm enough. A good test is to stick a finger in the water and see if it's a temperature you'd like to take a shower or bath in — if it's too cold or hot for you, it's likely the case for the yeast as well.


• I used this new vanilla bean crème fraîche from Vermont Creamery that I absolutely freaking love and highly recommend. But if you can't find it in your store, you can totally fake it too — all you need to do is stir the seeds from one vanilla bean pod into some crème fraîche. In a pinch, you can also use sour cream but it'll likely be tangier than my original recipe.

get the recipe »

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