Pecan Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls with a sweet and savoury Maple Cream Cheese Frosting perfect for the holiday season! These rolls are light and fluffy with an eggnog spiced dough, a candied pecan and cinnamon sugar filling with a cream cheese frosting to tie it all together. They have just the right amount of holiday flair for a nice seasonal twist. The candied pecan filling creates a beautiful sticky bottom, there’s nothing not to love in every bite. 

You’ve got eggnog, pecans, maple syrup all combined as a cinnamon roll that just screams holiday season. These are melt in your mouth delicious and can be served as a make-ahead breakfast dish for Christmas morning or really any morning throughout December. There’s a ton of beautiful elements that all come together- the sticky, the sweet and the savoury it’s all a match made in heaven. 

This is probably the time of year where I make the most cinnamon rolls. Fall through the Holiday season, there’s a ton of seasonal ingredients that make them all warm and gooey and super comforting. It’s the warm spices, like cinnamon, pumpkin spice, and nutmeg that pair beautifully with heavier savoury ingredients like pumpkin, apples, and nuts  and you can pair with a cream cheese frosting that’s not overpowering with sweetness. I quite enjoy eggnog lattes this time of year and find it so fitting as a milk substitute in baking recipes. Eggnog is thick and creamy, it’s rich and spiced cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Eggnog is typically made from milk, cream, sugar, fluffed egg whites and egg yolks which give it a frothy texture and a small yellow tinge. These are some common ice cream making ingredients as well and sometimes eggnog is compared to drinking melted ice cream. The point is it’s friggen delicious and you should take advantage of using it. 

TO MAKE THE DOUGH

Start off by combining the active dry yeast with warmed eggnog and sugar. I like to use the traditional active dry yeast and let yeast active in the warm milk until bubbly and frothy for roughly 5-10 minutes. I find seeing the bubbles and checking to make sure the yeast is good is so helpful because then i’ll know that the rolls will turn out good rather then mixing it straight into the bowl with all the other ingredients. It’s definitely happened where the yeast was off and never activated but I didn’t know because I probably used the rapid rise and went through all the resting and rising and cooking process just to throw them out. So I don’t like to make the same mistake twice which is why I stick to traditional. I’ve found that another important step is to oil the bowl a little bit so that the dough can really get a good first rise. It helps to keep the dough moist and keep from drying out. I always get a better rise with oil in the bowl and plastic wrap instead of a kitchen towel. Sometimes it just comes down to the little things and preparation that really make the difference.    

CANDIED PECANS

This step is definitely an added kitchen task but the sticky bottoms are so good it’s worth it. I make the pecans as soon as the dough is done and set aside to rise. I first crush the pecans or smash them into smaller pieces- not dust, just chopped so that way there isn’t whole pecans through the layers but smaller pieces. To candy the nuts, start by heating sugar and water over the stovetop and stirring in the crushed pecans. Let the mixture simmer for roughly 20 minutes. The pecans should be soft and taste sweet. Transfer them to a baking tray with parchment and line them up in a single layer so they can cool and harden a bit. Once on the tray I sprinkle them with a good amount of cinnamon sugar from the filling to give them a nice dust of sugar and spice overtop. 

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Print Recipe

Pecan Eggnog Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

These rolls are light and fluffy with an eggnog spiced dough, a candied pecan and cinnamon sugar filling with a cream cheese frosting to tie it all together. They have just the right amount of holiday flair for a nice seasonal twist. The candied pecan filling creates a beautiful sticky bottom, there's nothing not to love in every bite.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Additional Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 12

Author: the communal feast

Ingredients

• 1 cup eggnog warmed
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 2 TBS brown sugar
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup softened butter
• Filling:
• 1 1/2 cup pecans
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ground cinnamon
• softened butter
• Maple Cream Cheese Frosting:
• 4 oz cream cheese room temperature
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 1/2 TBS maple syrup
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 TBS milk

Instructions

• 1. Combine the active dry yeast with warmed eggnog and sugar. Let sit 5-10 minutes, until the mixture begin to foam.
• 2. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the dough hook, mix together the eggnog and yeast with butter, vanilla and eggs until well combined. Add the salt and 3/4 of the flour, mixing until the flour is fully incorporated. Slowly add the remaining flour mixing until a dough ball starts to form. If the dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour. The dough should be soft and a touch sticky, not dry. Pull the dough ball out, add a touch of olive oil to bowl and add the dough ball back in. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 45 minutes in a warm area until the dough has doubled in size.
• 3. To make the candied pecan filling: add the pecans to a plastic bag and crush using a rolling pin to create smaller pieces and chopped pecans. In a saucepan, heat sugar, water and pecans. Bring to a slow boil and reduce to simmer for 20 minutes. Strain out the liquid, and transfer to a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Arrange pecans in a single layer. Combine the grown sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl to create the cinnamon sugar filling. Sprinkle some of the cinnamon sugar over the candied pecans and let cool.
• 4. Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough ball. Roll out the dough into a large thin rectangle that's roughly 10 x 20 inches. Spread softened butter across the rolled out dough, dust with the remaining cinnamon sugar and then the candied pecans into an even layer. Gently press the pecans into the dough with your hands, roll the long edge into a tight log. Pinch and seal the seem and both sides of the log. Use a sharp knife to cut into 12 rolls, place the rolls into a greased large baking dish or large baking tray. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 45-1 hour.
• 5. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Bake rolls for 25 minutes until golden brown.
• 6. To make the frosting: cream together the cream cheese and butter until combined. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar at a time with the maple syrup, salt, cinnamon, and milk. Mix until light and fluffy.
• 7. Spread the frosting onto the warm rolls and enjoy!