Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Turkeys (Super Simple With Or Without Pumpkin Option)

Ingredients:

9 pieces of bacon

3 tablespoons butter

6 whole almonds

2 (8 ounce) cans Pillsbury one dough sheets flaky crescent rolls*

1/2 of a 15 ounce can pumpkin puree

cinnamon

sugar

2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted

1/4 cup butter, softened

½ teaspoon rum extract (may substitute with vanilla or orange extract)

1 – 2 tablespoons Torani Pumpkin Spice Syrup (may substitute milk or water)

12 candy eyes**

36 thin pretzel sticks

Method:

Preheat oven to 375*.

1. Fry the bacon until crisp and dry on paper towels. Once cooled, cut or break in half. Set aside. 

2. Place 3 tablespoons of butter in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Place dish in preheating oven and remove as soon as the butter has melted. (Watch to make sure the butter doesn't darken to a brown color.) Tip the dish so that the melted butter covers the entire bottom of the pan.

3. Place the almonds in a small ovenproof dish or pie pan. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

4. Open the cans of dough and Lay the unrolled sections of dough down, on a very lightly floured surface, side by side to make one extra long rectangle. (I spread a long piece of wax paper on the counter.)  Connect the seam between the two sections of dough by lightly pressing together with your fingers.

5. Spread the pumpkin puree evenly on top of the dough. Sprinkle cinnamon on top of the pumpkin. Next, lightly sprinkle sugar to cover pumpkin and cinnamon.

6. Roll the dough from one shortest end to the other. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or place in the freezer for 10 minutes.

7. Remove the chilled dough and cut into 6 equal portions. 

8. Unroll one inch of the roll and tuck the end piece into the center of the roll to form the turkey's neck. Place in the buttered dish and bake for 20 minutes.

Freshly baked cinnamon rolls

9. While the rolls are baking, mix the powdered sugar, butter, extract and syrup in a small bowl with a fork or whisk. Mix until thoroughly blended. (The icing should be thick, but easily spreadable.

10. Remove rolls from oven and allow to cool for at least 5 - 10 minutes. Spread frosting on top of rolls. Stick 3 pieces of bacon in each cinnamon roll opposite of the neck for tail feathers. Add two eyes and one toasted almond for a beak. Slide three pretzel sticks under one side of the front of each cinnamon roll to make one foot. Slide three more under the other side of the front of each cinnamon roll to make a second foot. Serve and enjoy!

*For this recipe, it does make a difference which brand of crescent rolls are used. The recipe works best with Pillsbury Original One Dough Sheets.

**I found the candy eyes in the bakery aisle of my local grocery store.

Notes: Normally, I do not like to use processed packaged rolls or foods, but this recipe is so quick & easy, with such a nice result, that I made an exception. Everybody loved them!

For an even easier method, you can use Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls with Original Icing (5 Count) and skip steps four through seven. (Decrease the bacon to 8 slices, the almonds to 5, the eyes to 10 and the pretzels to 30.) Makes 5.

Pre-made ready bake cinnamon rolls (without pumpkin).

I added extra frosting and wings
to my husband's turkey. 😀