Salted Maple Pumpkin Spice Cruffins
These flaky, pull-apart pastries take the classic pumpkin cruffin and give it a massive upgrade with a salted maple cream cheese glaze. By making one simple tweak to the pumpkin puree—blotting away the excess moisture—you guarantee a rich, spiced filling that won’t make the crescent dough soggy, resulting in crisp, towering layers every single time.
- Total Time35 minutes
- Yield12 cruffins (serves 12) 1x
Ingredients
Scale
Spiced Pumpkin Filling
- 1/2 cup (120g) canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (106g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Pastry Base
- 3 (8-ounce / 226g) cans refrigerated crescent roll dough (or seamless crescent dough sheets)
Salted Maple Glaze
- 4 ounces (113g) full-fat cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup (90g) powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Flaky sea salt, for finishing
Instructions
- Preheat and prep: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Generously coat a standard 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick baking spray.
- Blot the pumpkin: Spread the pumpkin puree onto a plate lined with two layers of paper towels. Press another paper towel gently over the top to absorb the excess moisture. The puree should look thick and paste-like. (This crucial step prevents soggy pastry dough).
- Mix the filling: In a medium bowl, beat the softened butter, brown sugar, blotted pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and kosher salt until smoothly combined into a thick, spreadable paste.
- Prep the dough: Unroll one can of crescent dough onto a clean work surface to form a large rectangle. If using standard crescent dough rather than seamless sheets, firmly pinch all the perforated lines together so they don’t pull apart.
- Fill and roll: Spread exactly one-third of the pumpkin filling evenly over the dough rectangle, going almost to the edges. Starting from one of the long sides, tightly roll the dough up into a long log.
- Cut and shape: Cut the log in half crosswise to create two shorter logs. Using a sharp knife, slice each of those short logs in half lengthwise to expose the internal layers, giving you 4 strips total.
- Knot the cruffins: Take one strip and twist it loosely into a knot, keeping the exposed, layered cut-side facing outward. Tuck the ends underneath and drop it into a greased muffin cup. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling until you have 12 cruffins.
- Bake: Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through, until the cruffins are puffed, deeply golden brown, and cooked through the center.
- Whip the glaze: While the cruffins bake, make the glaze. In a mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and butter until completely smooth. Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla extract, beating until creamy and thin enough to drizzle.
- Glaze and serve: Immediately remove the baked cruffins from the muffin tin (so the sugar doesn’t harden and stick to the pan) and transfer them to a wire cooling rack. Drizzle generously with the maple glaze and immediately sprinkle lightly with flaky sea salt while warm.
Notes
- Why it works: Canned pumpkin is mostly water. Blotting it before mixing it into the butter creates a rich, concentrated fat layer that acts like a lamination butter between the crescent dough sheets, creating steam and forcing the layers to puff up flakier rather than melting into a wet puddle.
- Temperature matters: Ensure your butter for the filling is very soft (but not melted). If the butter is too cold, it won’t emulsify with the blotted pumpkin, and your filling will look separated and tear the delicate crescent dough as you try to spread it.
- Storage: These are best served warm the day they are made, but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 300°F oven for 5 minutes or microwave for 15 seconds.
Nutrition (per serving — estimates)
Calories: 364 | Total Carbs: 42g (Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 21g) | Fat: 20g (Saturated: 10g) | Protein: 4g
Nutritional values are approximate, based on standard reference data (USDA FoodData Central). Actual values vary by brand and exact measurements. For precision, use a tracker like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cruffin
- Calories: 364
- Sugar: 21g
- Fat: 20g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Carbohydrates: 42g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 4g