If you love cinnamon rolls and are a matcha latte drinker, well then you must make these. Vegan friendly recipe using plant based butter, no eggs needed.
If you love drinking a matcha latte and love cinnamon rolls, then this recipe is for you!
Why Use Matcha in Cinnamon Rolls?
Why not?! It’s a fun way to make a classic breakfast pastry a little green. If you have kids and their favorite color is green, or you want to show some St. Patrick’s Day spirit, make these!
Can you Taste the Matcha?
If you want to lessen the flavor of matcha, just use 2 1/2 teaspoons to get a decent green color.
I used a full 2 1/2 tablespoons and the matcha flavor isn’t super strong, but it’s there.
If you want really strong matcha, use 3 tablespoons.
Cinnamon Roll Ingredients
- plant based milk – Use soy milk or oat milk to keep nut-free. Use full-fat coconut milk for richer rolls. Cashew milk or almond milk work too.
- rapid rise yeast – I prefer using active or quick yeast. One packet is equal to 2 1/4 tsp.
- white sugar – for the dough. This will help keep the dough a brighter green versus using a brown sugar.
- brown sugar – for the traditional cinnamon roll filling.
- plant based butter – vegan butter is best for these rolls to give them rich flavor. If not worried about keeping this recipe vegan friendly, traditional butter works too. You’ll need some melted butter for the dough, and softened butter for the filling.
- flour – bread flour will give you the fluffiest rolls, but unbleached all-purpose flour works too. While you can use whole wheat pastry flour, the rolls will be more dense.
- matcha – you can use a culinary grade matcha here, or ceremonial grade matcha will be a bit brighter in color.
- cinnamon – can’t do cinnamon rolls without cinnamon! Note that different brands of cinnamon carry different spice levels. I’ve found a store bought brand to be much “spicier” than it’s organic counterpart.
- powdered sugar – to glaze the rolls.
Making the Recipe
Don’t let baking with yeast scare you – I promise it’s easy!
Cinnamon rolls are not too difficult to make. While there are several steps involved, it’s truly not too complicated.
Make the Dough
The first part of making cinnamon rolls is getting the dough ready.
First you’ll check your yeast by combining the instant yeast with warm milk and sugar. Let this sit for 10 minutes – it should get foamy and that means your yeast is active and you’ll get a good rise in the dough.
If your yeast did not get foamy, your yeast was either old you you may have killed it by using milk that was too hot.
After the yeast has activated, add in the melted butter, flour (a little bit at a time), matcha, and salt. Combine until dough starts to form then you’ll knead the dough with either the dough hook on your stand mixer or using floured hands on a floured surface.
Rising Tip
Set the oven to 170ºF, turn off once it reaches temperature and allow the dough to rise in a lightly greased large bowl until it doubles in size – about 45 minutes.
Roll it Out
On a lightly floured surface, gently roll out the dough into a rectangle, about 15 x 9 inches.
Spread on Filling
Spread on softened vegan butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Gently pat down.
Roll up and Slice
Using the heels of your hands, gently roll the dough into a log, placing seam side down.
Using a serrated knife or floss, trim off the ends of the log (they don’t hold much filling).
Then continue slicing the rolls into about 1″ thick slices.
Let Rise Again
Place rolls evenly spaced out in a 9×9 pan or baking dish.
I spread mine out just a little bit so as you wait for the second rise, they don’t overcrowd each other.
Bake
Bake the rolls in a preheated oven at 350ºF for about 20-25 minutes, until the edges are are just slightly golden brown.
Cinnamon Roll Icing
I went for simple glaze using just confectioners sugar and a little bit of non dairy milk. I didn’t want to take away the matcha flavor of the rolls, so I think simple is best here.
If you want a little matcha flavor boost, add 1/4 tsp of matcha powder in with the confectioners sugar for a green matcha glaze.
More Cinnamon Roll Recipes
- Banana Cinnamon Rolls (egg free)
- Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (egg free)
- Classic Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
- Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls
Let me know if you make this recipe by leaving a comment and rating below! It helps others learn more about the recipe too! Xx Ashley
PrintMatcha Cinnamon Rolls {vegan}
Matcha lovers will love these Matcha Cinnamon Rolls! A fun way to make the classic breakfast pastry a little green. Vegan friendly and egg free recipe.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 9 cinnamon rolls 1x
- Category: breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (such as oat, soy. cashew, coconut, etc.)
- 1 packet (2.25 teaspoons) instant yeast
- 2 Tbsp white sugar
- 3 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
- 2 3/4 cups – 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, or bread flour
- 3 Tbsp quality matcha powder (ceremonial or culinary)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Filling
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp non-dairy milk
Instructions
- In a microwave safe bowl or glass measuring cup, heat milk for about 20-30 seconds. Allow temperature of mixture to reach 110ºF (or lukewarm). If it’s too hot it will kill the yeast. Add yeast and sugar into large mixing bowl of stand mixer and slowly add milk. Stir until combined and allow to sit for 10 minutes, until top is foamy. If your mixture doesn’t get foamy, the yeast did not activate and you’ll need a fresh yeast packet to start over.
- Once the milk and yeast mixture is foamy, add melted butter mixing on low speed until combined. Add 1 cup flour, matcha powder and salt and start to mix on low speed. Then begin adding more flour, about 1/2 cup at a time. You will likely need about 2 1/2 cups to start. Dough should be elastic and start to pull away from edge of bowl when it is ready. At this time, change the attachment to the dough hook, and allow the hook to knead the dough on low speed for about 5 minutes. Dough should remain soft but not overly sticky – this is typically where I add another 1/2 cup of flour with the mixer running, then stop the mixer once the flour has mixed in slightly, reposition the dough and start the mixer again to continue kneading the dough. (I used a total of 3 cups bread flour.)
- Lightly oil large bowl and shape dough into ball, place dough in bowl and cover with towel and let rise in warm environment until dough has doubled in size, about 45 minutes. TIP: set oven to warm or preheated to 170ºF then turn off. Place bowl in the warmed oven and allow to rise.
- Grease a 9×9″ baking dish with plant based butter or coconut oil, set aside. Once the dough has about doubled in size, lightly cover rolling pin and flat surface with flour. Roll out dough into a 15×9 inch rectangle. Be patient, and roll gently. Don’t use too much flour or your dough will be stiff. Spread on softened butter, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon; gently pat to let sugar absorb into butter slightly. Using the heels of your hands and thumbs, gently roll dough into a long roll, placing seam side down. Use floss method to slice rolls (this video helps for a visual) or a serrated knife to gently cut into about 1 1/2″ width. Discard the ends. You should get about 9 rolls. Place rolls in greased pan, leaving room to rise, and put pan in draft-free environment. You can use the warm oven tip above. See notes below for overnight adaptation.
- Once the rolls have risen again slightly (about 15 minutes), preheat oven to 350ºF (take rolls out and wait for oven to get up to 350ºF). Bake cinnamon rolls for 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned. If necessary, cover top of rolls with foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Covering the rolls for the last 5-10 minutes will prevent them from getting too brown on the top.
- Make the cinnamon roll icing: In medium bowl combine confectioners sugar and milk until glaze forms. Pour over cooled cinnamon rolls and enjoy!
Notes
Overnight method: Prepare cinnamon rolls through step 4. Instead of letting the rolls rise again, you’ll cover them and place them in the fridge overnight. Allow rolls to come to room temperature for about 45 minutes to 1 hour before baking in a preheated oven at 350ºF.
Keywords: matcha recipes, cinnamon roll recipes, vegan cinnamon rolls
Jenn Buxton says
These cinnamon rolls are better than I’ve had at any bakery! And not hard to make… I’ve never made cinnamon rolls and I pulled these off! These are a new family favorite!