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Easy Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

cinnamon rolls on marble board

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Learn how to make homemade vegan friendly cinnamon rolls! Simple ingredients, easy-to-follow directions and the perfect recipe. Whether you’re making these for a baking day, family brunch or a holiday morning you will love these!

Ingredients

Units Scale

Dough

  • 1.25 cups non-dairy milk (such as cashew, oat milk, soy, etc.)
  • 1 packet instant yeast (rapid rise yeast, equal to 2 1/4 tsp)
  • 1 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 5 tablespoons plant based vegan butter, melted & cooled
  • 3 1/24 cups bread flour, or unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling

  • 1/4 cup softened plant-based vegan butter
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1.5 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Frosting

  • 5 ounces plant based cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup organic confectioners sugar (or more to taste)
  • 24 tablespoons non-dairy milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Instructions

  1. 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.
  2. Once the milk and yeast mixture is foamy, add melted butter mixing on low speed until combined. Add 1 cup flour 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 3 1/2 cups. 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 1/4 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Grease a 9×13″ baking dish with 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 12 rolls for a 9×13 pan. 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. 
  5. 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. Then, 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.
  6. Make the frosting: In medium bowl using electric hand mixer (or stand mixer with paddle attachment) beat softened cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla extract, powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons milk; mix on low speed until combined. (Add more milk for thinner frosting.) Spread on slightly cooled cinnamon rolls. Best served warm – 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 45 minutes before baking in a preheated oven at 350ºF.

Simple cinnamon roll icing recipe: use 1 cup powdered sugar with 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of orange juice or lemon juice for a citrus glaze, or use milk of choice.

Keywords: easy vegan cinnamon rolls, cinnamon roll recipe