Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

Soft and fluffy vegan cinnamon rolls, made with a vegan enriched dough and a tasty cinnamon filling. Perfect for breakfast or a tea time treat.

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 25

Resting Time: 1 30

Total Time: 2 25

Servings: rolls

Ingredients

Dough

3 cups (375 g) all purpose / plain flour
1 packet (2 ¼ tsp / 7 g) instant yeast
2 tbsp (25 g) sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ cup (55 g) vegan butter melted
1 cup (240 ml) plant-based milk we use oat milk

Filling

¼ cup (55 g) vegan butter melted
¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar
1½ tbsp cinnamon

Icing (optional)

1 cup (130 g) powdered sugar / icing sugar
1 - 2 tbsp plant-based milk
½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Dough

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt.
Melt the vegan butter, combine it with the plant milk and add this wet mix to the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients.
Mix with a silicon spatula or wooden spoon until it comes together into a rough, loose dough.
Tip the dough out onto a lightly flour-dusted work surface or wooden board, and using your hands knead the dough for 5 to 8 minutes, until it becomes uniform, smooth and elastic and stops sticking to your hands.
Stretching and folding is a good way to effectively knead the dough. If you have warm hands, the dough can still stick to your hands after it has been kneaded. Just scrape it off your hands and move on.
Roughly shape the dough into a ball (you can do this by repeatedly tucking the sides of the dough under itself with the edge of your palms).
Place the dough inside a large, lightly greased mixing bowl, cover it with a damp tea towel and leave to rest in a warm place for one hour, but at least until doubled in size.
If you're in cold weather and it's tricky to find a warm place, stick it in the oven with just the light on, which will keep it cozy.

Filling and Baking

Melt the vegan butter for the filling, add the brown sugar and cinnamon and stir it together well to combine.
Tip the dough out onto the lightly dusted work surface or wooden board and with a rolling pin roll it out into a large rectangle approximately 10" x 18" (25 x 45 cm) in size and ¼ inch (5 mm) thick.
Spread out the filling across the rolled out dough, distributing it evenly.
Using just minimum pressure, roll up the dough into a log starting from one of the long sides.
Use a sharp knife to cut the log into 9 equal pieces.
We like to first mark out lines before actually cutting to make sure we end up with the right number of rolls. You might want to cut a slightly different number of pieces, depending on the shape of your baking pan.
With their pretty sides up, space out the cut rolls in a 9" / 23cm square baking pan, to leave some room for them to expand during the final rise.
Cover again with the damp tea towel and leave to rest for another 30 minutes in a warm place.
In the meantime, preheat the oven.
Bake the cinnamon rolls at 180℃ (350℉) for 25 - 30 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
Enjoy while still warm and fresh or let cool down completely before storing in an airtight container to keep them moist.

Icing (Optional)

To make the icing, gradually add the plant milk to the powdered (icing) sugar and vanilla extract. Add only small amounts of plant milk at a time and stir well in between. When you have added just enough plant milk, the icing will suddenly come together.
The constistentcy to aim for is very thick, but just about liquid. You can adjust the consistency by adding small amounts of icing sugar or plant milk.
Ice the cinnamon rolls after they have cooled down for at least ten minutes and enjoy!

Notes

Flour

We highly recommend using a weighing scales to measure your ingredients for better accuracy and results. If using cups, use the spoon and level method to measure your flour.

The absorbancy of flour can vary depending on factors such as variety of flour, humidity and altitude. This can create differences in how moist and sticky your dough is. Dough always becomes smoother and less sticky as you work it, but if you find it too sticky to knead, add a sprinkling of flour at a time. Don't be tempted to add too much, as a moist and soft dough produces better results.

Icing

If you fancy a vegan cream cheese frosting instead then combine 112g or ½ cup vegan cream cheese (such as violife), 90g or ¾ cup icing/powdered sugar and ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and whip with an electric whisk until smooth and creamy.

To add a citrusy twist, replace the plant milk with lemon or orange juice in the original recipe.

For more variation ideas see the post above!

Nutrition

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