Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

By
Ashley Adams
Ashley Adams
Ashley Adams is a restaurant professional and workshop instructor with a specialty in dairy-free cooking and baking.
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Updated on 05/20/21
Homemade cinnamon breakfast rolls

Sarah K. Lee / Getty Images

Prep: 45 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Rise: 2 hrs 30 mins
Total: 3 hrs 35 mins
Servings: 8 to 12 servings
Yield: 8 to 12 rolls

Typical cinnamon roll dough include eggs, butter, and milk, but this vegan version has the same texture and flavor you're looking for. Dairy-free margarine, almond milk, and egg replacer stand in for the typical ingredients with great results.

Nothing is such a treat as warm cinnamon rolls hot out of the oven, and although these dairy-free, egg-free delights are by no means "healthy," they, at the very least, are significantly lower in cholesterol and saturated fat than traditional butter-and-egg varieties.

We prefer to use this dairy-free vanilla icing to ice the warm cinnamon rolls, but feel free to ice them with whatever dairy-free icing you like.

Ingredients

For the Dough:

For the Filling and Topping:

  • 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

  • 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

  • 3 tablespoons soy margarine, melted

  • Dairy-free icing

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

  2. In a small bowl, gently mix the yeast with 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon of warm water and let sit until frothy, about 5 minutes.

  3. Meanwhile, in a medium-sized bowl using an electric hand mixer, cream the 1/2 cup dairy-free soy margarine and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

  4. Add the salt, beating until incorporated. Mix the egg replaced with the remaining 1/4 cup of warm water. Add the egg replacer mixer and warm almond milk to the bowl and beat until combined.

  5. Turn the mixer onto a low-speed setting and add the yeast mixture. Once the mixture is combined, add the flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough is soft but not sticky.

  6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until elastic.

  7. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with a dish towel or plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours.

  8. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the dark brown sugar and cinnamon.

  9. Grease or oil a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 375 F.

  10. Punch down the dough. Turn the dough out onto a dry surface and roll out to a 12-inch square.

  11. Brush with the 3 tablespoons melted soy margarine and then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

  12. Carefully, using your hands, roll the dough into a log. Pinch together the edges to seal.

  13. Using a sharp knife, slice the log into 8 to 12 equal pieces. Arrange the cinnamon rolls evenly spaced out in the prepared dish and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

  14. Bake the rolls in the preheated oven for about 18 to 22 minutes, or until golden brown. (A toothpick inserted into the center of one of the rolls should emerge clean when they're ready to come out.)

  15. Set the rolls on a wire cooling rack to cool slightly before icing with dairy-free icing.

  16. Serve warm and enjoy.

Tips

  • We like to set our bowl over a small heatproof dish of hot water to help the dough prove. The bowl itself should not be hot, so we like to heat water in a kettle until steaming, pour about 1 to 2 cups of water in a deep but narrow dish, and set our dough bowl on top.
  • To keep your leftover cinnamon rolls from getting hard, store them in an airtight container on the counter for up the three days.

Recipe Variation

  • If you prefer, use soy milk or rice milk instead of almond milk.
  • Add raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, or other dried fruit after the cinnamon sugar before rolling the dough.

Can Cinnamon Roll Dough Rise Too Long?

If you let yeasted dough rise for too long, you'll lose some of the structure, resulting in a collapsed, less than airy baked good. Cinnamon rolls and other raised doughs can also develop a sour flavor. If you need to walk away while proving, stick the dough in the fridge. This will retard the yeast, and you can leave the dough in there for as long as overnight during one of the rises.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
392 Calories
12g Fat
64g Carbs
7g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8 to 12
Amount per serving
Calories 392
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g 16%
Saturated Fat 2g 12%
Cholesterol 19mg 6%
Sodium 284mg 12%
Total Carbohydrate 64g 23%
Dietary Fiber 3g 9%
Total Sugars 22g
Protein 7g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 37mg 3%
Iron 3mg 16%
Potassium 108mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)