An Easy Vegan Soft Cinnamon Rolls Recipe for you made with just 6 basic ingredients, fully plant-based, soft as a pillow, and delicious!
I am a bit late to join the Cinnamon Rolls craze, and honestly, I don’t know what took me this long to bake them. Who knew, cinnamon rolls are delicious!
And this easy recipe makes the Softest and Vegan Cinnamon Rolls, with a sweet cinnamon sugar filling, and a delicate icing on top.
It’s easy, tasty, and just the perfect recipe for the upcoming cold winter months.
We’ll be having these Vegan Cinnamon Rolls day in, and day out.
Ingredients
To make this Vegan Cinnamon Rolls recipe you will only need 6 basic ingredients, that you probably already have in your pantry:
- soy milk, can be replaced with almond milk
- vegan butter; in this case, butter or margarine works best, do not replace with coconut oil or other vegetable oil
- sugar, use regular granulated white sugar in the dough to keep the color of the rolls light; but you can also use brown sugar
- active dry yeast
- all-purpose flour
- salt
To make the cinnamon filling you will need just 3 ingredients:
- vegan butter
- brown sugar
- cinnamon
To make the sweet icing you will need:
- icing sugar
- rice milk, can be replaced with almond or soy milk
- vanilla extract
How to make this Vegan Cinnamon Rolls recipe
Making these cinnamon rolls is really easy, and it only takes 5 steps:
- Make the dough and let it rise
- Roll it out and top with the filling
- Roll the dough up into a log and cut it into slices
- Bake
- Top with icing and serve!
The one thing to remember with this recipe – make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before starting.
So let’s take a better look at the instructions.
MAKE THE DOUGH
We like to always prepare the yeast separately, to check it’s still active. So we do this step just to make sure that the yeast actually activates. If your yeast is fresh, you can just add it to the flour, but if you are not sure, then mix the yeast with some warm milk. We also like to add a sprinkle of sugar and flour to help the yeast activate and grow – yeast thrives on simple sugars. Once mixed, cover it up with a towel and let sit for 10 minutes – you’ll know the yeast is ready when it starts to foam and bubble.
While you wait for the yeast, mix the milk, melted vegan butter, and sugar in a large bowl. Then, pour in the yeast mixture, add flour and salt. Mix until combined, but no need to knead the dough at this point. Just cover the bowl, and let it rest for about an hour or so until doubled in size. If your room is a bit cold, or your ingredients are cold, it may take up to two hours for the dough to rise properly.
Once your dough is double in size, turn it out on a well-floured surface, and knead the dough, until smooth and elastic. Add more flour as needed, until it does not stick to the surface anymore.
Then, flour the surface again, and roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick.
ADD THE FILLING
When your dough is rolled out, spread it with vegan butter – keep it at room temperature so it’s nice and soft. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top, then roll the dough up into a log and cut it into slices.
We like to first cut the log in half, and then keep halving, so our slices are evenly sized – we got about 16 pieces out of the dough. You can use a knife to cut the dough, but a thin kitchen twine or unflavored dental floss works best.
BAKE THE VEGAN CINNAMON ROLLS
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 360°F (fan oven to 160°C / 320°F).
Grease your baking pan using either oil or vegan butter. Depending on your baking pan, you may need to use two to accommodate all the rolls.
Then, add the cinnamon rolls to the baking pan(s), cover, and let rest another 30 minutes. During this time, the rolls will rise significantly and will continue to rise while baking, so leave enough room in the pan.
When the rolls are done rising, stick them into the preheated oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden-brown in color. Once baked, remove them from the oven, let rest for a couple of minutes, then drizzle with the icing.
MAKE THE ICING
Just add all the ingredients to a bowl and whisk it up until smooth. Depending on how runny you like your icing, add more or less milk.
The icing will set as in time, and will not be runny anymore.
Serving
Warm cinnamon rolls are best, so serve them shortly after baking them.
Storage
You can store them in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
We recommend reheating them slightly before serving, be it in a microwave or in the oven, but this is totally optional.
Can I freeze these Cinnamon Rolls?
Yes, you can make these Vegan Soft Cinnamon Rolls ahead – bake the rolls as instructed, them let them cool down completely, but don’t add the glaze. Once cooled, store them in a freezer up to a month.
To reheat, cover them in foil and place them in the oven at 160°C. Then, add the glaze just before serving.
What kind of icing can I use for these vegan cinnamon rolls?
We made the recipe using a simple icing sugar glaze, but these rolls are also delicious with a “cream cheese” glaze – to a bowl, add 2 tablespoons vegan butter, 6 tablespoons vegan cream cheese, 5 tablespoons icing sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla extra and whisk until combined. Make sure all the ingredients are room temperature, or the glaze will clump.
Another glaze to try is the maple cinnamon glaze: whisk 3 tablespoons vegan butter, 1/3 cup maple syrup, 1 teaspoon ground coffee, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 3/4 cup icing sugar.
Or, skip the glaze altogether, as it isn’t really necessary. Just dust them with some icing sugar, or enjoy them as they are.
Easy Vegan Soft Cinnamon Rolls
An Easy Vegan Soft Cinnamon Rolls Recipe for you made with just 6 basic ingredients, fully plant-based, soft as a pillow, and delicious!
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 cups soy milk
- 110 grams vegan butter (1/2 cup)
- 50 grams sugar (1/ cup)
- 7 grams active dry yeast
- 630 grams flour (5 cups or so)
- 1 tsp salt
Filling:
- 80 grams vegan butter, softened
- 90 grams brown sugar
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
Icing:
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 2 tbsp rice milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare the yeast: warm half a cup of soy milk to lukewarm, add in 7 grams active dry yeast, a sprinkle of sugar, and a sprinkle of flour. Whisk to combine, then cover the bowl and let sit for a couple of minutes covered, until the yeast activates. When the mixture becomes foamy and bubbly, your yeast is ready to use.
- Melt 110 grams of vegan butter until liquid, then set it aside to cool to warm.
- Prepare the dough: to a large bowl, add the remaining 1 1/2 cups soy milk, the melted vegan butter, and 50 grams of sugar. Whisk to combine, then pour in the yeast mixture, add 630 grams of flour, and 1 tsp of salt. Mix with a wooden spoon until just combined, then cover the bowl with a towel, and let sit in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour, or until the dough doubles in size (it will depend on your yeast, ingredients, and room temperature).
- Once the dough is double in size, transfer it to a floured surface. Knead the dough, adding more flour as needed, until the dough does not stick to the surface anymore.
- Now roll the dough out to a large rectangle, about 1 cm / 1/2 inch thick.
- Filling: spread about 80 grams of softened vegan butter over the dough, then sprinkle 90 grams of brown sugar, and 2 tbsp of cinnamon on top. Then, roll the dough up, on the longer side, tightening the dough as you roll, until it resembles a log, and place it seam-side down.
- Using kitchen twine or unflavored dental floss, cut the log into about 16 evenly sized pieces.
- Grease your baking pan with oil or vegetable butter, then place the cinnamon rolls in your baking pan, spreading them evenly, to allow for further rising - they will double in size. You may need to use 2 baking pans for this. Cover the pan with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C / 360°F (fan oven to 160°C / 320°F).
- After 30 minutes, remove the covering from the baking pan, and transfer it to the preheated oven. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the cinnamon rolls turn golden-brown in color.
- While the rolls are baking, prepare the icing: in a bowl, whisk 1 cup of icing sugar, 2 tbsp rice milk, and
1 tsp vanilla extract, until smooth. - When the cinnamon rolls are baked, remove them from the oven, let them cool down a minute, then drizzle with the icing to your liking.
- Serve warm, or store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
- When baking I recommend using the metric system for more accurate measuring and better results!
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature before starting.
More delicious dessert recipes we recommend for the upcoming holiday season:
- Dark Chocolate Coconut Truffles
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Baked Peanut Butter Banana Donuts
- Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Vegan Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
- Vegan Cinnamon Baked Apples
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