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These vegan cinnamon rolls are unbelievably and honestly the best cinnamon rolls you will ever make & eat! I have sold these rolls at farmers markets a plenty and even the non-vegans that have come across them (and were fed them unknowingly) love them! They are soft, fluffy, sweet, & cinnamon-y and worth the time it makes to make them. Don’t let the involved-ness of them frighten you, it is an easy process that is made even easier based on tips I have learned throughout the years making them at different bakeries.
I have multiple tips and tricks to get you the best tasting vegan cinnamon buns that will be worth your time and energy and have you keep reaching for this vegan cinnamon roll recipe again and again. The first trick, an Asian baking technique called tangzhong which is when you cook some of your recipes liquid with some flour to create a paste. Once added to your cinnamon roll dough, this creates an exceptionally soft, fluffy, and moist bread that extends the shelf life. The second trick is infusing your butter with a cinnamon stick. The third is just the technique to get you there and that will be explained below. Anyone, I mean, anyone can do this!
If you are the type, like me, to reach for some sugary goodness on or around the holidays, these can scratch that itch on any of them, Christmas morning, Thanksgiving Brunch or a festive feeling Tuesday. Top these rolls with a delicious vegan cream cheese frosting (or icing, this is a controversial topic in itself) and you have the ultimate sweet yeasted dough to share with others.
Soft & Fluffy Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Cinnamon Filling
- 113 g plant butter
- 1 ea cinnamon stick
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
- 150 g brown sugar (can sub coconut sugar)
- ¼ tsp pink salt
- 2 Tbsp ap flour (this helps the filling stay in place)
Tangzhong
- 180 g oat milk (can sub soy milk or almond milk)
- 90 g water
- 45 g all purpose flour
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 540 g oat milk, warm (110-120℉ is a good temp, not above 140℉)
- 2½ tbsp active dry yeast (I use Red Star, can also use instant yeast)
- 150 g brown sugar (or coconut sugar)
- 207 g plant butter, room temperature
- Tangzhong, all
- 1080 g all purpose flour
- 2 tsp pink salt
- melted butter or oil (to grease baking pan)
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 55 g plant butter
- 55 g vegetable shortening (this is to make the cream cheese more stable for when its warm out, can sub plant butter if you aren't concerned with heat)
- 113 g vegan cream cheese (I like Miyokos the best)
- 1½ tsp vanilla paste (can also use vanilla extract)
- ½ tsp pink salt
- 450 g powdered sugar
Instructions
Cinnamon Sugar Filling
- In a small pot, turn your stove to a medium heat and combine your plant butter with your cinnamon stick. Let come to a boil and turn off the heat as soon as it does. Set aside and let cool until homogenous again, you can alternatively put in the fridge or freezer and stir every so often to get it to come back to a more solid state. You do not want a rock hard cinnamon filling, it should be spreadable. Pull out cinnamon stick and discard.
- Once cool, add the remainder of your ingredients and stir until combined. Set aside.
Tangzhong
- In a small pot on medium heat, combine your oat milk with water and let come to a boil.
- Once boiling, turn to a low heat, have your whisk ready and slowly add your bread flour whisking constantly. This will quickly create a thick paste, take the pan off the heat, scrape paste into a separate bowl and set aside until cooled slightly (you just don't want it to be too hot to kill the yeast in the dough).
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- Warm your milk of choice in a pan until lightly warmed (110-120℉) is an ideal temperature. Once warmed, add your warm milk to the large mixing bowl of your stand mixer.
- Mix in yeast and wait at least 5 minutes for the yeast to bloom (this ensures it is active).
- Add your brown sugar, plant butter, flour, tangzhong and salt. Mix on medium speed for 10-12 minutes or until dough creates a window pane by gently stretching a small piece of dough to see if it is see through and doesn't tear.
- Let rise in a humid, warm place for 1 hour or until double in size.
- Once doubled, dump out dough onto a lined rectangular cutting board or baking sheet (a 15×10" jelly roll pan is what I use). Spread out dough evenly with hands or a rolling pin to stretch to the size of the pan. Wrap the pan entirely in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled down, at least 2 hours.
- At this point, make sure your cinnamon filling is a spreadable consistency as we are almost ready to spread it. Grease your pan of choice with oil or melted butter for the cinnamon rolls to bake in. Sometimes I use a jumbo muffin pan lined with cupcake liners, sometimes just a 9×13 baking pan or casserole dish.
- Remove dough from refrigerator, flour your counter or rolling surface, invert pan of cold dough onto floured surface, roll out dough to 10" x 24". Spread cinnamon roll filling evenly with a spoon or offset spatula (this is what I use). Roll into a tight roll long ways. To prepare to cut, I like to score each piece every 2" so they bake evenly. To slice the rolls, you can use a sharp serrated knife or a piece of dental floss or twine to wrap around it and pull.
- Turn on your oven to preheat at 350℉ at this point. Place rolls into your baking pan and let proof for their second rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour. They should be doubled in size and be ready when a light finger poke creates a small indentation that bounces back slowly but not completely.
- Place the cinnamon rolls into the oven for 25-30 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Let cool for at least 30 minutes or until not warm to the touch as it will melt frosting.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Combine the cream cheese, plant butter, shortening, vanilla and salt in a large bowl of a stand mixer, cream until it's thoroughly combined. Add powdered sugar, cup by cup, mixing after each addition until all is used up. Ice your cooled homemade cinnamon rolls with as much icing as you'd like using a piping bag or slathering it on, your choice. Serve 'em up and enjoy. Leftovers if any, can be stored in an airtight container for later enjoyment.
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