Making warm and gooey vegan cinnamon rolls doesn’t get much easier than this! This recipe is fairly simple to make and the rolls bake up to be big, fluffy, and bursting with cinnamon sugar. Slathered with vanilla icing on top, they’re the perfect treat for special breakfasts and brunches!
In a medium microwave safe bowl, add the plant milk and apple cider. Mix well until it begins to thicken like buttermilk. Place the bowl in the microwave and heat up the mixture in 30 seconds increments until lightly warm to touch. Do not overheat or it will kill the yeast that will be added. If you have a food thermometer, it should be about 110 degrees F. Once the buttermilk is warm, add the sugar and mix well. Then add the rapid yeast and mix well. Cover with a warm damp kitchen towel and let it rest for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, add the buttermilk mixture and slowly add and mix the flour 1 cup at a time. Gently mix well until all ingredients are fully incorporated, but do not overmix. The dough will be very flaky and broken apart. Using your hands, start knitting the dough until it becomes one dough ball (do not over knead).
Remove the dough from the bowl and add two teaspoons of neutral oil to the bowl. Using your hands oil the bowl really well. Place the dough ball back in the oiled bowl and cover with a warm damp towel or plastic wrap. Place the bowl in a warm area and let it sit for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
While the dough is rising, in a small bowl, add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Using your fingers or a fork, massage the sugar and spices until the sugar becomes sandy. Set aside.
Prep a 8x8 deep baking dish and oil it really well. Set aside.
Once the dough has doubled in size, lightly flour a large surface on which you will be able to use a knife on. Roll the dough into a rectangle about ¼ inch thick. My rectangle was about 20 inches long by 12 inches wide.
In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the vegan butter for the filling and have the brown sugar and spices mixture ready next to you.
Using a brush, start evenly brushing the melted vegan butter on the dough. Once you have used all of the vegan butter, evenly distribute the sugar spices mixture.
To roll the dough, start very gently lifting the sides (lengthwise). If it is not stuck, start tightly but gently rolling and tucking the dough. If it stuck, very gently using a spatula, scrape the dough from the surface as your roll. Work little by little and slowly to achieve an evenly tight roll. If you try to roll it fast, it will be too loose.
Once the dough is rolled up, measure up and divide the dough into 9 rolls. Mine came to about 2 inches. Once you know where to cut to achieve even rolls, using a sharp knife or string floss, cut one roll and immediately place it on the prepared baking dish. Then cut another one and place it on the baking dish leaving about half and inch in between the other rolls. Repeat the process until you end up with 9 rolls in the baking dish. They should not be touching each other.
Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap and allow it to sit in a warm place for 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
By this time, the rolls should have risen and are now touching each other and there should not be any space between them. If they are still not touching each other, let them keep rising in a warm place.
Place a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil in the bottom row of your oven to catch the butter that will spill when baking. This will make the cleaning process easier.
Remove and discard the plastic from the baking pan. Place the baking pan in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the rolls are all evenly lightly golden brown.
While the rolls are baking, make the frosting. In a medium bowl add the powdered sugar, plant milk, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Whisk until the sugar is fully dissolved. Set aside.
Once the rolls are ready, remove them from the oven and place them on a cooling rack. Allow them to cool for 10 minutes and frost them.
Notes
A tight roll is key: This keeps your cinnamon rolls from falling apart when baked.
To avoid squishing the dough, use a very sharp chef’s knife to cut the rolls.
For the easiest cleanup, place a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil on the bottom rack of your oven. It will catch any vegan butter that may spill out of the pan.
Decorate and serve them warm: Decorate the rolls with the icing after letting them cool for 10 minutes. Plate ‘em up and pass them around to everyone at breakfast or brunch while they’re still warm!