Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

Super soft vegan cinnamon rolls are fluffy and gooey, and filled with a cinnamon and pecan cinnamon roll filling. These vegan cinnamon rolls are super easy to make, and the recipe includes an overnight option!

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Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this vegan cinnamon roll recipe! I have been sitting on the recipe for a wee bit and decided it is just far too good to keep to myself and I should probably just share it here now!

These Vegan Cinnamon Rolls are SO GOOD. I love making homemade cinnamon rolls, but I don't have too much vegan baking experience (it is usually just a happy accident - my focaccia recipe and my ciabatta recipe are both vegan), so I was a little cautious going into this, but oh my, they turned out so well!

The dough for these vegan cinnamon rolls has a Tangzhong base, which gave me a great foundation to work on, then relied on bread flour for strength where eggs and milk would usually do the heavy lifting.

I filled the Vegan dough with a simple cinnamon sugar mixture, then added a wee layer of candied pecans just for texture and flavour. These Vegan Cinnamon Rolls are so soft and fluffy and come together quickly - I hope you love them! Use the links below to navigate the post!

Super Easy Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

These Vegan Cinnamon Buns are super easy to make. The dough comes together super fast and because it doesn't have butter etc in it, it is just as easy to roll out at room temperature as it is cold.

• Make the Candied Pecans - These Vegan Candied Pecans are super easy to make - you just cook toasted nuts on the stove with some sugar and oil until the sugar caramelises. I like to toast my nuts in the oven first to add a depth of flavour. The pecans are finely chopped for the filling of the cinnamon rolls.
• Mix the Vegan Cinnamon Roll Dough - This dough uses the Tangzhong method, so starts with a paste made of milk and flour which is cooked on the stove. The rest of the ingredients then go in and it hangs out in the mixer for a bit before being left to rise
• Assemble the Vegan Cinnamon Rolls - The next step is to roll out the dough, and top with the cinnamon sugar filling and the candied pecans. Then they get rolled up, sliced, and popped into a pan to rise and then are baked.
• Finish with glaze - These Vegan Cinnamon Rolls just have a super simple glaze made from plant based milk and powdered sugar. You can make it as thin or thick as you like depending on preference! I used oat milk to make my icing, you can use almond milk or soy milk too if you like depending on preference.

How to make Vegan Cinnamon Roll Dough

I relied heavily on the Tangzhong method when making this vegan cinnamon roll dough. The Tangzhong method is an Asian Technique, and involves cooking part of the flour and water in a bread recipe to form a thick paste, or a roux. The process of making the Tangzhong gelatanises some of the starch in the flour. This means the flour is able to absorb a lot more water, and also holds onto it throughout the dough making process.

This gives an incredibly soft bread which stays soft a lot longer than other bread does. Tangzhong (which is a Chinese word) cooks the liquid and flour together, while the Yudane method (which is Japanese) involves adding boiling liquid to the flour and leaving it to set overnight. The benefit of using a roux means that the bread dough can stay 'lean' - so very little added fat etc but still stay extremely tender and soft.

This works perfectly as the base for a vegan dough as the strength from the Tangzhong means that there is no need for dairy or egg in the dough. The dough is super super light and fluffy, so does need to be dealt with differently than a traditional brioche (it is much more puffy), but it works so, so well!

Please note that if you are keeping these strictly vegan you will need to make sure your sugar is also vegan!

How to make super fluffy vegan dough

I used my favourite Filippo Berio Extra Light Olive Oil in the place of vegan butter in these rolls! This oil is a staple in my kitchen - it is super light tasting so is extremely versatile. I use it whenever a recipe calls for a neutral oil, and it also works great in frying. It is super light tasting so really lets the cinnamon and cardamom in the dough shine through.

I just popped the oil in directly with the rest of the ingredients to mix when making the dough. It also came in handy when greasing the bowl for rising - just a light wipe of oil with your hands or a paper towel helps to stop the dough from sticking.

How to get a clean cut on Cinnamon Rolls

There are a few ways to cut cinnamon rolls - for a firmer dough I usually use a sharp bread knife. While that will work for these vegan cinnamon rolls, the dough is super soft and puffy so I use unflavoured dental floss.

To cut rolls with dental floss, I find it is easiest to cut the roll into sections first (in this case 3 sections), then cut each up. You want to place the log of dough over the floss rather than dragging it up the log, or it will catch on the underside.

Then you just cross the ends over each other and pull, and it gives you a perfect swirly cinnamon roll! Make sure your pecans are finely chopped for this too to avoid them catching on the floss.

If you only have flavoured dental floss I honestly don't think it's going to make a massive difference - thread or some thin string or fishing wire would work great too!

Sample Schedule for Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

I made these Vegan Cinnamon Rolls all in the same day. However, there are a few ways that you can do this to make them ahead of time. I often get asked if you can do the second rise for cinnamon rolls overnight and while you can, it is not my favourite. I find that the chances of over proofing your rolls are much higher, and the filling tends to leak. You then also have to still let them sit at room temperature while you heat up the oven. Here are the two ways I would do it:

1. Fridge rise first rise, room temperature second rise - I often use a cold rise for my first rise with dough. As I said earlier this dough isn't like a butter based dough which will firm up and be easier to roll when cold, but the fridge means you can make it on your schedule. You can either do the first rise in the fridge during the day (I would give it 10-15 minutes on the counter then a minimum of 3 hours in the fridge), or you can do it overnight.
2. Room temperature first rise, room temperature second rise - This is what I did when making these. The dough is super soft and puffy so only takes about an hour to do the first rise and about 30 for the second.

The candied pecans can be made well ahead of time and stored in an airtight container until ready to use. Remember to always go by how your dough is behaving rather than time on the clock!

Frequently Asked Questions

Is bread flour compulsory?
The dough heavily relies on the gluten in the recipe for structure. Bread flour provides that. It is also called 'high grade' or 'strong' flour in other countries. You can add in
'vital wheat gluten' if you don't have bread flour in your country, but I haven't tried it before so I am not 100% on the ratio sorry. For this same reason - I haven't tried making these GF sorry!

Do I have to use a mixer?
haven't tried without but I would say yes, you do need the mixer. The dough is soft and stretchy, and needs the mixer to help develop strength.

Why is there bread flour in the filling?
This is a little tip I borrowed from King Arthur - it stops the filling from leaking out!

What pan did you bake the vegan cinnamon rolls in?
I used a 10" skillet, but a 9" round cake pan or a 9" square pan would work great too. I cut mine into 9 pieces but you can do what you like here.

What is a good substitute for Cardamom?
If you don't have it, you can just leave it out of the dough. Cinnamon inhibits yeast, so don't replace it with that in the dough. You can replace the cardamom with 1 tsp cinnamon in the filling.

How do you store vegan cinnamon rolls?
Store vegan cinnamon rolls in an airtight container at room temperature, then briefly refresh in the microwave.

For more cinnamon roll recipes:

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