I once drove 2 hours before work at 5:30 in the morning in the pitch black just to get a cinnamon roll at an Amish bakery. That’s how much I love cinnamon rolls, and apparently how unwilling I am to make them myself. Go figure.
Why doesn’t anyone make cinnamon rolls? They’re complicated, difficult and time consuming. That’s why.
But these cinnamon rolls are different:
7 ingredients
No complex steps
No difficult methods
Practically fool proof
Just straightforward, fluffy, gooey goodness in cinnamon-roll form.
Oh yeah, and they’re vegan. Holy friggin’ delicious.
I was able to keep the ingredients to a minimum by narrowing down what you really need in a cinnamon roll and forgetting the rest. And then I went a step further and tested the true need for “scalding the milk” and letting them rise a second (sometimes third) time.
Turns out? Not necessary. And they turned out JUST AS DELICIOUS as bakery fresh cinnamon rolls. This, my friends, is my new go-to cinnamon roll recipe and it just so happens to require 7 ingredients and one lazy morning’s preparation. Behold, the World’s Easiest Cinnamon Rolls.
When I pulled these beauties out of the oven I was mesmerized. I couldn’t believe how fluffy and perfect they looked despite minimal ingredients and time.
Although a glaze isn’t really necessary or within the 7-ingredient limit, it’s an easy last-minute addition that will send them over the top. In other words, highly recommended for pure cinnamon roll bliss.
These rolls are:
Fluffy
Soft
Sweet
Tender
Cinnamon-y
Easy
& Satisfying
In other words, perfection. Hooray for easy cinnamon rolls, finally!
- 1 packet instant (or rapid-rise) yeast* (2 1/4 tsp)
- 1 cup (240 ml) unsweetened plain almond milk
- 1/2 cup (112 g) Earth balance (vegan butter), divided
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 cups (408 g) unbleached all-purpose flour*
- 1/2 - 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon (to taste)
- 1/4 cup + 1 Tbsp (63 g) organic cane sugar, divided*
- In a large sauce pan (or in a bowl in the microwave at 30-second increments), heat the almond milk and 3 Tbsp Earth Balance until warm and melted, never reaching boiling. Remove from heat and let cool to 110 degrees F (43 C) or the temperature of bath water. It should be warm but not too hot or it will kill the yeast.
- Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl and sprinkle on yeast. Let activate for 10 minutes. Then add 1 Tbsp sugar and the salt and stir.
- Next add in flour 1/2 cup (68 g) at a time, stirring as you go (you may not add it all). The dough will be sticky. When it is too thick to stir, transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or so until it forms a loose ball (be careful not to overmix). Rinse your mixing bowl out, coat it with canola or grapeseed oil, and add your dough ball back in. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size (see photo).
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a thin rectangle. Brush with 3 Tbsp melted Earth Balance and top with 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 - 1 Tbsp cinnamon (to taste).
- Starting at one end, tightly roll up the dough and situate seam side down. Then with a serrated knife or a string of floss, cut the dough into 1.5 - 2 inch sections and position in a well-buttered 8x8-inch square or comparable sized round pan (you should have about 10 rolls). Brush with remaining 2 Tbsp Earth Balance (melted) and cover with plastic wrap. Set on top of the oven to let rise again while you preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 C).
- Once the oven is hot, bake rolls for 25-30 minutes or until slightly golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes and then serve immediately.
- Optional: Frost with dairy-free cream cheese frosting or a simple mixture of 1 cup (112 g) organic powdered sugar and 1-2 Tbsp (15-30 ml) almond milk.
*I have not tried making this recipe gluten-free. However, some of you have tried using gluten-free blends with some success (scan the comments for tips). At this time I haven't tested this recipe gluten-free and can't guarantee the results if substitutions are made.
*I have not tested this recipe with other sweeteners, but it may work! Let me know in the comments if you have success.
*Nutrition information does not include any frosting.
GENUIS! I, myself, am a HUGE cinnamon roll advocate. If only I lived close enough to get a real Amish cinnamon roll… I live in Germany. No cinnamon rolls in sight. I guess I’ll just have to make some for myself. And these are perfect since I am vegan! Thanks for all the hard working recipe testing : )
What a great recipe! These tasted simply amazing! I used coconut milk instead of almond milk and regular butter. Delicious!
Why can’t I use just plain milk?
This is what’s said about that in the recipe: ‘Make sure to use non-dairy milk for this recipe, otherwise the protein in dairy milk may kill the yeast if not scalded’.
From Red Star Yeast:
“It used to be that scalding milk was necessary to kill bacteria that might affect the yeast activity and to alter a protein in the milk that played havoc with the gluten structure in bread. However, pasteurization has protected us from harmful bacteria and has altered the proteins, so scalding milk is no longer necessary.”
http://redstaryeast.com/yeast-baking-lessons/common-baking-ingredients/liquids/
No, she didn’t say to use cow milk because it’s a vegan recipe. You should be able to sub milk and butter without a problem as long as you don’t care if it’s not vegan. You WILL want to warm the milk to 90-110 degrees or like your tap water gets shortly after it turns warm. You want warm-not hot. This will help the yeast do its job. Too hot will kill the yeast. Too cold will make for a very long rising time. Happy baking!
You can! However this is a Vegan Blog. So we don’t use animal or animal by-products. So almond milk is a substitute recommended in this particular recipe
I woke up this am with your wonderful cinnamon rolls in mind, however, I only have whole wheat pastry flour (it’s Sunday, my no socialization day so no store trips) and a small bit of white. The dough is rising now. I hope it works. I plan to add a bit of orange zest!
Hi i guess what Lisa Worte underneath this comment was a really to yours? I cant reply on her comment but I really need to know what she meins with “white”. Got it standing on a recepy to use 150ml white, but I have no ideal what it is since eggs and milk are already listed… Do you know what that is or how it translates to german?
Annika she means white flour (all purpose it is sometimes called) as opposed to whole wheat, spelt etc :)
This is currently rising in my kitchen, I am very excited! lol
it won’t be vegan aswell
i used plain milk and butter
worked fine
and tasted good
I really really want to make these but I only have real milk and real marg. God help my buns!
hi there,
did you heat up the regular milk in any particular way?
thx!!
it won’t be vegan if you do
Which is fine, not everyone that has access to this recipe is Vegan. And there’s nothing wrong with that, Vegan doesn’t equal better ;)
There is absolutely no reason to be telling people it won’t be vegan. Seriously!! Some of us just are not VEGAN lol so we adapt just like vegans do to other recipes… How very sad.
lol how very sad… vegan does equal better for your health per many research reports, but lets not get into the disillusionment people lead in their every day meal choice. thanks for the recipe!
vegan is only better for your health if you don’t use earth balance or any of that stuff out there.
The people using regular milk and butter clearly don’t care if it is vegan. They have these products in there house because it is what they use. This kind of thing is why is vegans get a bad rep. Let other people do what they want. Your choice is for you. You can’t force other people to think our way.
what i find funny is the psychological insecurity people have who come onto forums or recipes that have the word “vegan” in it, then proceed to gleefully state how they arent vegan/dont support/or indirectly imply they dont give a fuck about vegan ideals when what they are posting on is clearly looked at by mostly vegans. its called trolling, you are trying to trigger people because you are psychologically insecure. great rolls by the way; used water cuz i had no milk :( still turned out fantastic
also vegan is better for the earth as per research, even if you eat the bad stuff
If you watch the viral video called “dairy is scary” you will probably want to make it vegan. Because when you watch what really happens at dairy farms and where/how they acquire it you’ll be (udderly) grossed out. Plus more methane is produced from dairy farms than by fracking, so if anyone wants to leave a habitual planet to their children they might want to consider giving up dairy. One more thing, women in countries that consume the most dairy are getting the most bone fractures. So again, there’s a reason why people are going vegan. Don’t get me started on meat, lol :O
I used regular milk and coconut sugar instead of sugar and they turned out amazing! I followed the recipe exactly.
You CAN use plain milk without having to scald it. Per Red Star’s website:
“It used to be that scalding milk was necessary to kill bacteria that might affect the yeast activity and to alter a protein in the milk that played havoc with the gluten structure in bread. However, pasteurization has protected us from harmful bacteria and has altered the proteins, so scalding milk is no longer necessary.”
Thank you for that tip about the milk! Can’t wait to try this recipe.
Yes, thanks for the factual info….I think it would be mature for each of us to share knowledge rather than life-style advice on food blogs. Am trying tonight so can’t rate yet.
Thanks for letting us know about using the plain milk, I am not a fan of Almond Milk. Now I can try this recipe :)
If you mean cows milk which you get from the store yes you can every time I make these I do and I use normal butter as well. you make it the same as in the directions
You definitely can use regular milk. I do. And no need to scald. The proteins in milk DO NOT kill yeast. Too hot of a temperature kills the yeast.
I did. Turned out great. I even put entire stick in the beginning. Just added extra later to the top before rolling. YumYummy
5 stars
I did use cow milk and Entire stick of butter
Did you use salted or unsalted butter?
No because the protein can kill the yeast. You can use coconut milk, it is economically cheaper than almond milk
I do works fine for me
I used plain milk and they turned out great.
It explains it in the notes section
They wouldn’t be vegan and they may taste worse.
I just made these with regular lower fat milk. They turned out great !
if you are vegan then regular milk is not vegan that’s why. You can use it tho
You can just warm the milk.
You absolutely can use regular milk. The author is vegan so her recipes are vegan.
You shouldn’t though. To not support the cruelty.
You can…..
I didn’t realize this was an animal cruelty site….you can use reg milk geez
I think Elliot meant cruelty to others if you get gas. :)
The cavalier attitude about animal cruelty is astonishing. If you’re going to use milk please watch the viral video “dairy is scary.” If you’re paying for it you should know what it is you’re paying for. And it IS animal cruelty by the way. Unless you think a machine hooked up to your own breasts to suck out your milk after your babies have been ripped away from you is not cruel? Being artificially inseminated and made pregnant over and over and over… You’d think it would be a feminist issue. And yes, cow milk definitely causes gas in most adults. Because it’s made for baby cows, not adult humans. It’s been linked to breast cancer because of all the hormones. Always a good idea to look outside the cultural box you have been brought up in, you will often find the emperor is wearing no clothes.
I used whole milk, whole wheat flour, and regular butter and the result was delicious.
Because dairy is the result of calves being stolen from their mothers and discarded like garbage and dairy cows being raped repeatedly and suffering torture and repeated grief over the loss of their babies until they are finally slaughtered at the hands of heartless men.
And we are not baby cows. Drinking milk from another species is disgusting!
Tarah,
It is sad that you are so full of anger over things you dont know. If you dont want to drink cows milk then don’t. It’s ok not to. But your rant is silly.
I have cows. When they are in a standing heat – they literally stand still so they can mate with the bull – they become pregnant. I sometimes take the morning milk while the calves suckle through the rest of the day. My cows come running up the paddock when they hear me at the gate. They lick me and follow me around the paddock while i check fencing. No-one is being raped, babies arent being stolen, and everyone is healthy and happy.
If you dont want to drink milk, then don’t. But dont be angry about it – so much anger isnt healthy.
Thank you!
Thank you Tarah!
Farm girl, thanks for letting us know how things are done on your farm. However, that is wholly irrelevant to the point that Tarah made. 98% of the milk consumed in the US originates from mass-production dairy farms, and the practices Tarah described are completely accurate in that regard. They are simply standard procedure. The vast majority of vegans are vegan for ethical reasons – at least in part – so you can expect for the readers of this website to point out the obvious to explain why vegan milk should (morally, ethically) be used instead of cow breastmilk.
You are so correct…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcN7SGGoCNI
Farm girl, you must have one of the few remaining farms in the world where the baby cows don’t get yanked away from the mother cow. And how do you milk the cow if the babies are drinking all the milk?? Normally farmers take the babies away within a day, the boys turn into veal and the females get raised separately or sold. 99% of dairy cows in the world now are in factory farms where everything she says is correct. Watch the viral video “dairy is scary.” And by the way, the methane produced from all the dairy farms in the world greatly outnumbers the methane from fracking, and methane is the strongest greenhouse gas there is. You cannot be an environmentalist and consume dairy, or any animal products for that matter, because the animal agriculture industry is the driving force of climate change today. Please learn something, watch Cowspiracy on Netflix. It’s an environmental documentary produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. Then you will understand what we are talking about. Because it’s worth getting angry about. And if you would not consider drinking your dogs milk, why would you think about drinking milk from a random mammal? The industry is driven by greed, they have been covering up nutritional studies showing the danger of milk for decades. And countries that consume the most milk get the most fractures and osteoporosis. So what were you drinking it for?
To be honest, you could use just plain water. Which would also cut calories.
I came across this recipe while looking for a how to, rather than actual recipe.
These seem pretty simple, but can be made even more simple.
Just use your favorite basic bread recipe, roll out, and spread with the margerine, cinnamon and sugar mix .
Now this guys recipe seems good, but i just don’t happen to have all the stuff in my cupboard. ALL margarine is vegan unless it has milk solids added.
I would give the recipe 4/5 stars (but it wanted me to actually make it before voting), but I don’t need to make it, many cooks can just tell by the recipe if its good or not. :o)
Cuz plain milk is NOT vegan ?
I made them this morning and I used cows milkand butter. They were delicious.
She does Vegan recipes! But I’m sure it would be fine with regular milk.
You van, but milk isn’t vegan.
because this is a vegan recipe, is why it’s called for Almond milk..
I think you can add regular, or Coconut milk, or regular butter, & brown sugar I think would work well also, this recipe is great as is though i & my vegan son Love it!
I presume you could just use plain water?
Water will not work. Yeast requires the chemistry-based magic that happens when you have just the right balance of sugars, fats and moisture. Leave any one of those out and the yeast won’t grow. Cow milk, goat milk, coconut milk, almond milk, whatever milk floats your boat!
Yeast will grow in many conditions, water/cow’s milk/coconut milk/almond milk… it doesn’t matter. The texture of the bread will be different if you use a milk as compared with a simple, lean recipe with water only. I use a lean dough (water) without any sugar, eggs, butter or milk in it, and then doctor up the filling (cinnamon/cardamom/etc…) and the topping. Who needs all this sugar actually in the dough itself? It’s too much!
When I bake bread, I use plain water, warmed in the microwave, and salt, along with yeast and whole wheat flour, and it rises just fine. Apparently my yeast enjoys a nonfat diet. ;)
Nonsense. Yeast needs no “milk” to ferment. How do you think we make pizza dough? All you need is flour, water & yeast. Anything else is only for flavor/texture. I can tell you for cinnamon rolls water is a poor choice. You will lose texture and flavor. It will “work” but it won’t be nearly as good.
Lol, well said!
Flax milk however did not work for me…could also have been the gluten free all purpose flour blend. Sad crumbly mess :( wahhhh!
No, water is fine, but milk makes a more tender roll. Yeast will activate with a little sugar and flour, in about 10 minutes if it’s fresh. Excessive fats can inhibit yeast growth. Gold label yeast (Red Star brand) is used in such recipes, while red label is used for most recipes with less fat. I haven’t tried this recipe–yet!
Yes, it will. You can make bread with water; I do it every week.
You can use pretty much anything, however salt is what slows the activeness of yeast. Water is fine to use with yeast, my favorite bread recipe is warm water with yeast. As well cows milk will NOT react badly with yeast, bahaha I saw someone say it would on this comment section which is 100000% false, lol
Ah i had some coconut milk but I thought it would add a different taste to the cinnamon so I used normal milk instead. They are in the baking so I cant wait to taste it!
Hey Laura!
Where can you buy the vegan butter in Germany?
I am in Germany with the US Army and we have vegan butter in our grocery stores on Post.
Thank-you for your service! My brother served their as well many years ago. And you are right these cinnamon buns are awesome.
Hi Tina, you can try Alsan-S which you should be able to find in a lot of supermarkets and organic food stores. I use it for a lot of baking items like vegan cookies, but haven’t tried it with this recipe.
Margarine :) It’s not called ‘vegan butter’ in Germany which is probably why you can’t find it :)
you can make your own vegan butter.
veganbaking.net has an amazing recipe. i use the coconut oil based recipe and make a simple homemade quinoa milk to use in it for high protein.
I’m a little worried about my cinnamon rolls! I’m in the process of letting the dough rise and I’m holding my breath because I only added two cups of flour to it instead of three. By the second cup the dough was all crumbly and not dough at all. So I added a tinsie bit more almond milk and proceeded with the instructions.
My problem may lie in the fact that I used gluten free all purpose flour instead, but I don’t know why that would make a difference like this. It’s made out of white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, pea hull fiber, acacia gum and rice protein. I don’t know enough about the chemistry of cooking to know if any of these ingredients would dry out the mixture like this, but regardless, I’d be happy to get some feedback on why this may have happened, even if this batch of rolls is a flop. I am determined to get it right!
I would like to add that your website has been very deliciously helpful with my process into becoming a vegan and minimizing my gluten intake. One of my favorites of your recipes is the vegan garlic mac and cheese.
I’m having a similar problem! I used a mix of half bread flour and half white whole wheat flour, and I could only get ~1.5 cups of flour into it before it become pretty dry. It’s currently rising now. Fingers crossed!!
Good luck! Mine didn’t turn out at all, so I’m just going to try again sometime with regular flour. I hope yours works out better than mine did!
Gluten is what makes dough elastic. the higher the content the easier it is for making bread, pizza or things like cinnamon rolls. That is why the food industry has pushed farmers to select wheat based on high gluten content. That is why using gluten free flour is trick and does not guve the ssame results.
When you bake withe gluten free flours you need more liquid . Gluten free flours absorb more water.
About how much more liquid do you have to add. I’m grainfree and will use a combination of almond, coconut and psyllium husk flours
It was delicious! However, I did change a few things. It wasn’t exactly the way I wanted it, but it was still good. Thank you!
I tried whole wheat pastry flour, and it really didn’t taste very good. I wonder if I did something wrong.
Completely on your team! I’m in Germany too and miss the delicious cinnamon rolls. I make my own to fulfill the craving!
I live in Portugal, so I always have to go to Ikea to eat cinnamon rolls — this recipe will change my life! :D
OMG!!I live in the us and Ikea always had the best cinnamon rolls, but ever since i turned vegan i haven’t gotten to eat some in a while. i will definitely try this recipe :)
Who could not love cinnamon rolls! They are so good and one of my all time favorite fall/winter breakfast. These look just too goo to be true. You are a genius!
This is life-changing…VEGAN cinnamon rolls that don’t have 1000 ingredients and 500 steps?!? I’m in heaven!
I. Must. Make.
These look SO incredible. And “world’s easiest”???? Like someone else said, that sounds too good to be true. I’ve been dying to try making cinnamon rolls but I’ve never tried baking with yeast before (and my baking skills are definitely precarious in general…) If you say these are the world’s easiest, I may just have to bite the bullet and finally tackle these. Thanks so much for the inspiration!! I love your site :)
PS Just made these (with non-vegan substitutes) and they were perfect!!!!! Thanks so much for my first yeast AND first cinnamon rolls experience :) It was too fun and they were delicious.
yay! such good news! glad you enjoyed them.
My son is allergic to nuts and I would really like to try this recipe. Is soymilk a good substitute for the almond milk?
Yes! That or rice.
I use cashew milk with this recipe – the results are amazing. This is my go to recipe for cinnamon rolls – the results are always great. Thanks Dana for the recipe
Is macadamia milk a good substitute?
If you used NON-VEGAN shortening, what did you use?
what none vegan substitutes did you make?
I made these using whole wheat flour and a little bran flour. I added a couple tablespoons of vital gluten to help lighten the flour. I also added some nutmeg and pumpkin spice. They came out yummy!
And I am trying them with 100% “white whole wheat” — a lighter wheat type… We’ll see how they turn out…
I would like to try these with while whole wheat flour as well. Eric, how did yours turn out?
I use wheat gluten to make things chewier. It is also used to make seitan which is a mock meat.
OMG! These cinnamon rolls are just LEGENDARY! Damn I feel the need to go for them!
These look great but what is Earth Balance and what can I substitute for it. If I need to make these now!
It’s a vegan brand of butter, but you could also sub non hydrogenated margarine, maybe coconut oil or butter if you’re not vegan. Hope that helps!
Thank you! *rushes off to the kitchen*
I feel if this is a vegan blog and you are for veganism then suggesting people use non vegan items defeats the purpose of a vegan blog! We are here to educate about veganism and fully stand for the animals who have no voice! Veganism is life
Also I did not vote this recipe 4 stars because I haven’t even made it. I tried to remove the stars but was only able to remove one
Yes I agree, it’s too bad people can’t try to make one recipe without animal parts and liquid. I know they don’t know any better, but this would be such a good way to learn if they could even try one recipe!
Would it be the same amount of coconut oil?
Vegetable oil works great for those who do not want or need a vegan recipe. The recipe I use from mom is very similar and it calls for 1/4 c. oil, 1 egg, 1/4 c. sugar and regular milk, There is no need to scald milk anymore as that was written for people as a safety precaution before milk was pasteurized. Also people used shortening in their bread recipes and the hot milk would help melt or soften the shortening. Cinnamon rolls are SO easy. I let mine rise overnight in the fridge already made out into rolls and cover the pan. Just take them out to finish proofing in the morning and bake them off to enjoy fresh hot rolls for breakfast!
Another vegan butter is smart balance. A little bit cheaper than earth balance and easier to find.
I’ve been making a couple different types of pumpkin cinnamon rolls lately, however they have not been coming out correctly. I have been substituting coconut oil instead of butter and whole wheat pastry flour (which I use for most everything without a problem, but never tried anything yeast risen with this flour) instead of AP flour. Do you believe these two substitutions should work with your recipe?
I would use whole wheat PASTRY flour as it’s more tender and will rise better (and taste better) and do up to a 1/2 substitution with coconut oil. I wouldn’t recommend omitting the butter altogether. Hope that helps, Valerie!
What gluten free flour could I use?
i would recommend a mix of tapioca, rice, potatoe and/or spelt
I used what ever flour I had left at home and that happened to be: 1 cup of wholegrain spelt, 1 cup of gluten free oat flour and 1 cup of buckwheat pancake mix (buckwheat and wholewheat flour mix) and it worked too! It did not rise as much and the rolls were not puffy, but the dough rolled out nicely and they looked very appetising and were quickly gone… I would take a picture but of course the battery on the phone went dead and they were gone by the time it charged back again :)
spelt is not gluten-free
i cannot WAIT to make these! they look great! and vegan!! hooray! :D
Umm…yes please!! Soooo awesome!
Pinned! Thank you so much, these look unbelievable!
You are my new favourite person…at least until the weight gain consequence of testing out this delicious creation!
Yum! Looks perfectly tasty!
OK…I need to get on this now. These looks sooooo good, pinning.
I am crazy for cinnamon rolls. Here in the UK there is like 2 places that do cinnamon rolls. I guess the only other option is to make it myself, starting with these
I love you! I hate making cinnamon rolls but I love them so much! I will be making these asap, maybe even today. I might try with coconut oil since I’m out of vegan butter.
I only have, use, organic coconut oil also. Earth Balance is kinda pricey over here. hmmmm?!
Am I the only one who does not know what
Earth Balance is?
It’s vegan butter.
I’ve been able to find Earth balance at a lot of places lately. Kroger, Safeway, Alberstons, and you’re sure to find it at Whole Foods, Sprouts, Central Market/HEB. It might not be in the dairy second with all the other margarine, at Kroger they have a section for healthier and more natural products. It’s amazing spread and I have my whole family (even the non vegans) using it. Good Luck!
I’ve never eaten cinnamon rolls before (shame on me!) but these look absolutely delicious! I now definitely want to try one! Can you send me please :)
Sofie x
we need to find someone who will bluetooth them to you…lol
Just wanted to give you a heads up about scalding milk. Cows milk has a protein in it that can inhibit the yeast rise, but is killed when heated. So almond or non dairy milk doesn’t need to be scalded. These look great, can’t wait to try, like others said, might try and use coconut oil…
Thanks ellen! good to know!
Dana, any way you can answer my question above??
It is a misconception that dairy proteins kill yeast and inhibit the rising of bread. At best, the rise might be slower, but the yeast is not facing imminent death. Further, heating dairy milk does not kill the proteins, it “denatures” them. This is not at all the same thing. Proteins, like carbs and fat, are COMPONENTS of living things and cannot themselves be killed. Ellen, your post is not accurate. Dana, it’s easy to verify input before posting them as facts from a “wise commenter.”
Right.. I make bread every day and use 1 cup milk and 1/3 cup water (lukewarm) with 3 Tablespoons of honey and 1/4 cup flour to proof the yeast. It eats it up YUM! I never heard of dairy killing yeast.
Thank you, Dana. Now I know and now I can get busy making these little wonders!
I am eating these yummy cinnamon rolls as I write. They came together very easily and are delicious. Note: I used about 1/2 cup less flour than the recipe calls for, and ended up using maybe 2 to 3 tablespoons less Earth Balance during the final brushing.
I had a similar experience! They are cooling as I write this though, and they look ah-maze-ing!
Grandma Hein always put a little nutmeg & the sugar in the milk & heated it. Regardless the nutmeg was her signature taste & made a really nice addition to the flavor of the cinnamon rolls no matter when added!
Ooh, I’ll have to try that next time. Thanks for the tip, Auntie!
GENIUS. I only bust out homemade cinnamon rolls for extremely special occasions because a) they take forever, and b) I can’t be trusted around a large batch of cinnamon rolls. However, this easier and quicker recipe is enough to kaibosh one of those excuses. I am now even more fearful of b.
heehee!!
Mind blown.
Do you think that these could be made the night before and then popped in the oven the next morning?
I would assume so, but was just curious as to if you’d tried it yet!
I think so! If you try it, let me know how they turn out!
Loved the recipe, thanks a lot! Just to say that I made the dough, shaped them then put in my baking tray covered with cling film and left in the fridge for 21 hours. I took them out while preheating the oven then baked them. They turned out great!
Love to hear it!!
Thank you for following up and letting us know that worked — I was curious about this very thing because I plan on making them the night before Christmas — and then hopefully just putting them in the oven to bake in the morning :-) Thank you!!
Did you end up trying an overnight fridge rise? I’m interested because I’m hoping to make them for Christmas morning too.
How did this work? Also thinking for Christmas morning!
SIMON! You’re my hero!! Thanks for trying that out and posting about it! I would love to have these for breakfast with my coffee, but the catch 22 is that I don’t bake before coffee…hahaha!
Oh Yummmmmmm! I’ll be right over!
I use applescauce and raisins and cinnamon in the middle of the cinnamon bus instead of sugar.
sounds yummy!!
Made these last night and they are delicious! My toddler loves them. :) Certainly going to be made again and again.
These sound delicious. However all i can find at the store is active dry yeast, and not instant yeast. Will this work if i add it to warm water and follow the same steps? thanks…
I had the same question and looked it up.”They” say you can use them interchangeably in recipes that have some sugar to help activate the yeast, so, should be fine. Fingers crossed because I’m about to go try it!
How much is one “packet” of yeast? I buy it in bulk!
Look in the comments! I believe I share that there ;D
I cannot find where you posted how much 1 packet of yeast is equivalent to. I want to make, but need this info! thanks!
I believe it’s 2 1/4 tsp, but you can google that to find the info.
1 pkt of yeast = 2 and 1/4 teaspoons of yeast.
Thank you so much for the fabulous recipe! I made these–great directions btw, and they turned out GREAT. I hope it’s okay that I posted a review of the recipe on my site and gave links and all credit back to you, of course. :) I’ll take credit for what I do best: eating! Yummy and thank you again!
What’s the white thing on top and how to make it?
Thank you: )
I desperately need this for a midnight snack!
This is a great recipe. My son and husband made the cinnamon rolls last weekend, and they were delicious. I shared pictures of my son making the cinnamon rolls and linked to your recipe in a post on my blog.
Cutie! Such a great way to interact with your kiddos. Thanks for sharing, Dianna!
Easy. Few ingredients. And vegan? Oh I must be dreaming!!!! Though I’m not vegan, I have a dairy (cow’s milk) allergy and this recipe is PERFECT to satisfy my diet restrictions and sweet tooth. I’m making these real soon, thank you for sharing. =)
Hey Dana
Thx for the recipe… these look great! Is it possible to substitute soy milk for almond milk? or do they behave differently when heated? i have a nut allergy.
I think they would be interchangeable. Thanks for asking! Hope that helps.
Hi Clemens, while soy milk would work, it does have a strong distinctive flavor, if you’re used to it in baking then go for it, or you could substitute it with rice milk instead. I’ve also seen hemp milk at the store, but I’ve never tasted it, so can’t vouch for it.
Oh my god! This is ridiculous but I teared up when I was referred to this recipe! I haven’t had cinnamon rolls in entirely too long and I really miss them! These look FANTASTIC, I cannot wait to try them and feed them to my non vegan husband (mwuhahaha)! Thank you so so so much!!!
These look awesome. Honestly, I never had any cinnamon rolls before because the smell near the cinnabun stall in the malls really puts me off, but I’d like to give these a try cause they look so good yet simple. Just a question though, would it work if I replace the oil with a mixture of nondairy milk and coconut oil instead of the earth balance? I can’t find EB or other vegan margarine where I live. Thanks!
If you’re not vegan I would just go for real butter. Otherwise, coconut oil should do.
How much coconut oil?
Salted or unsalted butter?
I would suggest unsalted!
Hi Leon!
I have successfully replaced oil in a recipe with applesauce and coconut oil, for example the recipe called for 1/2 cup of oil, so I used 1/4 cup applesauce & 1/4 coconut oil. To keep the calories low I just use all applesauce. I’ve also used applesauce (equal parts) to replace cream cheese or sour cream with great results.
Lorena, Did you make this particular recipe with just applesauce? It turned out OK? I’m really trying to only make healthy things now but I do miss cinnamon rolls.
I made these once, and I was not successful but it was not because of the applesauce. I tried to have them rise in the fridge overnight, but because it was late and I wanted cinnamon rolls the next morning for my kids, and also I used a gluten-free flour blend…so the rising was not successful, but the flavor was good! I’m going to try it again exactly the same way but during the day when I have time for the rise.
Every store in every town has some kind of margarine. Margarine has always been around and it’s typically vegan.
Just made these and I must say they are amazing! Next time I would put more cinnamon but I may have spread mine too thin. My four year old approved and he requested them, so I call it a success! Thanks so much for sharing!
Love to hear it! Thanks for sharing, Kristen.
Did this great recipe with the vegan option. If I don’t need vegan, I add an egg. For the filling I used 3 tbsp of butter/margarine/coconut oil with 3/4 cup of brown sugar and 3 tsp of cinnamon (the good kind from a spice merchant, not the No Name brand…) I add walnuts, pecans, almonds or soaked in hot water and cooled raisins. It makes 12 rolls for me so I use a 9X13 pan. I substitute half the flour for whole wheat flour for an healthier version (begin with whole wheat when stirring). Best when fresh from the oven, so I prepare everything the night before, roll and put in the pan. Cover with a plastic film and up in the fridge. The next day, I leave it at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and then in the warm oven. The delicious smell in the house wakes up everyone! Thanks for sharing Dana!
How well would these keep? could I bake them the night before and serve late in the day?
Thanks,
S
They keep wonderfully. Great question!
Will these keep out even if I lightly iced them with powered sugar? Or should I pop them in the fridge and re-warm-up in the microw? This recipe tastes AMAZING by the way… :-) Can’t stop eating!! Yikes!!
No need to refrigerate!
I`m in love with this! I recently made cinnamon rolls at home. I definitely need to try this out. I mean, if you can make cinnamony goodness easier, why wouldn`t I try it, right?!
Oh dear. These look magnificent. I appreciate the time & effort you put in to test them because now I can do it the easiest way!
Your intro mentions trying to eliminate a second rise, but the recipe still includes two rising times. You also use instant yeast, which is supposed to eliminate the need for two rises. When I make cinnamon buns, which I do regularly, I use quick rise yeast, let the dough rest only 10 minutes, as directed on the yeast jar, then shape the buns and then they rise until doubled. This is a lot quicker-you really don’t need that first 1 hour rise. They are in and out of the oven in about 2 hours, from start to finish. I’ve been using quick rise yeast for many years and it saves me a lot of time when baking.
Great tip. Thanks for sharing!
These cinnamon rolls truly are amazing! This is my 2nd recipe of yours I’ve used today!!! It was my first time ever using yeast and it was so exciting!!!! it’s like MAGIC! I will be making these this weekend for a brunch. I used almond milk that was vanilla flavored/unsweetened, real butter and the rest as the recipe calls for and they turned out perfect!!
Do you think it’s possible to make these pumpkin??
That’s funny you ask – I was just thinking that today! I think you could either add pumpkin butter to the filling/and or add some pumpkin puree to the wet ingredients before adding the flour. Alternatively, add pumpkin pie spice to the dry ingredients and/or to any frosting you use. Hope that helps!
Made these today using soy milk instead of almond and they came out AMAZINGLY! I also added two tablespoons of applesauce for the filling and maple syrup to the icing (1 cup icing sugar, 2 tbsp maple syrup, 2 tbsp soy milk)
Yay!! So glad you enjoyed these, Jemah. Thanks for the comment!
Has anyone tried freezing these? :) xx
I was wondering that too. Only bake half of them and freeze the rest for another time? Will that work?
This was amazing! Made some for my sister and the fam. They turned out spectacular. For those of you who don’t have/don’t want to use margarine or butter, I did a 1:1 substitute for coconut oil. Totally works. Still came out fluffy and airy. There’s going to be a clear coconut smell/taste, but it still tastes amazing. Also substituted almond milk for soy milk. Turned out really well with some honey drizzled on top. It was my first time with yeast, first time making cinnamon rolls, and I’m so glad it turned out great. I’ll totally be making more in the future. Thanks so much!
Do you think this recipe would work with gluten free flour?
Madeline, my friend actually tried it with gluten free flour and although the flavor was excellent the texture was quite stiff and flat. I’ll have to experiment myself to be able to recommend anything to readers. Sorry!
Have you come up with a type of GF flour that will work for these cinnamon rolls? Would one add xhanthum gum
or maybe a mixture of GF flour and almond flour maybe??? Love to make these but I am GF and VEGAN.
Thanks!
Looking to see how to make these GF. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your Chocolate Chip GF cookies. I make a batch every other day, and my teenage sons can’t get enough of them. (They aren’t GF… I am, but they say you absolutely can not taste that they are GF. They actually like them even better then the CC cookies I’ve been making for forever, and those were spectacular.) Can I use the GF flour concoction from the cookie recipe? Would that work?
It’s worth a shot! Let me know if you give it a try!
Also wondering about making them GF. I guess I can always make them for the family and abstain. ? D:
I found a way with a friends help how to make these delicious and gluten free. Add 2 tablespoons to the milk and let it soak in the fridge for 10-5 minutes. It will make a gel like substance to give it more moisture. Then continue with the directions as usual. Also chia seeds are full of fibre so that is a good thing!!! Also add one tablespoon of xanthan gum or guar gum mixed in with the flour. Then they will turn out just as delicious as the non-gluten free version! Enjoy! :-)
Sorry 10-15 minutes!!
Sorry guys..kinda tired 2 tablespoons of chia seeds!!!
Do you mean to use gluten free flour, too? I did the recipe with the gluten free flour and it sunk in the oven and didn’t brown very well.
Yeah, this is a tough one with GF flours. I haven’t tried it yet myself but one of my friends has and she used mostly rice flours and said that the trick was not overworking (practically NO kneading) and to use less flour than you think you need. Hope that helps!
Use gluten free flour as well as the chia seeds and the xanthan gum or guar gum. Also lessen the cooking time by 10-15 minutes.
Also to make it even more moist use a maple syrup glaze on top. The texture may be a little more dense, but it is still okay!!!!
are those good? Are cinnamon rolls easy to make with out yeast?
Jasmine in this particular recipe you’ll want the yeast. It gives them that fluffy, tender texture.
I want to make cinnamon rolls without yeast and I want easy step to make them!
hi, i was just wondering how long you could keep these for? would you keep them in the fridge? and could you freeze them? thanks for this recipe, it looks wonderful and easy, can’t wait to make them!! :-)
I just pulled these out of the oven and man do they look good!! This was simply so easy! Thank you so much for this recipe. I being the only vegan in my house and I don’t need 10 cinnamon rolls, I decided to freeze half, I’ll leave another comment letting everyone know how that turned out!
Thanks for sharing, Jordan! Do let us know how the frozen half turns out – I’d be interested to know!
Dana – My 10 year old daughter was diagnosed with celiac this summer and the thought of missing out on her great grandmothers cinnamon rolls for the rest of her life has her in tears. Have you experimented yet with GF flour? I promised her I would try to make her some this Christmas, a Christmas morning tradition. We were successful at making your apple crisp with King Arthur GF flour (yum pop!) however I understand the rolls are much more complex. I’m desperate to make her Christmas a merry one!
Good question, Susan. I haven’t experimented a ton with GF flours. My friend tried this recipe with Pamela’s GF Baking Blend and they turned out good flavor-wise but the texture was pretty hard and they didn’t rise. I still ate them :D If I was to attempt these myself, I’d do gluten free oat flour, a little almond meal and a blend of GF flour that is heavy on white rice since it tends to be fluffier in recipes like this. Hope that helps and I hope this recipe is one that you can modify so your daughter can enjoy cinnamon rolls again. Happy holiday baking!
I use white rice flour as a substitute. It’s gluten free!
I love this recipe! Made it for the family this afternoon. We were all drooling! Wow!
You didn’t add that my whole house would smell of cinnamon greatness!
I made these this evening, surpassed my expectations which were pretty high to start with. Quick and easy to make and as good as the ones from my favourite café. I advocate a icing sugar glaze!
How much was your packet of yeast? I am itching to try your recipe! I have made cinnamon rolls twice before, and they were airy and beautiful, but they didn’t have the necessary chew or that classic richness. I hope this recipe will work for me! Active yeast should be okay, right?
If you have rapid rise or quick acting yeast, that’s preferable. However, if not, that’s OK. It just might take a little longer for your rolls to rise and puff up. My packet was 1/4 ounce (1.5 tsp).
Hi! I made the rolls yesterday but they came out kind of hard. I baked them for 25 min and they didn’t have any color so added another 5 min and they were “slightly golden brown” but not soft or fluffy at all. Do you have any suggestions? Thanks!!
Hmm, did your rolls rise? That could be the only potential problem. It could’ve also had to do with the kind of flour you used. Whole wheat pastry or unbleached all purpose is best here. Check and make sure your yeast was fresh. Hope that helps!
Hi Dana,
I cannot wait to make these! My husband is allergic to eggs and I am always looking for vegan recipes as a result (though we are also transitioning vegans).
I just had a question about the frosting, since I am new to making my own… what kind of ratio would you use for the icing sugar/almond milk? Thanks for your help, and for posting this recipe!! :D
Nicole! I’d say 2.5 cups icing sugar to a few Tbsp almond milk, depending on how thick you like it. Add 1 Tbsp of softened vegan butter for an even creamer frosting. Good luck!
Omg, lovely buns and lovely icing recipe! These turned out perfectly! I used as many as 4 Tbsp. of unsweetened almond milk with your suggested icing recipe (with the melted Earth Balance, of course!) and it. Was. Perfect!
I fear these will not last long each time I make them… thanks again!
Hi Dana,
Your recipe looks great! Now I am a very beginner baker with very little time on my hands. I was wondering if it is possible to do steps 1-5 (minus the “set on top of the oven to let rise again while you preheat oven to 350 degrees”) and put these lovely rolls in the fridge and then bake them the next morning (or if I am feeling really lazy, two days later). Would they keep? Thoughts?
Thanks!
This sounds (and looks) great! I do have a question. You mention that the recipe does not work with dairy milk, but would it be possible to use dairy butter instead of the vegan butter? Thanks!
Karin, I think so but can’t guarantee it. If you try it out though let me know! I’d love to know if the kinds of butter are interchangeable.
I’m pretty sure I completely messed up with the yeast, as my dough did NOT double in size, just expanded a little… yet when they came out of the oven, they were an absolute hit! Goodbye, Pillsbury Dough Boy!
Just tried this recipe and WOW! The cinnamon buns came out amazing and were truly gooey, soft, and delish! Thank you for this recipe!
Wonderful! I just made these and took some to my anti-vegan-food neighbor. She loved them, too.
I have only original.almond milk and Kerry gold butter on hand. Will this work ok ?
Jennifer, it should! I haven’t tried it with dairy butter but because of the way it’s processed it should be fine. Let me know how it turns out!
Hey! I just made these. I cut down a bit on the flour, since it wasn’t stirring in. About half a cup less. I also wanted to add a little maple to the filling, but I had already put on most the margarine. There ended up being too much liquid and a lot of the filling oozed out as I rolled, this resulted in a lack of cinnamon deliciousness inside the finished product. I would recommend to anyone who wants to use maple inside to put it on first, maybe with a much much smaller amount of Earth Balance, or whatever butter. Other than that, they are pretty darn good.
i want to make these for an early morning. would it work to prepare them then night before and then bake them that morning, or would it be better to bake them at night and just warm them in the morning?
I would honeslty go ahead and bake them at night, then reheat in the morning. They’ll be just as good!
Would you store in fridge over-night? Or refrigerate them ?? Also- how long to re-heat and at what temp? I suck at cooking !
i tried those cinnamon rolls they are great
Hi!
I would love to make these for Christmas morning but are they as good when made the night before? How would you suggest wrapping/storing them?
Maybe, make the night before and do the icing that morning?
Any suggestions would be helpful!
….just read up three lines. IGNORE ME! Apparently Corina and I had the same thought:)
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. Wait, did I say LOVE? :)
Did you try these yet, Monique!? Yous totally should. And if you do, let me know how you likey. HUGS!
I made these today and my vegan life is now complete. I’m in love :). My family thanks you!
I’m snowed in with no milk of any sort on hand. Can I still make these?
Could these be made in the evening to the point of putting them in the pan for the rise and put in the refrigerator overnight to finish and bake in the morning? (Thinking of Christmas morning…)
MB, yes! Just pop them in the oven in the morning. Alternatively, I found a great resource on the Kitchn if you’d rather make them farther in advance and then freeze them. Check it out!
I made the cinnimon rolls exactly as it said, They came out so good, I said “I’m going to try and make bread with this recipe.
I’ve been trying to bake bread for a while, but it never comes out acceptable.
One was extremely dense. I used it to make french toast. That was the only way to make it edible.
Anyway, so I made bread with this recipe! It turned out so good.
Even better than a backery in this area.
Even better than Farmer’s Market bread.
I used 1 cup Tempt FLAX milk Original flavor, one could use the vanilla flavor though), 3 tbsps Earth Balance, 3 teaspoons Agave Syrup, 1 pkt Active Yeast, 1/2 tsp sea salt (doubled from orig recipe), 2 cups ORGANIC white all purpose flour, 1 cup ORGANIC wheat flour, 1 tbsp organic sugar, 1 tsp vanilla.
With the rolls, the first time, with the all white flour, it took some time, to get all of the 3 cups of flour integrated.
The 2nd time, with the bread, it was easier, probably due to the little bit of extra moisture due to the agave syrup, and vanilla. The dough was so pliable.
When doing the first step, it took my microwave 1.5 minutes to melt the “butter” (EB), the temp was about 150 degrees, so I put the liquid in the fridge to help with cooling. I used a candy thermometer to get it exactly to 110 degrees.
I think I was killing the yeast while making stuff prior to this recipe, by making the water I put the yeast in way to hot. (I like a hot bath). The temp should really be more lukewarm (110 degrees) like this recipe says.
Having the exact temp it should be, REALLY helped me be successful.
The bread I made, wasn’t big enough to be sandwich bread, but I could make a half sandwich with it.
It was fluffy and tender, with just a slight resiting crust. It was not dense or mushy either.
I was so thrilled. I made EDIBLE bread! But even better, was the fact that it was so good.
Other breads, are bread, this was an experience! :)
Also, I think many types of flour (coconut, sunflower, rye?, nut flours), and other yummies (nuts, seeds, molassass, spices, could be incorporated.
I want to try making dinner rolls, and braided braided with this recipe. Mmmm!
Oh, and it’s more nutritious, when using vegan milks, vs plain water that ordinary bread recipes call for.
So helpful to know you can make bread with this dough! It makes total sense since it’s so simple. Glad you had so much success!
I just made this recipe and am AMAZED. It was really easy to make and turned out so good. Next time I will make the icing too but honestly they are great without.
This will be my new go-to brunch recipe
Yay! Love to hear it! Thanks for sharing, Meghan.
I just polished off two of these, they were AMAZING! So good, so easy… dangerously easy. Thank you!
Just made these and they were big, fluffy, and delicious. I used coconut oil instead of vegan butter and brown sugar in the filling instead of white. These were so easy and will definitely be a regular baking item in my home from now on. Thank you!
Just did a test run of these for Christmas morning. My son has an egg allergy so they looked perfect. Oh-my-gosh they are absolutely fantastic. Can’t wait to make many more recipes from your awesome site! So glad I found you!
Thanks!
Alli
Is there a reason you use regular sugar instead of brown for the “filling”? Just curious because I’ve never used granulated sugar in my cinnamon rolls!
I used brown sugar in the filling. Mine came out pretty good… but maybe the white sugar spreads easier.
My 4 year old has egg, milk, and tree nut allergies and needed special breakfast ideas for Christmas…..made these following recipe exactly and whole family loved them!
OMG! I made this Christmas morning!! My daughter already is allergic to milk so this was perfect! I switched it up a little.. I cooked crumbled bacon and added it to the center and made maple flavored icing.. Amazing!!
Yay!
Just made these for Christmas morning breakfast- AWESOME!!! This is my first Vegan Christmas, and my family tradition was to have Pillsbury Poppin Fresh Cinnamon Rolls. These were SO MUCH BETTER!!!
In progress as I type, but shouldn’t the “total time” say 1 hour 55 min?? The hour rising time in addition to the 55 min listed time means these are a snack and not Xmas breakfast like I thought…
I made these yesterday morning for a Christmas walk on the beach.
I used vegetable oil to heat up with the almond milk in the first step.
I used my Viking power mixer to mix everything, and thought I’d ruined the dough when it came out wormy looking and very dry. When I put it out on the table to knead, it was not looking good. I added a little water and worked it into a ball and put it in the bowl and covered it, set it by the woodstove thinking it probably wouldn’t rise.
An hour or so later it had doubled in size and was very workable dough!
I added raisins, fine shredded coconut mixed with ground chia and flax seeds to the brown sugar for the inside part. And real butter, since we are not vegans (but we do drink almond milk.)
They were yummalicious. I’m so happy they actually turned out!
So great to hear! Thanks for sharing, Anj!
Made these today and took them to a party!!! Super hesitant because I never bake with yeast, and have been pretty unsuccessful BUT, they came out awesome, and everyone loved them!! Will totally make them again and again!!!
Ha! Glad we pleasantly surprised you. Thanks for sharing your success, Sarah!
I’m going to make them with my friends today! :) Can’t wait!
We doubled the recipe, and used butter instead of vegan butter and they are delicious! This is definitely something to make again; it’s fun making them, they’re a lot more simple to make than other cinnamon rolls and they’re so yummy! Thank you for this recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them, Phoebe! I think I’ll have to make a double batch next time, too :D
Loved these! Simple sweets are always the best kind. I love recipes that I already have all of the ingredients for on hand. xoxo
I made these for breakfast on Christmas morning. Prepared everything ahead of time the night before and put in the fridge until the next day… they were PERFECT! The only thing I did differently was that I used sweetened almond milk (vanilla flavored) as that is what I drink and had on hand. My husband and kids all drink regular milk and no one had anything to say but MMMMMMMMMM!!!
ANGIE! So great to hear. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. These have been so well received by readers and I absolutely know why. They’re delicious!
Lovely. Not overly sweet (without the vegan icing, of course) and simple. The icing you recommended was divine. It was also my first time using vegan cream cheese so it was greater than I expected. Thank you :)
Yay! SO glad you liked these Jen. They’re seriously my favorite cinnamon rolls (especially with that cream cheese frosting). So good!
I would also like to add that I used virgin coconut oil in place of Earth Balance, and I’m going to make another batch tonight and bake them in the morning. :) I’m considering this the only vegan cinnamon roll recipe I’ll be using.
I made these last night (I’m in the UK, so I used Stork instead of Earth Balance) and they are absolutely perfect. Samplers couldn’t even guess they were dairy-free.
Such an easy recipe and it worked like a dream. I’m forwarding the recipe to all my friends!
Yay! Thanks Alex! So glad to hear it :D
Alex, Stork isn’t dairy-free. It includes buttermilk (IIRC) so unsuitable for vegans and the lactose intolerant. I would suggest using Pure if you want dairy-free.
Hard block Stork was vegan last time I looked, the stuff in a pot isn’t but the block that looks like butter certainly was, will check when I shop this week.
We made these yesterday, and just wanted to let everyone know that the dough also turns out well in a bread machine (which makes it even easier than it already is). I did activate the yeast outside the machine and then add it in as the machine was starting to mix and knead.
Note: We did also use 1/4 cup water (for activating the yeast) and 3/4 cup milk (for the dough) instead of 1 cup almond milk, just because we didn’t have any on hand. Still turned out great, and I especially like that I can make it with ingredients that I *always* have on hand. My husband says a million thank you’s, because cinnamon rolls are his favorite breakfast but he’s gotten them so rarely in the past… :)
So great to hear, Deanna! I don’t have a bread machine but love knowing that it’s possible with this recipe! So glad you and your family loved them. Cheers!
I love this recipe!! I made those cinnamon rolls for a bunch of people and everyone loved them. :)
I have a question…can I make the dough a night before and then make cinnamon rolls in the morning?
Check the comments because I believe I’ve answered this question before. But yes, cover them and let them slow rise in the fridge the night before. And then in the morning, set them on top of the oven (still covered) while the oven preheats. Then bake as instructed! Good luck!
Wow, you get a lot of comments! I just found your site today through Finding Vegan on Facebook. I think I want to try several of your recipes.
As a note to some of what I’ve read here: modern pasteurized milk does not need to be heated for breadmaking. A packet of regular yeast measures out to 2 1/4 tsp.
I was hoping for a yeast free cinnamon roll recipe as someone else posted a plea for also. My daughter is sensitive to wheat (not really the gluten but gluten free eliminates wheat so it works) but also allergic to yeast! I’ve been reading of others allergic to yeast also. I am surprised to find so many people needing gluten free foods! Wow. Personally, I look for yeast free for my daughter and vegan for my son so I am quite happy to have found your page.
Also, an alternative to Earth Balance is Nucoa margarine. It’s been around forever and although it’s not labeled vegan, it has no milk substance in it as my severely allergic (as in almost died several times from touching something that had milk on it and saved by epi-pen and paramedics following up) can eat that one. Not all stores carry it anymore though but maybe where people can’t find vegan options they’ll be able to find this.
I never made cinnamon rolls before. I am glad this was the first recipe I used.
They came out perfect, cute, and airy.
Now, I have been thinking of what different things I can fill them with, such as, a vegan pizza filling, hummus, PB&J, – look what you have started!
Haha, I thought of PB&J the other day too! If you beat me to it, let me know how they turn out! cheers :D
Hi I am wanting to make these for the first time today but we have hemp milk rather than almond do you think that would work? Also going to make a spiced fruit butter for the filling so will let you know how that turns out!
Can I prepare the dough the night before and bake them in the morning for school to save pre-time? Or do you think if I make them completely and just save putting the icing from them, I could warm up in the oven in the morning and drizzle the icing and still be yummy?
So we followed your recipe replacing vegan butter with coconut oil and hemp milk instead of almond. We’re doing lots of fruit butter experments at the moment so we made a spiced apple and pear butter and whizzed in that some raw cashews and dates to replace the sugar and butter usually used in the filling. This meant that the filling was wetter and that combined with rolling the dough out too thinly they are more dense than i was hoping for, however they came out very tasty still! Your instructions made the whole process really easy to follow so thank you!! We’re going to try a savoury version next using a cashew based pesto. * munches on another bun*
Hi, love your cinnamon roll recipe, it’s almost identical to the one I used in my bakery UK for more than 45 years (changed from fresh yeast to dried active yeast in the late 1970’s) However, can I correct your comment regarding the protein in milk killing the yeast. It used to be that scalding milk was necessary to kill bacteria that might affect the yeast activity and to alter a protein in the milk that played havoc with the gluten structure in bread. However, with pasteurization this has protected us from harmful bacteria and has altered the proteins, so scalding milk is no longer necessary.
Love the Blog
Thanks for the tip, Paul!
The yeast didn’t rise for me without having sugar in the liquid at the start, so I made them with water instead and added sugar before adding the yeast and then they turned out.
These cinnamon rolls are DELISH! I am about to make them for the second time as this is my go to recipe now. I have tried a few vegan cin..roll recipes, which were good, but this one has less ingredients and they turn out perfect!
I have been making cin..rolls for many years, starting with traditional ingredients before changing to a vegan diet, and always use my bread machine.
I use whatever milk I have on hand, the last time it was sunflower milk, and my non-vegan teenage son commented on their perfection!
Whoops my 5 stars didn’t post, trying again!
Just tried this recipe yesterday! I have not baked from scratch in a long time and this was very easy for me! Need to practice more but my husband loved them too! Thanks for sharing
Just made this recipe yesterday:) Thanks for sharing! Was hungry for a cinnabon roll and this recipe was easy to follow and make:)
Great to hear!
I bought active dry yeast in bulk. Will this work and how much do I use?
That will work – use about 2.5 tsp!
These are THE BEST Cinnamon Rolls ever! Thank you sooooooooo much.
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Sandra!
Hi – Great recipe. I followed all directions and all turned out well……with one exception.
I placed mine in the fridge over night to bake this morning.
When I took them out of the fridge they were flat and deflated.
So not what I put in the fridge last night.
Do you know why this happened?
I’m gonna wait an hour or so for them to get to room temp and see what happens there, if no change I will re-start.
Thank you.
Van, that’s odd! I’ve a couple others who had success with this method. Not sure what went wrong? Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
Great recipe! Made for Christmas morning and today and worked perfectly both times. Used 1/2 cup less flour and didn’t use all the earth balance in the final brushing like another reviewer. Also just used normal active dry yeast without changing the instructions and they were delicious. Today I blended 1/3 cup blanched almonds and 1 cup water… Makes the perfect amount of milk after straining through a nut milk bag and the blender heats the milk enough that you don’t have to go through the extra step of heating it. Also recommend the cream cheese frosting over the plain icing… It’s kind of the flavor you expect when eating cinnamon rolls and I feel like something is missing when you do the plain frosting.
http://instagram.com/p/iW990UuMNb/
Oh yeah and here’s a pic from Christmas… Thanks for the recipe!
ow owwwwwww! Those look fab, Gwen! I follow you there now. Can’t wait to see what you cook up!
I make these rolls at least twice a week. I find that mixing brown sugar, white sugar and cinnamon makes the flavours insaaaanely good. But they rolls are pretty spectacular as it is.
These were absolutely perfect! My friend said they were the best cinnamon rolls she’s ever had. How do you think they would do if I pre made them and left them in the fridge overnight to cook in the morning?
Megan, so glad to hear you and your friend enjoyed these! As for making them the night before, I haven’t tried them that way myself, but have heard that for most readers that works fine. I would just recommend making them, covering them and refrigerating them and then baking them first thing in the morning. Don’t let them sit too long in the fridge – overnight max. Hope that helps! happy baking.
These were AHMAZING!!!!! I didn’t have almond milk so used soy and they still turned out perfect! Thank you so much for your recipes! This is definitely going to be my go to site for great food choices :)
Glad to hear it!
OH MY GOD!!!!! They just came out of the oven. And my family almost devoured the whole thing!!! The dough is so fluffy and perfect!!!!
Thank you so much for that recipe!!!
Cinnamon Rolls are acceptable for breakfast, right? It’s also acceptable to have breakfast at dinner time, right? Well, following that train of thought, we had cinnamon rolls at my house for dinner last night. Kids thought it was a fabulous idea! They were incredible!!! I think I mentioned in a previous review (for the Vegan Biscuits) that you are my new favorite person… I’ve upgraded you from favorite person to my new obsession and I will start stalking you shortly. Thank you!
Ooh, a new stalker! I’m thrilled ;D So glad you enjoyed this recipe and the vegan banana muffins, Stacie! Let us know if you have any future recipe requests/suggestions! :D
Oh these look delicious! i made some orange spiced rolls recently unfortunately they were tough! any tips on how to get mine soft like yours? after they doubled in size and i was rolling them it was really tough and hard to stretch…i think the problem is linked to that.
Hmm, perhaps the trouble was that you overhanded/kneaded them. You shouldn’t have to put much effort into rolling these out. Hope that helps!
I’m a bit of amateur when it comes to baking, but these actually were REALLY easy and REALLY good! I’ll definitely be making them again very soon.
Where is the button to share the recipe with my friends on Facebook?! Yumm!
Adding one soon! Thanks Ashley :D
These look lovely, and you’re right-they are easy to make and not at all a hassle. However, could I suggest that you skip the canola oil and use an oil that is not made from a genetically modified source. The majority of canola in north America is GMO. Use an organic cold-pressed olive oil or coconut oil instead.
You could also substitute coconut oil for the Earth Balance (unless you can find the non-soy organic version.).
One additional idea-substitute a whole grain flour for part of the refined white flour for added nutrition and fibre.
Hilary, make them however you wish. That’s the beauty of recipes. You can make them your own!
These have just come out the oven and are absolutely gorgeous. Will definitely be making these again.
Just letting you know, there is only 2 “l”‘s in “ball”. Other than that, they are amazing and perfect!
Thanks Rebekah! We must’ve just been really excited about eating these cinnamon rolls.
These look so great and I would really like to make them, but by any chance could substitute the flour for gluten free flour cause I’m also gf….
Sophia, lots of people have asked that question and though I haven’t tried these myself, I know that you can sub in a GF flour and make it work. I don’t have any recommendations personally but scan the comments and see if you can find some help.
I made these today – they were amazing!!!! Even my fussy kids loved them ;-)
Thank you so much for the recipe – brilliant!
Karina, from Scotland xx
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Karina!
Are you sure you used 3 cups of flour? I used 3 cups, added in 1/2 at a time, and my dough doesn’t look like nice soft loaf. It’s very hard and thick. Lol I’m confused I triple checked everything and did it right.
Hmm, pretty sure I did! If the dough stops taking flour, just stop adding it.
I’ve made them three times now and they never take the same amount of flour, go figure.
You just have to know when to stop! Still pretty yummy rolls if you ask me!
Nevermind. I used wheat flour. Usually it’s fine. With cinnamon rolls aaahhh no. I’ll have to remake then with normal flour.
I believe I used part whole wheat pastry part unbleached all purpose, so perhaps you could give that a go next time!
I’m making them again right now lol. I’m determined to have these come out.
I tried these… I agree… way too much flour. I used GF plain flour. The first batch i just threw out. I couldn’t get it all to mix in and it was so dry – with less than 3 cups.
I tried again with only 2 cups and although the dough was the right consistency for the first rise, it was then too soft to roll up. I went ahead and cooked it, but they were horrible and dry… threw them out too.
I give up… will look for another recipe
These came out perfect! So delish! Can’t wait to make it again! Thanks for the great recipe!
I LOOOOOVED these. Thanks so much for the recipe! My toddler daughter has a ton of food allergies so she has never had cinnamon rolls. I substituted soy milk for the almond milk due to her allergies but otherwise I used the recipe exactly. They turned out so, so, so good.
Yay! So glad you and your family enjoyed them, Leslie! Thanks for sharing!
Not vegan if they contain yeast.
I disagree.
Yeast is a single-celled organism that’s classified as a fungus, which makes it 100 percent vegan friendly.
1000000000000000000000000000000000%vegan
Great recipe, came together really nicely. Just have to wait to get these out the oven…!
I am allergic to Almonds, and not a huge fan of soy milk. Could I use quinoa milk in this recipe?
Hello! I’m waiting for the dough to rise as I type here… I’m a little concerned because the dough came together with a whole cup of flour less than the recipe asks for. I’ll see how they turn out but I’m wondering if that is normal.
Reporting back… They turned out great! I also saw your earlier comment about the flour so that’s taken care of.
I found that the thickness of each pastry is important. It really has to be 1.5-2 inches thick, otherwise it will be kinda tough because it cooked faster.
Super easy, super delicious.
I can’t wait to try this recipe! But isn’t white sugar not vegan because it is prossed through animal bones? Can I use raw cane sugar instead?
I went for it any ways and they tired out soo good! I had to add that extra o because they were that good. My boyfriend who has yet like any of the vegan things I have made for him loved these, he wiped his plate clean. And they were easy too. Thanks Dana!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them, Sarah! Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely.
You need to get straight to the point and put the recipe within 1 page of the top. Too much other junk on the page.
This is our blog and we format it how we wish! But thanks for the feedback.
I just wanted to say I like the format! That’s what’s nice about blogs, some pics and writing along with the recipe :) plus, it’s very clear where the recipe starts. You’re doing a fab job and I can’t wait to make these
Thanks Laura :D Appreciate the feedback!
Vegan, yes. But let’s not worry about the whopping 37g of carbs. I guess it’s okay to hammer your pancreas as long as it’s vegan, right?
Jason, I didn’t say this recipe was “healthy.” It’s still a cinnamon roll.
I just made these using coconut milk instead of almond milk and they turned out perfect! So delicious.
Oh, and if anyone wants the English measurements then I will post them. I did all the conversions. :)
Maybe a stupid question…but do you leave th3 platic wrap on when you bake? I have heard of people doing this with aluminum foil on top, but I am just not sure.
Nope! Take it off.
I either killed the yeast (followed the directions, really ;) )
or rolled them the wrong way
but they didn’t rise to suit me and look the way yours do :(
but I’m sure they will taste as good! lol
I can’t wait to make these on Saturday!!! Do you know how much yeast was in your packet? They only sell very large bags of yeast where I live so I need to measure :)
I just made these today. I looked it up online and used what I found. One packet = 2.25 teaspoons yeast.
I believe 2 1/4 tsp. But google that to check!
These were delicious! I have four children and two of them are allergic to milk, eggs, and nuts. It was so nice to make this (I subbed soy milk for almond) and let the whole family enjoy them. Thank you for this recipe! Btw, I started them in a bread maker which made it easy and they rose so big.
I am not a vegan, but I do enjoy the wholesome goodness of vegan treats! I made this recipe today, and my friends loved it! they couldnt stop eating them and couldnt even tell the difference! since I am not a vegan, i dont have vegan butter, so instead I used coconut oil and it worked perfectly! I probably could’ve added more salt to the dough though.
I also made frosting with almond milk, powdered sugar, and a TINY bit of apple cider vinegar to get the desired “tang” as if I had used cream cheese.
lovelovelove this recipe!!!
This looks fantastic! The only thing that makes me cringe as a baker is that the salt and sugar are mixed directly into the yeast. Salt inhibits yeast reproduction, and the sugar could get the yeast to overreact and eat through things too quickly. :P
Honestly though, this recipe looks absolutely amazing.
I just made these and they are awesome!!! I will admit that I didn’t use Earth Balance …. not because I wouldn’t have, but because I didn’t have any on hand and I decided to make these at the last minute. I used butter and made the icing with powdered sugar, almond milk, and a touch of vanilla. The butter was the only change I made and I’d bet that if I’d used Earth Balance, they’d be just as amazing!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them, Yatta! Thanks for sharing!
These were so easy to make and tasted amazing!! I used normal milk and butter and they turned out just as good! I also put pink icing on mine using egg white, lemon juice and icing sugar, definitely making these again!
Thanks!
I made these for a friend of mine and they were delicious. Only thing is the tops of the rolls all came out hard. I make regular cinnamon rolls all the time and this has never happened. But I’m wondering if this is some what normal for vegan cinnamon rolls?
It’s not! Not sure what went wrong.
so many thank you’s! i just made with my three children, ages 8, 6, and 3.
1,000,000 thank you’s – wonderful!
I can’t wait to make these. What is your opinion on supplementing the sugar with stevia, honey, or agave?
I would say you could use honey or agave in the dough, and for the filling, maybe a stevia/honey blend? Hope that helps!
Thanks, very helpful! What’s your opinion (if you’ve tried it) on the King Arthur glazing sugar? I just ordered some because it looks like a quick simple way to make icing, and it’s gluten free and vegan, which is what I need.
My dough hasn’t risen! I went ahead to the next step and rolled into shape because I want to give them to my husband tomorrow morning as a birthday breakfast but I’m concerned about the lack of rise. Should I leave the rolls overnight to see if they rise, or go ahead and bake tonight? Help!
I made them this weekend! and my boyfriend absolutely loves it – the only thing i didn’t do was add all the flour – how much difference does that make?
I thought my son was exaggerating when he bit into the soft, sweet bun and said with wide eyes and a little jig “MMMMMMM…..” but I bit into mine and did THE SAME THING!
My favorite recipes are ones that are forgiving and relaxed and that is usually determined when I can substitute, forget, or alter the recipe to my needs as needed and this RECIPE FITS THE BILL!!!!
It has become one of my favorite recipes, it now will love forever among the generations to come!
I like to use a combination of wheat, coconut, amaranth, buckwheat, and sweet sorghum flours in my baking. And my flour mixture worked perfectly in this recipe both in texture and taste. But I only added about 2 cups of the flour and baked it for only 15 minutes and it was WONDERFUL!!!
I live in a small town where vegan butter isn’t really available. Would using regular butter affect the recipe?
It would work fine!
These look delicious! Think I’m going to try making them this week. Do you think spelt flour or whole wheat pastry flour would work as substitutes for the all purpose flour in this recipe? Thanks!
Yes! I used half whole wheat pastry and half unbleached all purpose. But i suspect you could sub spelt for the AP. Good luck! Hope that helps.
This recipe calls for 1 packet of instant yeast, but I have a package of it equaling 1 pound. Can you tell me what that 1 packet would measure out to? I’m really looking forward to making this, and I’m attempting it with gluten free flour too!
1 packet of yeast would be 2 1/4 tsp
Did you end up making these with gluten free flour? I really want to try but I’m nervous about which flours/ all purpose blend to use! If you made them, may I ask how you made them gluten free, and how they turned out? Thanks!
Just make sure you are using baking yeast, not nutritional yeast. I don’t think baking yeast comes in 1 pound packages.
Actually, I buy my yeast for baking in bulk 2 lb packages at time. I bake a ton using yeast and its so much cheaper in bulk!
I absolutely love cinnamon rolls! Since I’m too lazy to make them myself, I always buy store brought cinnamon rolls :) It looks like I’ll have this recipe soon, just wondering, do we really have to use almond milk? Can you just use soya milk or low fat milk? Will it make a big difference? Thanks!
This recipe is seriously life changing, I’m going to be making these all the time now. THANK YOU!
yay! so glad you enjoyed them, Natalie! Thanks for sharing!
I found this recipe (and blog) on Pinterest, and wahoo! These rolls were great! In case anyone finds this useful, I made these with 100% whole wheat flour (sifted to get some of the extra bran out), coconut milk, and dairy butter. Personally, I like my cinnamon rolls ooey gooey, and the whole wheat dough could have taken twice the swirl filling, but I didn’t think of it at the time. When I get more AP flour, I’ll be making these again probably 50/50 AP/WW or 75/25 AP/WW because CINNAMON ROLL DECADENCE. I’ll also try coconut oil instead of butter. Once the rolls were set up in their pan, I put them in the fridge overnight and they came out wonderfully.
Thanks for the fridge tip! I’m making these for Christmas morning. I’m thinking about making a pumpkin pie-ish filling, nutmeg & cinnamon in the dough, and a homemade cream cheese frosting. They won’t be gluten free, but I’ll sit through pain for some amazing rolls!!!
Lovely! Good luck, Deb!
These are fabulous. Though I did not use vegan products, they turned out amazing. This recipe gave me my best cinnamon rolls yet. These rolls were good fresh out of the oven as well as the next day.
This is my go-to recipe for cinnamon rolls now.
Many thanks!
Yay! so glad you enjoyed them.
now off to make me some medicated vegan rolls :)
Hi, I want to try these out tomorrow and was wondering if I could make the dough mixture tonight to allow to rise then maybe store in the fridge after the hour until the morning then finish making them.
Should that be fine? or should I store it a different way?
Thank you in advance!:) can’t wait to try them! I’m super excited!! haha
Hey there, I put mine in the fridge the night before baking and let them rise about thirty minutes while the oven was preheating. They turned out beautifully! However, I was short on time and next time I would let them rise a little longer, maybe an hour.
For the person who asked how much yeast in a packet, I used 2tsp active dried yeast and it worked out well.
You should put an asterisk up with the Almond Milk on the ingredients list. I made the mistake of using dairy milk and after reading the baking instructions I noticed your note. I could have easily scalded the milk but didn’t know I had to. My rolls ate headed for the oven although not as doubled in size as I would have liked. Thanks for the recipe.
The recipe calls for 3 cups all purpose flour. Can you substitute equal parts GF flour? Thanks!
It doesn’t work that simply with cinnamon rolls. They’re a little more tricky to make GF. I would honestly recommend checking out a GF-specialty blog for their recipe OR just giving it a shot! If you do, let me know how it goes!
Will these freeze?
You can freeze them BEFORE baking. And then thaw slightly and then bake until fluffy and golden brown.
Will it affect they way they turn out if you were to use normal butter?
I don’t think so, but check the comments as I think people have had success doing so!
I made these with whole milk and sweet cream butter they came out great!
They didn’t turn out fluffy but had hard outside. However, they were sooooo delicious :)
since i am vegan, i am treating my boyfriend a lot with fresh bakery. we really love your recipes a lot, today i will make the cinnamon roles and bake them fresh for breakfast tomorrow.
guess what, we got visitors late at night and so i baked the prepared rolls already midnight – everybody was amazed with them. so i made another pan of them for today’s breakfast; and yes, they are gone also already… thank you so much for the quick and easy recipe how to show off my baking skills :)
I had good results, and I liked the way they turned out, but I have one suggestion: although you mention that the Earth Balance is divided, and then detail it in the methods, it would be more consistent to list those measurements in the ingredient list as you do with the sugar. I am mostly to blame for this, but I did roll out of bed and start baking, adding ALL the Earth Balance into the dough at once. I read the recipe through when I found it, and again when I started baking, but my early morning addled brain could not conceive of how much fat was going in all at once. Yes, my innate inner-baker was raising an eyebrow, but the rest of my brain was too asleep to really think it through.
Just a suggestion.
I love Love LOVE this recipe! Absolutely delicious!! Made them a second time this morning and added cranberries. Yummm!
just made these and they’re baking in the oven!! They smell delicious!!
I absolutely love cinnamon rolls but have always been intimidated by the process. I made these last night with my 8 yr olds help and they were fantastic. Thank you so much for the recipe.
I made these today and they are so easy to make.. if I can manage it anyone can! They are delicious and I can’t wait to try all your vegan recipes. Thank you for showing me that there are LOADS of nice things I can enjoy on a vegan diet!
Your recipe seems very delicious. I wonder if i can replace almond milk with soymilk.. Have you tried this combination? Also,can i use bread flour instead of all purpose flour?
I used original coconut milk and they turned out fluffy and great. Typically, when i’m baking sweets, i only pay slight attention to the milk i add and it always turns out about the same with only a slight change in taste. Of course, if you’re baking something that won’t taste good with vanilla, you don’t want vanilla flavored milk… so within reason you can use whatever milk you have. Just pay attention to how sweet it is. :)
What is the recipe for the frosting! I don’t know what concentrations of almond milk and sugar to use! thanks! :)
I think I used about 1.5 cups powdered sugar, 1 Tbsp melted vegan butter and a splash almond milk. Add more powdered sugar to thicken and more almond milk to thin. Hope that helps!
Heyyyyy! I freakin LOVE this recipe!!!!! BUT, I just learned that I am gluten intolerant and I was wondering if there is any way to make it gluten free? Like substitute the flour for something else? Any recommendations?
P.S. You guys are AWESOME!
These were simple to make and very tasty.
It used to be that scalding milk was necessary to kill bacteria that might affect the yeast activity and to alter a protein in the milk that played havoc with the gluten structure in bread. However, pasteurization has protected us from harmful bacteria and has altered the proteins, so scalding milk is no longer necessary.
I really want to make these! But I was wondering if I could replace the sugar with xylitol or stevia. Or could I just omit the sugar entirely?
Awesome recipe! I would love to make it in my home. I like sweet food and I like to know about the sweet food recipe.
I tried these today after not having cinnamon rolls for 6 months due to my little one being dairy free….that were simply amazing and I’m loving the other recipes on your site. I am not a vegan, so for them to taste good to me…they must be amazing!!!
Ah, thanks Kelly! So glad you enjoyed them!! xo
If making for the next day, do I allow them to rise a little more before putting them in the fridge as you do while preheating the oven? Or should I put them in the fridge after covering with plastic wrap and then do the second slight rise the next morning? Girls weekend in a few weeks and thinking of bringing these. Thank you!
Would it be possible to use self raising flour as opposed to normal four and yeast?
you’ve put down the wrong temperature for the oven. its supposed to be 350 fahrenheit not degrees. If it was degrees, it would have been a lower number. messed up my cinnamon roll, what a waste of ingredients.
Suzy! Sorry, for the confusion. I shouldn’t have assumed everyone knew it was in Fahrenheit. In addition for future reference, every recipe on our site that mentions an oven temperature will be in Fahrenheit, as we live in the U.S. Hope that helps!
Suzy, you don’t make any sense. It’s degrees whether it’s F or C… And if you’re anywhere outside the US, I doubt your oven goes to 350 degrees Celsius! (That would be 662 degrees F!!!)
These were good. I did make a few changes though…just to see if they would have more flavor. I added 1t. of vanilla to the dough, used Brown sugar mixed with cinnamon instead of white in the middle, and added 1t. of maple flavoring to the powdered sugar glaze for the top. Oh, I also added some chopped walnuts to the top. They were a success…my kids and husband devoured them. This was my first time making them from scratch…they were easier than baking cookies, or banana bread! Good recipe!
These were wonderful! My non-vegan grandma even said they tasted like the cinnamon rolls her mom used to make, which is a HUGE compliment! Thank you :)
Hi! Maybe I missed something, but I think it would be nice to add the hour of rising time to the total cook time you have listed. At first I thought I would have cinnamon rolls within an hour, but then saw I needed to factor in another hour of rising time. These babies seem worth the wait, though–thanks for the recipe!
Dear Dana,
I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing. I just made two batches of these in one day and they are truly SO simple and SO delicious. I definitely foresee these cinnamon rolls bringing my family together at the kitchen table on birthdays, weekends, and holiday mornings where we will undoubtedly exchange laughter and love. I hope you know the wonderful memories you create!
Bernadette
Ah, thanks Bernadette! Thanks SO much for sharing. So glad you and your family and friends are enjoying the rolls so much. Cheers!
Tried making them with regular sweat cream butter and whole milk. They turned out great but a little dry on the outsides. Next time I will try adding a little more milk and use about 1/4 cup less flour. And maybe just a touch more sugar and cinnamon than I had used. Amazing recipe though!
I live in a remote part of Tanzania, Africa where ingredients for such things as cinnamon rolls can be a problem to get your hands on. I have just tried your recipe, and they turned out amazingly well! Thank you for this simple recipe…it will definitely be going in my recipe book. Absolutely delicious……a real winner!
Thanks BJ! Glad you were able to make the recipes despite having trouble finding the ingredients. Cheers!
Would whole wheat pastry flour work in place of the all-purpose flour?
Yes! They will taste a little more hearty, if you know what I mean, but it should be totally fine!
I also WW (pastry) flour, but unfortunately my cinnamon rolls did not turn out so well. I had dough “issues”. I’ve made cinnamon rolls many times using pre-made WW dough from Whole Foods and they have that wonderful soft doughy cinnabon-y consistency (no almond milk or butter added to the dough). These were pretty dense and dry – definitely not “fluffy”. :(
Hm, not sure what exactly went wrong in that case. Next time, if you’re up for it, try mixing all purpose, whole wheat pastry and maybe even a little spelt (which is supposedly better for you) for a better texture. Hope that helps, Rosie!
thanks for the recipe! I cant wait to make them tonight. Im a baker but have always been scared of these! BTW, the complaints make me laugh. Thanks for offering up a great recipe that is FREE to the public. No complaints from me!!!!
Maybe you can clarify. In your recipe, it calls for 30 minutes of prep time, but it takes an hour for the dough to rise? Shouldn’t that be included in your time? It makes it pretty deceiving.
Brian, that’s a good point. I usually only count prep time as ‘hands on’ prep, but I’ll note that in the recipe. Thanks!
I tried this recipe today and they came out AWFUL. I didn’t have any Earth Balance so I used coconut oil. Maybe this was my first mistake? When I started adding the flour, it seemed like the recipe called for TOO MUCH flour. My dough was very dry and flaky. I added a little more almond milk, but it didn’t help all that much. Also, I used a gluten-free flour… perhaps my second mistake… because I can not eat all-purpose (it has malted barley in it- at least the stuff we have in the house does. And I have allergies!). I followed the directions exactly and when I pulled these babies out of the oven, they were swimming in a sea of oil… like all the moisture drained out of them and pooled at the bottom of the dish. The rolls themselves are super-dense and hard. They are dry and flavorless. Icing can’t save them. :( I may try this recipe again, but with a different type of flour… and maybe less flour. I have yet to have any success at vegan baking. Everything I’ve tried to make (bread, cupcakes, cake….) all comes out very dense, yet somehow undercooked. It doesn’t seem to matter what type of flour I use. I’m wondering if there’s something wrong with my oven, if I’m doing something fundamentally wrong, of if my expectations of delicious vegan baked goods are too high. :(
Yeah, making all those substitutions is definitely where you went wrong. Sorry, but next time try and stay closer to the recipe for a better result.
I made these today and they were the best ever! I hate to say it but something’s you can’t make gluten free. This is one of them. I used organic milk and organic butter and let me tell you they were delicious. Sorry. Best part is the no kneading. I have more elaborate recipes calling for French method but these are too easy. Try them anyway for your family I am sure if you can’t enjoy at least you can please others.
It’s not the coconut oil that caused the problem. Perhaps it’s the other substitutions? I used coconut oil, and mine came out with the perfect texture. I even used it before sprinkling on the sugar/cinnamon blend, although I used less than the recipe specified for the vegan butter. I just brushed the coconut oil on the dough that had been rolled into a rectangle until it covered the rectangle and then sprinkled on the sugar/cinnamon mixture. My husband is in the other room, eating his third one.
My prior comment was in reply to Jayne’s concern about the coconut oil. For some reason, it didn’t appear underneath her comment.
I’m a first-time baker who just tried these and they’re delicious. I wouldn’t describe them as fluffy though–and I didn’t use all 3 cups of flour as I found that to be too much for the suggested liquid amount (I used what I had in my fridge, 2% milk, and scalded it). The dough was very pliable but not sticky. Perhaps that’s why they weren’t fluffy? This is my first baked good ever so I’m definitely learning. Thanks very much for this simple, easy to follow recipe. I’ll continue to use the site for recipe ideas.
Did you mean rapeseed oil, not grapeseed oil?
Richard
Nope, grape seed.
Easy and DELICIOUS! Thank you.
Thank you! Love it! xox
I made these to bring in to work for morning tea, I was a bit hesitant that they wouldn’t get eaten because they all know I’m vegan and accurately assumed that the cinnamon rolls would be vegan, but I’m guessing by the almost empty container (and the people dropping by my desk to say how good they are and asking for the recipe) that they are a hit! So happy, Thank you for yet another fabulous, easy recipe.
Woah! I was not expecting such short ingredient list at the end of that post!! They’re even vegan! Weekend project? I think so.
So glad I can eat gluten. Good stuff. Food of the gods! Your rolls will be Sunday’s breakie. Thanks.
Made them today and didn’t even had time to take the picture as they were eaten so quickly! Been waiting to post a question but then from one of the comments I understood that I’ve made a mistake myself! I was so preoccupied about replacing Earth Balance (we don’t have it here and I didn’t want to use a random hydrogenated margerine) that I didn’t notice that it was divided. I’ve replaced it with half a cup of coconut oil and applesauce and the dough same out so liquidy and sticky that while kneading I had to add a lot more flour. Despite that, they came out great, very breadlike, with a nice crust and soft inside. So I don’t know if the reason for stickiness was my use of applesauce or just the fact that I’ve added to much of it, but I’ll definitely make them again!
Amazing recipe, thank you! Love your website. Exceptional!
Thanks Suze!! xo
Well I spent the last hour trying to get the yeast to activate. 1st attemp followed directions using coconut oil.. Maybe the mixture was too hot and killed the yeast. 2nd attempt followed directions using coconut oil. Very careful that the milk wasn’t too hot. Still didn’t activate. This time I’m heating milk alone …. Will let you know.
Well that was a fail . not sure what went wrong. I’m out of yeast now so my babies are not going to wake up to warm cinnamon rolls for breakfast.
Hello Dana,
How was thw sugar glaze made? I lile the thin consistency of yours. Mine happens to come out thick as I add some flour to thicken the mill and sugar. Please tell me how you made the glaze as I do not see a recipe given.
Thank you ina advance :-)
Hi Dola! I melted 1 Tbsp vegan butter and added it to about 2 cups powdered sugar. Then I added almond milk a little at a time until pourable. Hope that helps!
Has anyone tried substituting other flours, like buckwheat or coconut flours?
Bonnie, I think you can substitute in a mix of other flours (like the ones you mentioned), but I’d still recommend adding in a little unbleached all purpose OR whole wheat pastry as a base or they’ll end up too tough. Hope that helps!
5 stars! I loved this recipe! The cinnamon rolls were yummy. All my non-vegan friends and family loved it and it didn’t last for a day! I’ll definitely be making these again soon.
These look incredible… I know I’ll be making them soon!!
These look amazing. Your intro definitely has me sold. And thank you for explaining the WHY’s with the recipe, so often I read something in a recipe (like: let the milk and butter cool before adding the yeast), and I’m like, is that really necessary? And I skip it (because oops I’m lazy). But having the explanation there (too hot will kill the yeast!) makes it make sense! Maybe I should take a science of baking class or something.
I just love the simplicity of this recipe. I used full cream cows milk and butter and 1/2 cup less flour. My cinnamon rolls were devine decadence. Thanks Dana for an amazing recipe!!!!!
I failed! :'(
Instead of instant yeast I used quick action yeast (I couldn’t find instant and I thought it’s the same thing) and sweetened almond milk instead of unsweetened. The dough became too sticky and hard to work with. The end result was really fluffy blobs instead of rolls and they are way too soft.
I also somehow failed with the icing (it was transparent and not thick enough)
This page would be better if you:
1. Skip the blog entry or post the recipe at the top of the page.
2. Post a recipe that has normal ingredients that most people have in their houses, not certified organic/vegan stuff
This page is puuuurfect as it is :) You know it is very easy to find other food blogs with “normal” ingredients.
That’s just the thing, I wasn’t looking for a blog at all, I was looking for a recipe. I had to go past several pages of blog entry only to find it was an organic vegan recipe. Anyway, I’m entitled to my opinion and you yours.
The beauty of any good blog is the wide variance of audience, tastes and opinions gather to garner their bravery or inner adventurer and try something new. There are websites and blogs galore with dated, less healthy and far less wholesome ingredients.. This dear Jeremy, is not one of them or the majority of us would never be here! This blog is among the best on the web in it’s genre and for the very reason of which you complain.
Just because something is vegan doesn’t automatically make it healthy; indeed I would laugh if you said that cinnamon rolls were healthy.
Looks delicious! Just wondering — do you think I could do everything but bake them the night before, and then just bake them in the morning? Not sure how that works with the lifespan of the yeast and all that jazz…
I’m wondering this too!!
I LOOOVE this recipe! I always do little adjustments, and they turn out amazing every time!
I added pumpkin spice, nutneg and ginger to the cinnamon that I sprinkled on the flattened dough last time. Amazing!
And this time I’m adding a little extra butter, chopped walnuts and vegan chocolate chips. I have the yeast on the milk/butter mixture now and I can’t wait for this batch!!
Whoop! Thanks, Haileigh!
omg I just tried these today and i loved them. i had my roommates and some of my lactose intolerant friends and boyfriend try them and they were in heaven!!! thanks for this recipe. way to make being vegan just a little bit easier! :)
Yay! So glad you all enjoyed them, Bria. Beautiful name, btw!
At first I was skeptical, because every home made quick rise cinnamon bun recipe I’ve ever tried has always tasted yeasty, but this is amazing! It tastes like something you could buy at a bakery. I really can’t believe that they are quick rise and vegan with so few ingredients. 10/10 would make again.
Thanks Emily! SO kind!
vegan with yeast??
I have put off making cinnamon rolls because they’re a lot of work and time, but when I found this easy recipe, I knew I had to try. I live in a dry climate, so getting yeast to rise can be hit or miss. Luckily, I found an awesome tip online, to warm your oven up (I did 200 degrees) and put a pan of boiling water at the bottom of the oven and put the dough in a glass bowl on the center rack to rise. My dough more than doubled in size! I followed the recipe exactly and added a cream cheese frosting to top it off. My rolls turned out amazing and my coworkers loved them! Definitely adding this one to my recipe book!
Made your rolls the other week – apart from rolling up from the short end of the dough ( so I got 5 very large rolls) and trying to do 4 other things at the same time, they turned out very well. Changed the filling to chopped pecans and chocolate chips for OH (who is not over-fond of cinnamon) and they went down a treat.
Didn’t keep for very long, but – oh dear – we’ll just have to eat them within 24 hours
hi just wanted to to know if i could substitute almond milk with soy milk if it would change the outcome results in any way ?
Nope! It should be fine.
I am planning to try this recipe….only with apple butter and cinnamon. While I don’t stick to strict dietary rules, I do enjoy eating healthfully. There are many recipes on your site I plan on coming back to!
I was skeptical, but they turned out great! They have a nice fluffy inside and that slightly crisp outside that I’m always craving from other cinnamon rolls. I’ve made them twice now.
I found the instructions to be kind of… sparse. Maybe cause I’m a bit of a n00b at baking. The first time it caused me troubles but the second time around I went troubleshooting and round’ me up a buncha troubles (and solutions).
3 cups of flour is quite a bit, and as many have said 2.5 c. is as much as they could use until they couldn’t stir anymore. Heads up: the other 1/2 cup will be used in kneading and rolling out and coating your hands to keep the dough from sticking. If you try to force in the full 3 cups like I did, you’ll end up with them being a little too…. bready. The recipe also left me asking “what size rectangle?” and “how thin is thin?” and “how much time to let them second-rise?” and other such quantitative specificities. Answers, respectively from my observation: like a 1:2 ratio rectangle; about 1/3 to 1/4 inch thick; about 20 minutes ideally.
If you’re not making these vegan… A great addition to the world’s easiest cinnamon rolls is the world’s easiest frosting: 1/2 a can condensed milk heated over low-med heat and stirred until it thickens, about 7 min. Comes out like ooey-gooey Pillsbury frosting rather than cake frosting.
Lol. I love how it emphasises that this is a vegan recipe and then it’s like “It should be warm but not too hot or it will kill the yeast.” Omg, I love vegans. Anyways, thanks so much for the recipe, I will try this as soon as possible.
Yeast is a bacteria and not a living organism. Most vegans consider yeast to be vegan.
The best home made cinnamon rolls ever ! You can do these with your eyes closed (almost!). Thanks a lot for all those amazing recipes !!
Love the recipe! Do you think you could you use coconut oil instead of vegan butter?
I do!
How about margerine? :P
I really enjoyed this recipe! This was my first time making cinnamon rolls, and I wasn’t brought to tears at all!!
I did modify the filling, as well I used whole wheat flour (which I probably won’t do next time, as I wasn’t a huge fan of the flavour it gave my buns). For the filling I used about a half cup each of butter and brown sugar, and about 4 tbsp of cinnamon and spread it all over the dough before rolling, as well spread whatever remained on top of each bun once in the pan.
I ended up using a recipe off the food network website for the icing, as I hadn’t planned on making icing but the buns turned out slightly dry.
Overall, this was the easiest, least intimidating recipe I have ever come across for cinnamon buns and I will definitely being using it again and again!!!
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Kelsey! Glad you enjoyed it.
Is there any potential to make these gluten free? We have gluten allergies in our family now and I’m new to baking with gluten-free ingredients. I’m not sure of conversions, additions, etc. Thanks!
I tried making these gluten free a couple of days ago — big mistake. I used rice flour with mine but it couldn’t stick together — when you get to the step where you have to actually roll the dough, it just crumbles apart.
You’d have to find something to make the dough stick together so you can roll it.
What would happen if I made the dough the night before and froze it or put it in the fridge? Would I be able to thaw it the next morning, cut and bake?
Can’t wait to try these on Christmas!
Its Halloween, almost midnight, hubby has a cold, all he wants is a cinnamon roll! I googled recipes and found this one, I had all the ingredients so I figured why not. They are in the oven now and look and smell amazing!!!! Thank you!