The World’s Easiest Cinnamon Rolls

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.

Amazing recipe, thank you! Love your website. Exceptional!

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!

So glad I can eat gluten. Good stuff. Food of the gods! Your rolls will be Sunday’s breakie. Thanks.

Woah! I was not expecting such short ingredient list at the end of that post!! They’re even vegan! Weekend project? I think so.

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.

Thank you! Love it! xox

Easy and DELICIOUS! Thank you.

Did you mean rapeseed oil, not grapeseed oil?
Richard

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.

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. :(

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.

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!!!!

Would whole wheat pastry flour work in place of the all-purpose flour?

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!

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!

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

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!

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 :)

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!

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.

Would it be possible to use self raising flour as opposed to normal four and yeast?

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!

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!!!

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 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?

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.

These were simple to make and very tasty.

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!

What is the recipe for the frosting! I don’t know what concentrations of almond milk and sugar to use! thanks! :)

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 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!

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.

just made these and they’re baking in the oven!! They smell delicious!!

I love Love LOVE this recipe! Absolutely delicious!! Made them a second time this morning and added cranberries. Yummm!

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.

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.

They didn’t turn out fluffy but had hard outside. However, they were sooooo delicious :)

Will it affect they way they turn out if you were to use normal butter?

Will these freeze?

The recipe calls for 3 cups all purpose flour. Can you substitute equal parts GF flour? Thanks!

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.

For the person who asked how much yeast in a packet, I used 2tsp active dried yeast and it worked out well.

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

now off to make me some medicated vegan rolls :)

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!

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.

This recipe is seriously life changing, I’m going to be making these all the time now. THANK YOU!

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 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!

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!

I live in a small town where vegan butter isn’t really available. Would using regular butter affect the recipe?

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 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?

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 can’t wait to make these. What is your opinion on supplementing the sugar with stevia, honey, or agave?

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 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?

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 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!

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 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!!!

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 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 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

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.

I just made these using coconut milk instead of almond milk and they turned out perfect! So delicious.

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?

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.

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?

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.

I am allergic to Almonds, and not a huge fan of soy milk. Could I use quinoa milk in this recipe?

Great recipe, came together really nicely. Just have to wait to get these out the oven…!

Not vegan if they contain yeast.

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.

These came out perfect! So delish! Can’t wait to make it again! Thanks for the great recipe!

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

I’m making them again right now lol. I’m determined to have these come out.

Nevermind. I used wheat flour. Usually it’s fine. With cinnamon rolls aaahhh no. I’ll have to remake then with normal flour.

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.

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

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….

Just letting you know, there is only 2 “l”‘s in “ball”. Other than that, they are amazing and perfect!

These have just come out the oven and are absolutely gorgeous. Will definitely be making these again.

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.

Where is the button to share the recipe with my friends on Facebook?! Yumm!

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.

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.

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!

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!!!

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 :)

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?

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.

Oh yeah and here’s a pic from Christmas… Thanks for the recipe!

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.

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.

These are THE BEST Cinnamon Rolls ever! Thank you sooooooooo much.

I bought active dry yeast in bulk. Will this work and how much do I use?

Just made this recipe yesterday:) Thanks for sharing! Was hungry for a cinnabon roll and this recipe was easy to follow and make:)

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