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.
Origins of Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon rolls are believed to have originated in Sweden in the 1920s. But it wasn’t until the 1950s that they became popular. In Sweden, they’re commonly served for fika, which is a gathering time that includes a cup of coffee or tea. Sweden even has a National Cinnamon Bun Day. We’re on board for that!
FAQs
Can I prep these cinnamon rolls the night before?
Yes. Follow through step 5, then refrigerate overnight and let the pan “rise” on top of the oven while the oven is preheating so they don’t get shocked from cold to super hot.
Can I use a different type of milk?
Yes. Most milks should work. Find our recipes for homemade dairy-free milks here.
Can I use dry active yeast?
Yes. Use the same measurements and just let it rise longer until almost doubled in size.
Can I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter?
Coconut oil doesn’t provide the same flavor and fluffiness/tenderness. But it should be okay.
These vegan cinnamon rolls are:
Fluffy
Soft
Sweet
Tender
Cinnamon-y
Easy
& Satisfying
In other words, perfection. Hooray for easy cinnamon rolls, finally!
More Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #minimalistbaker on Instagram. Cheers, friends!
The World’s Easiest Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 3 Tbsp vegan butter* (such as Earth Balance)
- 1 packet instant yeast* (or use rapid-rise yeast // 1 packet yields ~ 2 1/4 tsp)
- 1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk*
- 1 Tbsp organic cane sugar*
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour*
FILLING
- 3 Tbsp vegan butter* (such as Earth balance // melted)
- 1/4 cup organic cane sugar*
- 1/2 – 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon (to taste)
TOPPING
- 2 Tbsp vegan butter* (such as Earth balance // melted)
ICING optional
- Simple Powdered Sugar Glaze (see step 8)
- Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
Instructions
- DOUGH: In a large sauce pan (or in a bowl in the microwave at 30-second increments), heat the almond milk and vegan butter 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 avocado or olive 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).
- FILLING: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a thin rectangle (the thickness of the dough should be about 1/4-inch). Brush with melted vegan butter and top with sugar and desired amount of cinnamon.
- 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 8×8-inch square or comparable sized round pan (you should have about 10 rolls as original recipe is written). If preparing the cinnamon rolls the night before, stop here, cover the pan, and refrigerate overnight, then proceed with the next step in the morning.
- TOPPING: Brush with vegan butter (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.
- Best when fresh, though they will keep covered at room temperature for ~2-3 days.
- FREEZING: You can make the rolls up to the point of putting in a baking dish (step 5), and instead, freeze them in a freezer-safe container. Then, thaw the night before in the fridge. Once completely thawed, proof covered with a towel in a greased baking dish as your oven preheats, then bake as instructed.
Video
Notes
*YEAST: You can use regular or dry active yeast, but it will require more time to let them rise properly.
*MILK: Most milks should work. Find our recipes for homemade dairy-free milks here.
*GLUTEN-FREE: For gluten-free cinnamon rolls, see this recipe.
*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 is a rough estimate calculated without frosting.
Katherine says
Just made these and they are heavenly. I used less butter to glaze
Randall says
Made mine with regular butter and skim milk(Also made a mistake and put the whole half cup of butter in with flour)Came out AWESOME! Fast and delicious with chili. Had no idea this was a Vegan site till I read the comments.Maybe someday we will do the Vegan thing! Thanks again.
Haha, thanks Randall! Glad you enjoyed them. We aren’t exclusively vegan, just loving baking/cooking a lot of V/GF things!
weiyi says
Just a quick question about the vegan butter measurements:
You say you use 1/2 cup Earth balance (vegan butter), divided and in the recipe, I see that you have used 3 tbsp in the dough and 3 tbsp in the filling. However, when I look up how many tablespoons are in 1/2 cup of butter, the American measuring system (which you appear to be using, as you’re from Oregon) says it should be equal to 8 tablespoons. What happened to the other 2 tbsp, or did you mean of the 1/2 cup of butter, take out 3 tbsp for filling and put the rest in the dough?
Hi Weiyi, there’s also 2 Tbsp as topping. Hope that helps!
keira says
Can I use bread flour??
Not sure!
Jennifer says
Hi, I am in the midst of making these, and I found that when I am combining the flour into the ‘milk’ mixture, that after about 2 1/2 C flour, it seems that it won’t take any more flour… that if I added more flour it would turn into a hard rock. I thought that was strange since you said it would be sticky. This was far from it, so I stopped at 2 1/2. I am wondering if it could be because instead of all white flour, I used 1/2 C Millet flour and 1/2 C garbanzo bean flour ( to add some nutrients). Could that be it? Could I add extra ‘milk’ is this happens again? Thanks.
S says
These are really super easy! This is the second time I’ve made them, and they’re in the oven now :) This time around, I used canola oil instead of Earth Balance in the dough, and they were still very tender. I doubled the batch, and it took a long while for them to brown at all, so finally I took them out at 42 minutes.
Mariesha says
My boyfriend is dairy free and was mistakenly given a whole lotta dairy in an iced coffee the other day :( He was super sad and ill so thanks for such a great recipe that helped cheer him up a little! Such an easy recipe too! Made it the first time and wasn’t happy (because of my extreme impatience!!!) with the result so made it again this morning and they were even better! Thanks so much!
Olivia says
I’ve tried multiple time to make cinnamon rolls and failed this is the only recipe i succeeded at! And the fact that they’re dairy free (i used nuttelex for butter) means my dad can eat them :)
MsMC says
Hi,
Since I had no time to make the dough, I made these with good quality homemade pizza dough from an Italian bakery and they turned out just as good as bakery cinnamon rolls. And they remain vegan even with the pizza dough.
Yay! Thanks for sharing.
PC says
Tried making these yesterday and they turned out awesome. Turned out to be the softest of any kind of roll I ever baked. Never thought that would be possible without eggs, real butter, and cow’s milk….
Right? Such an amazing discovery! Thanks for sharing!
Leisha says
So good!!! I used regular butter and almond milk, turned out great. I love your website and appreciate simple recipes that don’t require 500 steps. Was searching for a cinnamon roll recipe and all of them sounded like complex chemistry class experiments. Then I remembered, oh duh, go look on Minimalist Baker.
Mojo says
I made these as in your recipie here for Christmas & they were so yummy… Thank you for your work… Since I’ve added a handful of raisins in the filling and then before baking a spoonful of crushed pecans with a drizzle of honey for the topping for each one and oh my gosh they were so good, with & without the addition of the dried fruit & honey nuts… <3
Lidoshka says
I made these for a dinner night and they were a hit!! I used half all-purpose and half wheat flour and it made it nice and dense. I also substituted brown sugar for regular sugar and used coconut milk. I’d make them again if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m trying not to eat flour. It’s a struggle.
Yay!!
meloncat says
I have a crazy question here. I’ve got some vegan chocolate chips that I bought to make your chocolate chip almond butter granola bars (which were AWESOME by the way. Just one quick subquestion here: I buy pitted dates and those things are damn hard to process in a food processor. Would you recommend letting them sit in some water for a bit to help soften them up?). Do you think they would be a good addition to these cinnamon rolls? I’m dying to make these and I will this weekend, but I’m always up for putting extra stuff in recipes that I find just to make them a little more personable. If you do recommend them how would I go about incorporating them into the rolls? Just toss them on along with the cinnamon/sugar?
I must add that I am so grateful to have found your website. I’ve recently converted to vegetarianism (and I try to be as vegan as I can be though I didn’t want to give up all my favorite foods at once to avoid going crazy) and your site has introduced me to a lot of new ways of cooking and baking. It’s so reassuring to know that I can indulge in life’s simplest of pleasures without harming any animals. Thank you so much, and keep up the awesome work!
Definitely soak dry dates for 10 minutes in warm water until soft. If you were going to add these to the cinnamon rolls, definitely do it in the filling! Finely chop them and place on top of the cinnamon and sugar. Thanks for the kind words! So much love xoxo
Ari says
GRAZIE all the way from Italy: Just had half of them LoL
tahlia says
I make these at least twice a week since discovering the recipe (about two months ago.)
Fiance takes them to work, and we have them for breakfast a lot.
Seriously, this recipe is golden.
Caitlin says
I made the cinnamon rolls today and they were delicious! It was my first time making cinnamon rolls and I found the recipe very easy to follow. I’ll be making these again!
James B Robar says
I write Christian fiction novels. The current trilogy includes a character who discovers how to make delicious cinnamon rolls and builds it into a franchise. The roll baking is a mini plot along side the main one. I thought it’d be nice to include a cinnamon roll recipe in the novel.
Will you please give me written permission to include your recipe?
Jim
jimmy says
this looks delish and yes it’s the easiset way!!!! and what a great idea doing this! I will venture out and try the recipe! thanks for sharing :)
Sophie says
This looks amazing! I can’t wait to make them! Could I use stevia instead of sugar? I know someone mentioned something about honey, agave, and stevia, but I was wondering if I could just use stevia alone to sub the sugar. Or could I use coconut sugar? Would it dry out the mixture? Please let me know when you can, thanks!
Hi Sophie, we think coconut sugar would be the best of those options, but we haven’t tried it! Let us know if you do!
Felicia says
Love these cinnabuns! I will proudly admit that I made them twice in one week! They are delicious and easy! My boyfriend is vegan, I am most definitely not but I’m the cook/chef/baker in our kitchen so always trying to recreate meals that I love but in vegan form so we can both share the same experience while eating. :) These are the bomb, thank you for this recipe!
C. Fruity says
Hey! I saw that you used the earth balance vegan butter, and I just started eating vegan 6 days ago and I am new to the community. I was trying to figure out where to get some of these ingredients. I looked it up at whole foods, and they have an almond butter one. Is that the same as you are using? Have you tried it? I can’t wait for the day that I look at a recipe and have almost all of the ingredients on hand already! Thanks!
Nope! It’s actually for baking and is like real butter. Whole Foods should be a great place for that. Or most health food stores! I prefer the buttery sticks because they’re best for baking! But in a pinch, the tub works fine.
Madi says
Where can I get the yeast from? (I live in Australia)
and also how much is in one packet of yeast?
Thankyou x
ezekiel says
Made them this morning anf they looked so beautiful. I must say that due to my silliness I kinda made them a lil too hard on the surface. They sprang up and really looked great. Must try again one more time to make it softer. Thanks a lot! Loved the recipe! Pray that my fiance loves this coz im gonna surprise her with it!
Dawn says
These came out so good! I used active yeast instead of instant(didn’t realize they were different) and it still rised with no problem! I covered the dough with aluminum foil because I didn’t have plastic wrap and had it sitting in the sunshine. I don’t know if that made the dough warmer and rise faster? anywho- I also didn’t have confectioners sugar for the glaze so I just used 1:1 parts granulated sugar and almond milk over high heat stirring constantly till desired thickness! Will definitely use more cinnamon next time since I didn’t realize it said 1/2 to 1 tablespoon, the – confused me heh (: this for sure will be a new ritual!
Yay! Thanks for sharing, Dawn!
Reyna says
Can I make these gluten free? They look delicious!
Hi Reyna, here’s our gluten-free version: https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-gluten-free-cinnamon-rolls/
Kirstyn says
Made these tonight, added walnuts and used coconut sugar for the filling instead of cane. I didn’t need all of the melted 3 Tbs for the filling. Love that you can customize this or just go or a straight up, no fuss, cinnamon roll. Made the vegan cream cheese icing because it’s my favorite. Ps-I read some of the other posts, love that you haven’t changed your blog style, btw.
P4 says
Hoops 4git to ask what is the ratio of powdered sugar (that’s icing sugar or confectioners sugar right?) to almond milk for the dairy free frosting?
Thnx pls reply ASAP.
Hi, see step 8 for how to make the powdered sugar glaze.
P4 says
Hi
What gluten free flour combo can I use in this? My daughter has been wanting cinnamon rolls for a long time. Pls reply ASAP.
Thnx
Here’s our gluten-free version: https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-gluten-free-cinnamon-rolls/
Karen says
Still learning to bake bread — happy to report these turned out quite tasty. Thanks for posting!
I didn’t have almond milk on hand, so I substituted water+carrot juice. (Carrot juice has a little sweetness to it / seemed like a workable alternative). Rolls turned out perfect (and not too orange).
Anon says
Seriously one of the best baking recipes ever! Simple and straight to the point.
Anj says
Just made a half batch of these (not sharing, hehe). Very easy recipe. They came out great!
They are so fluffy and tender and lovely. Not too sweet.
ChristyCVegan says
Sorry if this was addressed earlier but is the fat completely necessary? I want to try applesauce instead but I know this runs the risk of the dough turning out dry and heavy. I am avoiding added fats, the McDougal plan actually and prefer not to bake with them. Thanks for the simply amazing content always! And that’s all of it too, vegan recipes, photography, gracious hosting and on…. =)
Jill says
Finally a yeast recipe that I can do. I followed the recipe except for the butter, and to my surprise I was successful. I have made very good breads and rolls using a bread machine in the past, but I have never had success using yeast without one. The recipe was easy and delicious! Thank you….
ERika says
I would love to try these for my son who has gluten allergies. Any ideas on how I can accomplish this?
Hi Erika, you can find our gluten-free version here: https://minimalistbaker.com/vegan-gluten-free-cinnamon-rolls/
The Hopeful Herbalist says
Oo off to make these for Christmas breakfast. No fuss cinnamon rolls, Yah!
Triona says
I made these exactly per the recipe as a test run for Christmas morning and they were SPECTACULAR. My husband and I devoured them (and he’s a cinnamon roll junkie—very discerning!).
I did follow a tip I got from another recipe and put the dough in the cool oven with the light on for the rise. That eliminates any cold kitchen problems.
Fabulous recipe, and I can’t wait to share with my vegan parents on Christmas morning!
So great! thanks for sharing, Triona! Glad you enjoyed them.
Colleen says
We have a tradition in our family of having cinnamon rolls for breakfast Christmas morning. I am a vegetarian and recently became gluten free, so I am excited to try this recipe with all purpose gluten free flour for our Christmas breakfast this week!
Hope it works out! People have done it successfully, but just know they won’t rise and puff up the same. Good luck!
Beth says
During the Holidays I make cinnamon rolls. This year I have become a vegan and the transition has been challenging, especially during the holidays. I have already had to remake my fudge recipe, peanut butter bars, short breads and toffee, and made several vegan dishes for a party we had. So, being able to pull-up this easy and vegan cinnamon roll recipe was a time saver! Thanks you! I can’t wait to try it and have my family try, I usually don’t tell them it’s vegan, but will just call them “Cinnamon Rolls”.
Yay! Hope you all love them, Beth!
Eda S says
how much is in one packet of yeast?
2 1/4 tsp
Diyathi says
Hey! This recipe looks amazing and i am dying to try it out, so much in fact that I bought all the ingredients. But, turns out I brought yeast that did not come in packets. What do i do????
Just measure out 2 1/4 tsp!
Kait Darcy says
Hi Dana, I want to make the dough for these ahead of time and freeze it so I can just take it out of the freezer, thaw and bake, do you know if this is possible? Any tips?
Yes. Follow through step 5, then refrigerate overnight and let the pan “rise” on top of the oven while the oven is preheating so they don’t get shocked from cold to super hot.
Mary Hill says
Can you make the rolls the day before and just bake in the morning?
Yes. Follow through step 5, then refrigerate overnight and let the pan “rise” on top of the oven while the oven is preheating so they don’t get shocked from cold to super hot.
Olivia says
Hi Dana,
Thanks so much for this delicious looking/sounding recipe. I have been following your blog now for the last few months, and when I was scheming a new Christmas morning tradition, I immediately thought to look at your blog. The challenge is, however, that my husband and I live in Cambodia (hence the draw to a recipe that will make us feel truly at home) where we have no access to an oven (!). I am wondering, then, if you have any recommendations for making this recipe using a toaster oven and with the possibility of not being able to find the Earth Balance vegan butter (is there another type of oil you would suggest, such as coconut oil?).
Thanks so much for helping us make our Christmas away from home all that more special!
Olivia
Kate says
These looked absolutely fantastic and I dove in on the weekend to try them out. (I used cow’s milk and butter, which worked just fine with the yeast. I don’t mind eating or using either, and where I live, sourcing alternative milks and spreads is much more time-consuming and complicated than minimalist!) Overall, they ended up being a bit dry: I’d prefer them a lot gooier and more luscious. Maybe a second attempt would yield different results – and I did scrimp on the second stage of rising – but I’d also suggest adding more butter/vegan spread and sugar before rolling up. Despite this, thanks, Minimalist Bakers! Your minimalist philosophy, website and recipe ideas are super inspiring. I’ll be trying out further recipes. :-)
Michelle says
How do they freeze? I’m thinking of making them and freezing them ( before baking). That way we can throw them in the oven Christmas morning while we are opening presents . Yummy smell, great tradition.
Freezing before baking would work! Or follow through step 5, then refrigerate overnight and let the pan “rise” on top of the oven while the oven is preheating so they don’t get shocked from cold to super hot.
Patricia says
I had the urge to make these last night but kept the prepared doughs in the fridge to bake for this morning and they turned out amazingly! I baked the first six and well, it was gone in less than an hour.
I just wanted to say that for those who happen to not have almond milk lying around such as myself, I actually ended up using whole milk, and even then, I was short by maybe 3 tablespoons, so I ended up adding water. I also didn’t have unsalted butter, and used the salted and still added the 1/4 tsp of salt. It all tasted great and didn’t compromise the texture and fluffiness of the buns.
Thanks for this recipe!
Judy says
Thank you for commenting on making them the night before! I want to make them for easter morning! I am going to get them completely ready to go so they can just go in the oven before people get here!
On a side note: We are not vegan, but my son found this recipe a while ago… made it BY HIMSELF (I want to say he was 12-14 yr old or so!) and substituted what we had for what we didn’t… and I have to say PROUD MOMMY MOMENT!!! (I hope mine turn out as amazing as his did! LOL!)
Thanks for an EASY to understand great recipe!!!
Zoë says
Absolutely delightful! Had one fresh out of the oven last night. And now starting the morning off right with a strong cuppa Joe and a vegan cinnamon roll. Christmas is in the air!
Stacie says
Ahhhhmazing! I found this recipe by chance, and wasn’t necessarily looking for a vegan recipe. We use everything in that recipe, so it worked out well. It was my very first time attempting cinnamon rolls, and these were SO good! My husband isn’t a huge cinnamon fan, and he wanted to polish the rest of the batch off! Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe!!
Lillian says
Hi,
I made these the other day and they were delicious. Only downside was the sides were a bit hard. Is it because i over baked them? I took them out of the oven after exactly 25 minutes.
Angela says
I would like to know if I could make the dough and freeze then for making Christmas morning. Any thoughts on how I should go about doing this? And would I need to pull them out to defrost and do you think they would rise?
Yes, that should work! Or if preparing the night before, follow through step 5, then refrigerate overnight and let the pan “rise” on top of the oven while the oven is preheating so they don’t get shocked from cold to super hot.
Chris Sorensen says
Just wanted to jet you know that the process you described to do to the milk is what scalding is.
James kenton says
Because I live in france we don’t have vegan margarine so I used sunflower oil and a small amount of melted coconut oil, plus a little extra salt I figured would normally be in margarine.
Apart from that i followed your recipe exactly. They turned out better than perfect! Thanks for a great recipe!
Joe says
Not bad…It may just be the way I made them but these were nothing like the typical cinnamon rolls I buy in stores/cafes.
I don’t mean that negatively at all; just want to make sure I’m not making them wrong!
The ones I made turned out very dry and turned stale very quickly. Not sure if I did something wrong but probably (I followed the recipe closely for those wondering)!
Sylvia says
So easy and so damn fluffy! Thanks for the life-saving recipe.
Great! Thanks Sylvia!
Sylvia says
I’m baking these rolls again tonight. I just can’t stop thinking about them! So yummy.
Kim says
Is there anyway to make these gluten-free?
Check the comments! I believe some people have successfully tried it. Haven’t attempted it myself though so I can’t comment!
MJatFolly says
Thought I followed the recipe but I was not happy with results; based on all the favorable comments, I must have done something wrong-did not use vegan butter, whatever that is but don’t think it should make a difference in outcome. Problems were not enough cinnamon flavor, not sweet enough and they didn’t brown properly. Also, on the page itself, don’t like all the preamble to the recipe; a picture or two is good but too these are too many with too much other verbiage, but that’s just me. Will try again making adjustments i.e., using more of and blending brown sugar and cinnamon together then layer heavily on dough, refrigerate dough after rolling but before cutting, may increase baking temperature. It is easy though!
Brooke says
Made these last month as per written recipe with TREMENDOUS success and was shocked because I’ve never ever been successful at proofing dough. They were fantastic.
Tonight I made them but substituted Cup4Cup flour and they are decent. Definitely not the fluffy texture, but flavour is spot on and icing hides some of the density of the GF flour. Will absolutely make them again, both ways. Thank you Gina!!!!
Sarah says
I only have regular 2% milk in my refrigerator right now, can I use that for a substitute? I have everything I need to make this, and I don’t want to go to the store just for a carton of almond milk. Would love to make it because of all the positive reviews :)
Sylvia says
I used regular milk and it worked just fine for me.
Whitney says
I just made this recipe for my family for Easter Sunday and they are DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you for this! :)
Ana Boswell says
Would it be alright to substitute the vegan butter for regular butter?
Health store closed due to holiday.
Yes, that should work!
Ama says
making these in the morning before we sit down to watch the Macy’s parade!!!! I am a real-butter lover BUT am going to follow your exact ingredients, I purchased all organic. fingers crossed!!!
Yay! Hope you love them, Ama!!! Perfect Thanksgiving day Parade-watching food. xoxo!!!
SueK says
I made the dough and rolls yesterday and baked them this morning for company……..awesome cinnamon rolls…….everybody loved them…….can’t wait to make them again……this recipe is a keeper….:)
Chloe says
Thank you so much, Dana! I sat wide-eyed at your recipe for the cinnamon rolls several months ago and decided I HAD to make these. Unfortunately, I kept forgetting the instant yeast every time I went to buy groceries! Then yesterday, the heavens played a siren as I strolled down aisle 7. I knew my time had come. Today is the day the deliciousness came together. The rolls are absolutely blissful!
*Tip to others: If you’re in a cold kitchen (especially in a the fall/winter time in NY/NYC) like me, the dough may not to able to rise even after an hour. To combat this, if you have a large pot or a flat bucket, fill it with hot water so that the covered bowl with the dough may sit in the water and stay warm. The dough should rise after this trick.
Thanks for sharing, Chloe! So glad you enjoyed these. Cheers!
Minda says
Any tips for making these a few days ahead of time and then warming up in the morning? Do they freeze well?
Hi Minda, you can make them the night before! Follow through step 5, then refrigerate overnight and let the pan “rise” on top of the oven while the oven is preheating so they don’t get shocked from cold to super hot.
Christina says
Hi!! Can I know if I am able to replace all the butter with applesauce? If i do that will I have to make any changes to the recipe? And can i use brown sugar, and use sweetened almond milk?? Thank you!! Really hoping to make this recipe!
Hi Christina, we’d recommend searching the comments to see what others have done with applesauce in this recipe. We think brown sugar would work. For the almond milk, unsweetened would be best, but sweetened might work.
Mitty says
Your cinnamon rolls look great, but i don’t plan on making them. but they look delicious.
sophie says
i made these – the best so far very close to cinnamon rolls from starxxxxx..
erica says
i was planning to make these for a potluck brunch tomorrow. do you think i can make them and refrigerate over night before baking? or would that hurt the yeast/rising process?
Hi Erica, Yes! Follow through step 5, then refrigerate overnight and let the pan “rise” on top of the oven while the oven is preheating so they don’t get shocked from cold to super hot.
Kayla says
Wonderful! What a clear, concise recipe! I think I’ll use sweetened condensed milk and regular butter but I am very excited to try this. Plus, it seems like a fun and safe enough recipe to try out with my younger siblings. Thanks you for this :)
Randa Kachef says
I haven’t tried to make these yet, but I was wondering, if I use a gluten free flour, do you think they will turn out the same? We love baked goods but when you are gluten and dairy free your options are somewhat limited.
It’s definitely not going to turn out the same, but it’s worth a shot! Report back if you do!
Lindsey says
I tried making these with cup4cup flour. They were horrible, extremely dry, and they didn’t rise at all.
Michael says
just finished making these … with a rum glaze
super easy and uber delicious!
Ashley Brainer says
This recipe is amazing! My cinnamon rolls turned out great. I used maple syrup instead of icing and I put pecans on top! Yum.
Lovely! Glad you liked it!
Sam Kear says
These are incredibly delicious and way easier to make than I could have imagined!
Katrin says
Tried it yesterday and… today I’m goning to make these fluffy little guys again. I <3 this reciept. Thanks and greetings from germany.
rebecca says
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!
Yay! Hope you enjoyed them, Rebecca!
Katie says
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!
That would work! Follow through step 5, then refrigerate overnight and let the pan “rise” on top of the oven while the oven is preheating so they don’t get shocked from cold to super hot.
flg says
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!
KB says
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.
Kelsey says
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.
Abbie says
Love the recipe! Do you think you could you use coconut oil instead of vegan butter?
I do!
Anna says
How about margerine? :P
That might work. Though we haven’t tried it!
Aurelia says
The best home made cinnamon rolls ever ! You can do these with your eyes closed (almost!). Thanks a lot for all those amazing recipes !!
Emily says
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.
Katie says
Yeast is a bacteria and not a living organism. Most vegans consider yeast to be vegan.
Carrie says
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.
jencam says
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!
chastity says
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.
Sally Ball says
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
Elena says
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!
jojo says
vegan with yeast??
Emily says
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!
Bria says
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!
Haileigh says
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!
Emilie says
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…
robyn says
I’m wondering this too!!
Yes. Follow through step 5, then refrigerate overnight and let the pan “rise” on top of the oven while the oven is preheating so they don’t get shocked from cold to super hot.
Jeremy says
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
Anna says
This page is puuuurfect as it is :) You know it is very easy to find other food blogs with “normal” ingredients.
Jeremy says
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.
ChristyCVegan says
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.
Jeremy says
Just because something is vegan doesn’t automatically make it healthy; indeed I would laugh if you said that cinnamon rolls were healthy.
niki says
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)
sweetlover downunder says
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!!!!!
Britta says
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.
Carolann says
These look incredible… I know I’ll be making them soon!!
Samora says
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.
Bonnie M says
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!
Dola says
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!