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This GIANT gooey and rich cinnamon roll cake is infused with brown vegan butter and swirled with a molten, sticky maple brown butter cinnamon filling!! Just 9 simple dairy free ingredients, no eggs, and smeared with a vanilla bean maple brown butter ‘cream cheese’ frosting – oh, it’s too good! Especially that perfect gooey center bite!

frosted giant cinnamon roll with cups of coffee on marble table

The ultimate cinnamon roll lover’s treat:

If you LOVE gooey cinnamon rolls, but want a new way to enjoy a shareable treat, then let me introduce you to the cinnamon roll cake. It’s one GIANT cinnamon roll baked in a cake pan, sliced and oh, my goodness.

It’s the best of cinnamon rolls in one ginormous soft, brioche-like bun, and the best part? We’re making a homemade dairy free brown butter maple brown sugar cinnamon filling that bakes to the most *gooey* texture.

Then smear a maple ‘brown butter’ dairy free cream cheese frosting on top speckled with vanilla bean seeds, and watch as it just melts into every crevice of the warm cinnamon bun slice.

This is about to be your new favorite holiday breakfast. And it’s somehow so easy, AND you don’t need eggs and dairy (so yeah, it’s VEGAN and you’d never know!)?! Say less!

slice of cinnamon roll cake on a plate

How are we making this without eggs & dairy:

Now this may come as a shock to you- but you really don’t need the eggs and dairy here. Yes, even to make a ‘brown butter’ cinnamon roll cake.

Here’s why:

  • Dairy free yogurt for eggs: This is my FAVORITE vegan egg replacement. The dairy free yogurt adds back some of the fats that eggs provide (which creates that super soft texture), along with providing a bit of rise (much like eggs).
  • Vegan butter for butter: Don’t freak out now- vegan butter is actually really good these days. And yes, it can brown! Every brand I know of is 1:1 with regular butter, so it will look, act, and taste just like butter. And help create that beautiful, brioche like texture in our giant cinnamon roll!

The trick for SUPER soft brioche-like dough & caramelized filling:

We’re going to bake with about a 1/4 cup (60 mL) vegan heavy cream or cashew cream. By pouring the vegan heavy cream between the proofed and shaped cinnamon roll cake right before baking, the cream will absorb into the dough in the hot oven, caramelizing the sugars and making the roll even softer.

sliced cinnamon roll cake

Ingredient notes & tips:

  • Vegan butter: The best vegan butter for browning is Miyoko’s. It DOES contain nuts, so if you’re nut free, I recommend using Violife. It has less of a processed flavor than Earth Balance when browned. Otherwise, you can skip the browning and just use regular vegan butter (not browned) using the amounts I recommend for the browned vegan butter!
  • Vegan cream cheese: This one is really up to your preference- I have a homemade vegan cream cheese that’s LOVELY here, but Kite Hill or Tofutti also work really well. I do NOT recommend Miyoko’s cream cheese (love their butter, not their cream cheese).
  • Dairy free yogurt: Another one that’s really up to your preference! I usually bake with either Kite Hill or Forager Project (both their unsweetened or unsweetened vanilla varieties work here- you can also use either of their Greek-style varieties!).
gooey slice of cinnamon roll cake

The rest of the ingredients are super simple: just yeast, sugar, light brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour! Oh, and of course maple syrup 🙂 My favorite is Crown Maple- oh, the flavor is so pure and good.

Step-by-step how to make a giant cinnamon roll cake:

For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.

To see the full tutorial, you can watch it on Instagram here. Otherwise, here are some step-by-step photos to help you make this vegan cinnamon roll cake!

vegan butter browned in pan
We’ll start by browning the butter. We use 1 cup of vegan butter, and brown it down to just over 3/4 cup.
bloomed yeast
While the butter is cooling, we’ll bloom the yeast.
dough before rising
The dough comes together so easily in a bowl- you can easily just knead by hand, or use a stand mixer if you really want to!
proof-ed dough
Rise the dough in a warm area until doubled in size.
maple brown butter spread
While the dough is rising, we’ll whisk together the cooled vegan brown butter and maple syrup.
dough rolled and spread with maple butter
Roll the dough out to be 12×15″ and spread it with the maple brown butter.
dough spread with cinnamon sugar and sliced
Sprinkle on the brown sugar cinnamon mixture, and slice the dough into 6 strips.
rolling the cinnamon rolls
Start by rolling one of the strips, like a cinnamon roll, then line it up to another strip and continue rolling into one giant cinnamon roll using JUST two strips. The others, we’ll wrap around the cinnamon roll.
shaped cinnamon rolls cake
Place the giant cinnamon roll in the middle of the baking pan, and wrap the remaining 4 strips around the center (you can watch my video here).
cinnamon roll cake before baking
Allow the dough to rest while the oven preheats, and drizzle the vegan heavy cream over it.
baked cinnamon roll cake
Bake until golden brown! While the cinnamon roll is cooling after the oven, whisk together the remaining brown butter, maple syrup, vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
frosted cinnamon roll cake
Spread onto the giant cinnamon roll, slice and serve!

Two overnight options:

I personally think this giant cinnamon roll is LOVELY first thing in the morning on Christmas morning or Easter brunch, so to make it all work, I like to use the overnight option.

Now there are two options that you can do here- either overnight with the first proof or overnight with the second proof.

The latter will make your holiday morning breakfast or brunch so smooth- simply let the cinnamon roll cake rest at room temperature while the oven preheats, then bake!

sliced vegan cinnamon roll cake

However, I DO like the overnight bulk rise on the first proof because the dough is chilled enough that the maple brown butter filling doesn’t spread everywhere (an issue I run into sometimes with spreading room temperature butter). But this also means you’re shaping the next morning, adding an additional hour to your morning breakfast schedule before you get to enjoy a slice!

Honestly, it’s up to you- either option creates a beautiful GINORMOUS cinnamon roll cake, all made unbelievably without eggs and dairy!

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

One GIANT Maple 'Brown Butter' Cinnamon Roll - No eggs, No Dairy! pinterest pin

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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sliced vegan cinnamon roll cake

One GIANT Maple ‘Brown Butter’ Cinnamon Roll – No eggs, No Dairy!

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 4 reviews
  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 30
  • Cook Time: 30
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Cinnamon Rolls
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Vegan
Print Recipe

Description

This GIANT gooey and rich cinnamon roll cake is infused with brown vegan butter and swirled with a molten, sticky maple brown butter cinnamon filling!! Just 9 simple dairy free ingredients, no eggs, and smeared with a vanilla bean maple brown butter ‘cream cheese’ frosting – oh, it’s too good! Especially that perfect gooey center bite!

Ingredients

Scale

Brown Butter:

  • 1 cup (220 g) salted vegan butter

Cinnamon Roll Dough:

  • 3 cups (378 g) + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided (plus more for flouring surface)
  • 1 packet (8 g) activated yeast
  • 1/3 cup (70 g) granulated sugar, divided
  • 1 cup (240 mL) dairy-free milk, unsweetened, heated to 110F.
  • 1/4 cup (60 g) unsweetened dairy free yogurt, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup (40 g) brown vegan butter, from above
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt

Brown Butter Maple Cinnamon Filling:

  • 1/3 cup (80 g) brown vegan butter, room temperature, but semi-solid
  • 1/4 cup (60 mL) maple syrup
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp sea salt
  • 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup (60 mL) vegan heavy cream, to use right before baking

Maple Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting:

  • 1/4 cup (56 g) brown vegan butter, room temperature, but semi-solid
  • 2 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
  • 2 cups (240 g) powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder, optional

Instructions

  1. Prep: Measure out all ingredients for the brown butter and the dough portion. Grease and line a 9″ cheesecake pan or glass pie dish with parchment paper and oil.  Set aside.
  2. Start by browning the vegan butter: Start by melting the vegan butter in a medium saucepan on the stove at medium heat. Stir continuously until melted, then bring the heat up to medium-high. Let the butter bubble and brown, stirring every 30 seconds or so until the flecks of solids begin to brown (about 3-4 minutes). Because vegan butter bubbles so much, you’ll need to occasionally remove the butter from the heat, stir and let the bubbles settle to see how far along you are. Once the butter is browned and aromatic, pour the butter into a separate heat-safe bowl, and set aside to cool down closer to room temperature, about 5-7minutes.
  3. Make the dough: Either in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough attachment or in a large bowl, whisk together the warmed dairy free milk and a tablespoon of sugar. Add in the yeast and cover to let sit until foamy and bubbling, about 2-3 minutes. Once foamy and visibly increased in volume (it should also smell yeast-y), add in the dairy free yogurt, browned vegan butter, remaining sugar, vanilla extract and sea salt. Mix with a spatula or turn the stand mixer onto medium speed to combine the wet ingredients. Then add in the flour. Either turn on the stand mixer to medium speed or begin to mix the dough with a wooden spoon then knead the dough in the bowl until a smooth ball forms, about 10 minutes. If kneading by hand, you can continue to knead the dough on a clean surface until the dough becomes slightly tacky and smooth, about 10 minutes. You can use a tablespoon or two of extra flour to help the dough knead and not stick to the table.
  4. Rest: Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rest in the bowl in a warm area (about 85F or warmer) until about doubled in size (about 60 minutes). If you’re making this in winter time and your kitchen is particularly cold, I place my bowl into an OFF oven with the oven light on!
  5. Chill the vegan brown butter: While the dough is rising, place the remaining vegan brown butter into the fridge to chill. You want the butter to resemble cold butter that’s been brought to room temperature (so able to have an indentation) and not just liquid vegan butter that’s room temperature for both the filling and the frosting.
  6. Make the maple brown butter: When you’re almost ready to shape the cinnamon cake (about 10-20 minutes left of rising time), make the maple brown butter mixture. In a small bowl, whisk the room temperature brown butter and maple syrup together vigorously, along with the vanilla extract and sea salt. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the light brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
  7. Shape the cinnamon roll cake:  Flour a clean surface and rolling pin, and place the dough in the middle. Roll the dough to be about 12″ by 15″. Spread the dough with the browned vegan butter maple mixture, then sprinkle on an even layer of the brown sugar cinnamon mixture. Using a pizza cutter,, slice the dough into six that each measure 2″x15.” Then shape the cake:
    1. Roll one strip into a cinnamon roll. Then take that cinnamon roll and place it onto the next strip to continue rolling into a larger cinnamon roll. Place that large cinnamon roll into your baking pan.
    2. Then take another strip and line it up with the end of the large cinnamon roll in the pan, continuing to wrap the strip around the cinnamon roll. Repeat for the remaining 3 strips so you have one large cinnamon roll in the prepared pan.
  8. Rest the rolls: Cover the baking dish and rest the rolls by the oven while it preheats to 350F. Let the roll double in size.
  9. Bake: Before baking, pour the vegan heavy cream over the cinnamon roll. Then place the cinnamon roll into the oven to bake for 33-35 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden. Let the cinnamon roll cool for 10-15 minutes before serving, as it’ll be really hot!
  10. Frost and serve: Whisk together the cream cheese, maple syrup, and remaining browned butter together, then add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread on top of your cinnamon roll, slice, and enjoy!

Notes

Brown butter: I recommend Miyoko’s vegan butter for the best vegan butter to brown.

Overnight option: You can either do the overnight option for the first proof or for the second proof. I find the vegan maple brown butter filling is easier to spread if you chill on the first proof, but that means about an hour+ the next day of work before enjoying your cinnamon roll cake. If you’re making this for a later brunch, that’s totally doable! Otherwise, I would do the second proof in the fridge overnight so you can bake the cinnamon roll cake immediately the next morning for serving 🙂