Gooey Vegan Cinnamon Rolls (Make-Ahead Option)

You won’t believe that these are vegan cinnamon rolls! Easy to make with an overnight option, they’re the perfect healthy treat for any weekend breakfast!

I have a confession to make: I used to be horrible at making cinnamon rolls, much less vegan cinnamon rolls. Like we’re talking really bad. I had no concept of rising dough, no clue what the difference between activated yeast and instant yeast was, and struggled to get my dough to rise to be these fluffy and beautiful rolls.

Well, I’ve learned quite a bit in my journey as a self-taught vegan baker, and I’m so excited to make sure that your journey to making homemade cinnamon rolls is a lot less daunting.

This is the only cinnamon roll recipe you’ll ever need, packed with all of the tips, tricks, and troubleshooting questions to ensure that your vegan cinnamon rolls are undetectably healthy, dairy-free, low in sugar, lower in fat, and refined sugar free!

Trust me, with how gooey, sweet, and beautiful soft these rolls are, you’ll have even non vegan eaters clawing for these healthy cinnamon rolls!

What you need to make homemade vegan cinnamon rolls:

Though they might seem intimidating, baking vegan cinnamon rolls doesn’t require much. In terms of ingredients, you’ll need:

• Flour (I have not yet worked out a recipe using gluten free flour for this specific recipe. If you are gluten free, please see my Paleo vegan cinnamon rolls!).
• Activated yeast
• Dairy-free milk
• Coconut sugar
• Vegan butter or coconut oil (use coconut oil or a nut-free vegan butter if nut-free)
• Unsweetened applesauce
• Vanilla
• Cinnamon
• Powdered sugar (for the icing)

As you can see, there are no funky ingredients in these rolls! In fact, they’re actually pretty low in sugar compared to most homemade cinnamon rolls, and are entirely refined sugar free. I personally love using coconut sugar here because it’s not as processed as regular sugar and yields a more caramelized flavor for these gooey cinnamon rolls.

In terms of equipment, you really don’t need much to make cinnamon rolls:

1. A medium and a large bowl (one for mixing, one for rising)
2. Rolling pin
3. Square or round pan
4. Spoon or pastry brush (I prefer the brush for spreading the filling because it yields a more even filling, but you can use a spoon if that’s all you have on hand!)
5. Twine or a knife for slicing (twine is a lot easier to slice the cinnamon rolls without smushing them, but if you only have a knife, that will work as well)

How to make vegan cinnamon rolls

I promise you that making gooey and soft rolls that are undetectably vegan and healthy is not as hard as you think. It just takes some patience (ever head of the saying that bread is a labor of love? It holds true for cinnamon rolls too!).

Here are a few of my top tips that I’ve learned along my journey to making the best ever cinnamon roll recipe, vegan or not:

1. Properly activate the yeast by ensuring the temperature is 110F. I know some people say that you have a little bit of leeway, but honestly, it’s not a guarantee every time. Make sure that your liquid mixture at the start of the recipe is exactly 110F. Use a food thermometer to check: you won’t be able to detect this with just your hands! Too hot, and the yeast will be deactivated, and too cold and the yeast just won’t activate at all. There is no real trick to fixing this later on in the recipe, so it’s best to get it right the first time!
2. Making the dough: cinnamon rolls are just as much a labor of love as as any other bread. You’ll need to do a bit of light kneading, but not much: you don’t want the dough to then yield tough rolls! Just enough so that the gluten starts to activate, which will give it that wonderful soft texture.
3. Grease a second bowl that you’ll put the dough into for the first proof. Making sure that the bowl is greased allows the dough to gently climb up the sides and fully double.
4. Place the dough in a warm area (at least 75F) and cover properly: it’s crucial that the dough is in a warm area, as this will help the dough rise. Too cold, and your dough won’t rise at all. I sometimes turn my oven on while I’m making the dough if I notice that the kitchen is too cold (I have a bit of a draft). Additionally, if it’s warm outside (above 80F), you can place the bowl in a safe spot outside. You can also place the dough in the oven (turned off) and turn on the oven light. Make sure that you use a clean dish towel or even a warm damp towel to cover the rolls. Sometimes the dough needs a little bit more moisture, and damp warm towel will provide that.
5. Flour both the surface, the dough, and the rolling pin!
6. Use a piece of twine or a thin knife to slice the rolls: sometimes, too thick of a knife will smush the layers of cinnamon together, and your rolls will look lopsided. If you have an extra thin knife, you shouldn’t have a problem, but you can also use a piece of twine to gently cut the rolls.
7. Allow the rolls to rise a second time in a warm area: I go over the make-head option in the bottom section, but the warm area is still crucial for the second rise.

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These 7 steps will be the key to your success in making the best ever vegan cinnamon rolls!

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Easy cinnamon roll filling

The second most crucial part to perfectly gooey vegan cinnamon rolls is all in the filling. Of course, you can use either vegan butter or coconut oil here, but I prefer vegan butter because it tends to have more moisture than just straight up coconut oil.

The reasoning being is that coconut oil is nearly all fat whereas vegan butter still retains a decent amount of water content, which yields a fluffier roll and gooier filling.

The trick to an even cinnamon roll filling is using a pastry brush. I like to spread the melted vegan butter evenly over the rolled out dough then I sprinkle on the cinnamon and coconut sugar.

To make sure that the cinnamon and coconut sugar are evenly distributed, I’ll take the pastry brush again and just lightly brush the dough once more.

Super Simple Vegan Cinnamon Roll Icing

You can absolutely use my vegan cream cheese frosting recipe found on my vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls (absolutely delicious!), but sometimes, I just like really simple.

This icing only requires 3 ingredients that are very common: powdered sugar, dairy-free milk, and vanilla extract.

The vanilla is so key here and the ingredient that makes these beat out even cinnabon (though those aren’t vegan, I have testaments that these vegan cinnamon rolls would even convert those who don’t normally eat vegan!).

While this might not be the healthiest part of these healthy cinnamon rolls, it’s certainly fine to have a little vegan cinnamon bun icing in my book!

Just mix the ingredients all together and smear the icing on while the rolls are still warm!

More Vegan Cinnamon Roll Recipe Tips

Making homemade vegan cinnamon rolls seems like a daunting process at first, and while these are easy, there is always a chance for error no matter what recipe you make. So I want to ensure that you go into your cinnamon roll baking process equipped with all of the right tips!

• Make sure that all liquid ingredients that are not heated are room temperature: this mainly is speaking to the applesauce. If you refrigerate your applesauce, simply allow the sauce to come to room temperature before beginning. Cold ingredients when met with hot ingredients will mess up the texture and result of these cinnamon rolls
• Add the glaze when the rolls are still warm: this just makes the rolls extra gooey and sweet. They turn out to be essentially like a cinnabon- but WAY better in my opinion! You’ll never know these vegan cinnamon rolls are healthy!
• If your yeast isn’t activating: a good sign that the yeast isn’t activating properly is right at the start. You should see a foamy mixture sitting on top of the liquid when you first activate the yeast. If you don’t and if it doesn’t smell yeast-y, scratch the mixture and start again. However, if you’re already in the process of making the dough and you’re noticing that the dough isn’t rising properly during the first proof, you can try to get it to rise by placing a damp warm towel over the bowl and ensuring it’s in a warm environment. A warm environment is key. A little extra dampness can go a long way too!
• Use bread flour or all-purpose: I’ve made these rolls with both all-purpose and bread flour, and truly enjoy both varieties. I don’t notice a big difference between the two, but I just want to make sure you have both options in case you have one or the other flours!
• Don’t forget to flour the rolling pin too! Most people think it’s enough to flour just the surface (not even the dough!). Short answer: it’s not! Make sure you sprinkle a little flour over the dough, as well as lightly flouring the rolling pin. If you don’t have a rolling pin, you can also use a narrow glass bottle.

How to make overnight vegan cinnamon rolls (Make-Ahead Option)

If you’re like me, then you probably have zero desire to go through an hour process in the morning of making some healthy cinnamon rolls. It’s the weekend, and you just want something easy!

Not a problem at all. This recipe is easily made the night before. All you’ll need to do is prepare the cinnamon rolls by following Steps 1-10 below in the recipe card.

After the second proof, simply keep the rolls covered and place them in the fridge overnight. The next morning, when you’re ready to make your rolls, place the vegan cinnamon rolls into the oven (the oven is turned off), and turn on the oven light. Let the rolls warm for 20-25 minutes in the oven.

Then remove the rolls from the oven, and preheat the oven to 350F, while the rolls rest near or on top of the oven (they still need to be in a warm environment). Once the oven is preheated, bake per the instructions and ice!

I hope you love these vegan cinnamon rolls as much as I do! If you make them, let me know how they turn out in the comments section below.

As always, I love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!

Happy vegan cinnamon roll baking!

If you like these homemade cinnamon rolls, you’ll also love these other healthy vegan breakfast recipes:

Paleo Vegan Cinnamon Rolls

Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Protein Packed Vegan Overnight Oats

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Healthy Vegan Belgian Waffles

One Bowl Vegan Buttermilk Pancakes

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