Description
These soft, gooey pistachio cinnamon rolls are swirled with a sweet nutty pistachio cream filling and topped with a dairy free pistachio cream cheese frosting!! Made with vegan brown butter for even more richness, you don’t need any eggs nor dairy!
Ingredients
Browned vegan butter:
- 1/2 cup (113 g) salted vegan butter (I recommend Miyoko’s)
Cinnamon Roll Dough:
- 1 1/3 cups (200 g) all-purpose flour, divided (plus more for flouring surface)* see notes for Gluten Free
- 1/3 packet (3 g) quick rise dry active yeast
- 2 tbsp (30 g) granulated sugar or coconut sugar, divided
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/3 cup (90 mL) dairy-free milk, unsweetened, warmed
- 2 tbsp (30 g) unsweetened applesauce or dairy free yogurt, room temperature
- 2 tbsp (30 g) browned vegan butter* see notes for regular butter option
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Cinnamon Filling:
- 1/4 cup (60 g) vegan white chocolate, melted
- 2 tbsp pistachio butter, unsweetened and dairy free
- 2 tbsp (30 g) browned vegan butter*
- 1/3 cup (70 g) brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Icing:
- 4 tbsp vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 tbsp pistachio butter, unsweetened and dairy free
- 1 tbsp browned vegan butter vegan butter, melted
- 2 cups (260 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Instructions
- Prep: Measure out all ingredients. Grease and line a small casserole dish (about 7×5″) or a 6″ cake pan with parchment paper.
- Start by browning the vegan butter: If you’re not using browned vegan butter, see recipe notes. If you are, then 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 5-10 minutes.
- Make the dough: Either in the bowl of a stand mixer with dough attachment or in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Then add in the warmed dairy free milk, dairy free yogurt, browned vegan butter, and vanilla extract. 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.
- 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 20-30 minutes).
- Make the pistachio cream: In a microwave safe bowl, heat the vegan white chocolate in 30 second bursts, stirring between each burst until melted (for this amount of chocolate, I usually only need 2 bursts). Stir in the pistachio butter and set aside.
- Shape the pistachio rolls: Mix the cinnamon and brown sugar together in a small bowl and set aside. Flour a clean surface and rolling pin, and place the dough in the middle. Roll the dough to be about 6″ by 12-15″. Brush the dough with the browned vegan butter, then spread the pistachio cream to the edges of the dough. Sprinkle on an even layer of the brown sugar cinnamon mixture. I like to slice the dough into individual strips before rolling, but you can also just roll the dough and slice it into 4 cinnamon rolls with either floss or a knife. To roll them into strips, slice the dough in half so have two strips of 3×15.” Then slice them into half again so you have four strips of 1.5×15.” Then roll each strip tightly and place the rolled pistachio cinnamon roll into your prepared baking dish.
- Rest the rolls: Cover the baking dish and rest the rolls by the oven while it preheats to 350F. Let the rolls double in size.
- Bake: Place the pistachio rolls into the oven to bake for 30 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden. Let the cinnamon rolls cool for 10-15 minutes before serving, as they’ll be really hot!
- Frost and serve: Whisk together the cream cheese, pistachio butter, and remaining browned butter together, then add in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread on top of your pistachio sweet rolls, and enjoy!
Notes
Browned vegan butter: I only recommend using Miyoko’s or Plant Crock here if you’re doing the browned vegan butter version. Earth Balance and Violife will not work, however, they will work for the regular butter version. If you’re just using plain vegan butter (not browned), simply skip the browning step, and use the measurements written in the ingredients section for the dough, filling, and frosting.
Pistachio butter: This is slightly confusing and make sure that you read the labels when purchasing because pistachio cream can be mislabeled as pistachio butter, meaning it would contain both dairy and sugar. You want a pure pistachio butter, like you would find a cashew butter or peanut butter. The ingredient should only be pistachios with optional salt. Alternatively, you can always make your own homemade pistachio butter, but it takes time, as you have to shell the pistachios!
Gluten Free: While I have a gluten-free version for my small batch cinnamon rolls, lemon sweet rolls, and blueberry cinnamon rolls, I have not tested one for this recipe. However, the dough of the small batch cinnamon rolls should be usable here- I haven’t tested it, but you’re more than welcome to try that dough with the pistachio filling here!
