Gooey & Soft Homemade Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls – SO easy!

Easy and deliciously sweet and spiced vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls with a simple dairy free maple cream cheese frosting! These pumpkin cinnamon rolls use just pumpkin as the egg replacement to create the gooiest, warm cinnamon rolls that’s perfect fall and winter weekend breakfast or Christmas morning treat!

Why you’ll love these easy vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls

One of my all time favorite fall activities is not jumping in leaves (though I love that), not picking out the best carving pumpkin (though that’s totally me), and it’s not passing out candy (truth be told, I’d rather be trick-or-treating).

It’s waking up on a chilly fall morning, sipping on warm freshly brewed coffee, and diving into a vegan pumpkin cinnamon roll. Fuzzy socks on, Hocus Pocus playing in the background, and watching the leaves fall outside.

Along with my vegan monkey bread (and vegan gluten free monkey bread!), vegan brioche, vegan babka, and vegan French toast, these vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls make a wonderful holiday breakfast or brunch recipe for all eaters!

I mean, these vegan cinnamon rolls are out of this world gooey, sweet, warm, and soft. You’re just going to love them. Seriously!

Based on my classic vegan cinnamon rolls, these pumpkin cinnamon rolls are packed with warm pumpkin spice flavor and smeared with a vegan cream cheese frosting. You’d never– I mean never- know that these pumpkin cinnamon rolls are indeed vegan, dairy free, and low in sugar.

Ingredients for Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Making homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls from scratch is really not hard at all! It just takes a little bit of patience.

The dough of these pumpkin cinnamon rolls is so easy too. It’s made up of just:

• Yeast: you can use rapid rise or activated, though please note that the rise times will differ. I recommend Fleischmann’s.
• Dairy free milk: you can use any non-dairy milk here. I like to use oat milk. However, the creamier the better. I recommend using coconut milk from the can or store bought super cream oat milk, like Forager Projects. Soy milk and almond milk also work well!
• Vegan butter: I like Miyoko’s here. If you’re nut-free, you can use an oat-milk or soy-based vegan butter.
• Flour: I have not tried this yet with gluten-free flour, so I’m not able to guarantee results!
• Pumpkin puree: just from the can! Or you can get creative and make your own homemade pumpkin puree.
• Coconut sugar: you can also use regular sugar, but if you’re going for refined sugar free, use coconut sugar.
• Pumpkin spice blend: This is also known as pumpkin pie spice, it’s a blend of cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves. 

How to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls vegan (overview)

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.

Here’s how to make these amazing vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls:

1. Bloom the yeast. Heat the dairy free milk and stir in a little flour and sugar. Then add in the yeast, cover and let sit for a few minutes. I have a whole guide on how to ensure your yeast is properly activated in my vegan brioche bread post, so check that out!
2. Make the dough. I recommend using a stand mixer and dough hook here! It just makes the whole process easier. Simply add the remaining wet ingredients to the mixer and mix. Then add in the flour and mix on medium speed until everything is combined and you achieve a sticky dough.
3. Proof the dough. Lightly flour a clean surface and knead the dough for a few minutes. Once the dough is less sticky and smoother, place the dough into the bowl and cover to rise until doubled in size.
4. Make the vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Punch down the dough, and roll the dough out to be a large rectangle, about 12×18″ in size. Spread the softened vegan butter onto the dough until it reaches the edges. Then sprinkle with the pumpkin spice sugar mixture. Roll the dough tightly lengthwise.
5. Slice the pumpkin cinnamon rolls. The trick to maintaining the beautiful swirl is using a piece of unflavored floss or twine! Simply skirt the floss underneath where you want the cinnamon roll to be, cross the two ends and pull. This helps create a perfect swirl! Then place them into the prepared baking dish.
6. Second proof: Cover the cinnamon rolls in the casserole dish while the oven preheats. They should be about double in size.
7. Bake the vegan pumpkin cinnamon buns! Once risen, pour the vegan heavy cream into the crevices of the rolls. You can bake the cinnamon rolls for 30-33 minutes. Then serve with a maple cinnamon cream cheese frosting!

Why bake cinnamon rolls with heavy cream:

* Vegan heavy cream that is.

Of course, conventional bakers use heavy cream, but since we’re vegan bakers, we’re using vegan heavy cream (I like Plant Crock or Silk!). You can also use coconut cream or cashew cream (the thinner variety- use the 1:1.5 ratio of cashews to water).

Baking heavy cream at the bottom of the baking dish helps to create an even softer pumpkin cinnamon roll. Like melt in your mouth. It’s truly an experience.

Simply pour the heavy cream into the crevices between the cinnamon rolls after the second proof (because your cream is most likely cold, it’s best to do this after the second proof rather than before the second proof, as the temperature will affect how quickly they proof).

Then bake the cinnamon rolls per usual!

How to make vegan icing for cinnamon rolls

So I decided to go with not one, but two options for these vegan cinnamon rolls! Because you can never have too many choices in my opinion 😉 And some like it extra sweet (after my own heart, I see you!), while others like it a little tangier.

So you can either go with two options here, or go rogue and do your own!

1. Vegan Cream Cheese Icing
2. Vegan Sugar Icing

Both are absolutely delicious! The trick to making a vegan icing for cinnamon rolls is making sure that it’s thick for spreading. Personally, I was never about the drizzle of icing. I felt it always disappears way too quickly, whereas the thicker icing sort of melts slowly and into the cinnamon roll.

Tips & Tricks:

• If you need to make these gluten free pumpkin cinnamon rolls: We officially now have an amazing fluffy gluten free cinnamon roll recipe that you can use as the base for this recipe! Simply swap out the dairy free yogurt for pumpkin puree, follow the recipe for GF vegan cinnamon rolls, and use pumpkin spice instead of cinnamon for the filling.
• Use softened vegan butter: If you’re allergic to nuts, there are many amazing vegan oat milk-based vegan butters that are soy free. I recommend Miyoko’s or Forager Project. Make sure to use a vegan butter that’s no salt added.
• Use coconut sugar or regular sugar. You don’t need to stick to coconut sugar if you don’t want to. Personally, I love the flavor because I think it adds a nice caramelized sweetness to the rolls, but you can also get that with brown sugar!

How to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls ahead of time

To save some time in the morning: prepare your rolls as you normally would, then when you get to the step where you’ve finished the second rise (Step 9). Then just keep the rolls covered and place them in the fridge overnight.

When you’re ready to bake your pumpkin cinnamon rolls in the morning, preheat the oven to 350F and stick the rolls, covered, by the oven to warm up. Then bake as usual!

You’re just going to love these easy vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls. They’re:

• Super soft and fluffy
• Full of pumpkin spice and warmth
• Perfectly sweet and melt-in-your-mouth
• Easy to make, especially with an overnight option
• Perfect for Christmas morning
• Delicious as a Thanksgiving brunch
• Amazing with a cup of coffee on a weekend fall or winter morning!
• Approved by all eaters, even non-vegans!
• Delicious with a dairy free maple frosting

If you give these rolls a go, let me know how they went over in the comments below, as well as any questions you might have!

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

Happy pumpkin cinnamon roll baking!

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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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