Description
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!
Ingredients
Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (see notes for small batch):
- 4 1/4 cups (540 g) + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided (plus more for flouring surface)
- 1 packet (8 g) activated yeast
- 1/2 cup (100 g) granulated sugar or coconut sugar, divided
- 1 1/4 cup (270 mL) dairy-free milk, unsweetened, room temperature
- 1/3 cup (87 g) pumpkin puree, room temperature
- 1/4 cup (57 g) salted vegan butter, melted and room temperature
- 1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Filling:
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter, room temperature
- 3 tbsp pumpkin pie spice blend
- 2/3 cup (150 g) coconut sugar or light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (80 mL) heavy vegan cream (or cashew cream or coconut cream)
Maple Cream Cheese Icing:
- 1 cup (140 g) powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp vegan butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Please read through all instructions before beginning. The overnight option is down below in the notes section.
- Prep: Grease a medium sized bowl with olive oil or coconut oil, and set aside. Make sure the vegan butter for the dough is melted and cooled.
- Activate the yeast: In microwave-safe bowl, heat the dairy-free milk until it reaches 110F- use a food thermometer to accurately measure the temperature. Any cooler or hotter, and the yeast won’t activate properly. Add in 1 tbsp sugar and the extra 1 tbsp flour. Gently whisk together, then sprinkle yeast, mix with a spoon lightly, cover, and let activate for 10 minutes in a warm area.
- Make the dough: When activated, pour the mixture into a large bowl or a stand mixer with the dough attachment. Add in the remaining sugar, pumpkin puree, melted vegan butter, pumpkin spice blend, and vanilla extract. Mix on medium speed until combine. Then add in about half of the flour and mix on medium speed until the flour starts to incorporate into the wet mixture. Add the remaining flour, and mix on medium speed until a shaggy dough forms. Lightly flour a clean surface and place the dough onto the surface, sprinkling some extra flour on top or kneading.
- First proof: Knead the dough lightly, for 2-4 minutes, until it forms a smooth dough ball that’s not sticky. Then place the dough into the greased medium bowl, cover with a cloth or wrap, and place into a warm area to let rise for 1 hour. It should be double in size. If it’s at least 80F outside, you can place the bowl outside, otherwise you can place it in the oven (which is turned off) and turn on the oven light or start preheating the oven to 350F and place the bowl near or on top of the oven.
- While the dough is rising: grease a large casserole dish with oil and set aside. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and pumpkin spice blend, and set aside.
- Make the vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls: After the dough has doubled, lightly punch down the dough. Lightly flour a clean surface, and place the dough in the middle. Sprinkle a little extra flour on top of the dough and flour the rolling pin. Roll the dough out to be a large rectangle (12 in x 18 in). Lightly spread the dough with vegan butter to the edges of the dough. Then sprinkle on the pumpkin spice sugar mixture evenly. Roll into tight rolls and away from you. Slice the roll into 12 even cinnamon rolls. To easily slice, you can use a piece of thin twine or unflavored floss. Place into the oil-greased dish.
- Second proof: Cover again with a clean towel or wrap, and place over or by the oven while the oven preheats to 350F. Let the cinnamon rolls rise for 30 minutes while the oven is preheating.
- Pour in the heavy cream: After the cinnamon rolls have done their second proof, pour the vegan heavy cream in between the rolls.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls: Place the cinnamon rolls into the oven and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the icing.
- Make the dairy-free frosting: in a medium bowl or stand mixer, cream the vegan butter and vegan cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add in the powdered sugar, maple syrup, pumpkin spice, and vanilla extract, and cream again until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed.
- Serve and enjoy! Spread the frosting onto the vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls and serve warm. If you have any leftovers, you can store them in an airtight container and place them in the fridge for up to 4 days. To reheat, simply warm them on a baking sheet with parchment paper at 350F for 5-7 minutes.
Notes
See post for make-ahead option!
Gluten free option: 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.
Small batch ingredients:
- Brown butter:
- 1/2 cup (113 g) salted vegan butter (I recommend Miyoko’s)
- Brown butter pumpkin cinnamon rolls:
- 1 1/3 cups (200 g) all-purpose flour, divided (plus more for flouring surface)
- 1/3 packet (3 g) quick rise dry active yeast
- 2 tbsp (30 g) light brown sugar or coconut sugar, divided
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/3 cup (90 mL) dairy-free milk, unsweetened, warmed
- 2 tbsp (30 g) pumpkin puree, room temperature
- 2 tbsp (30 g) browned vegan butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Filling:
- 2 tbsp (30 g) browned vegan butter
- 1 tbsp ground pumpkin spice blend
- 1/3 cup (70 g) brown sugar
- Icing:
- 4 tbsp vegan cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 tbsp browned vegan butter vegan butter, melted
- 1 cup (130 g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- You can follow the instructions for the pumpkin cinnamon rolls, being sure to use a small casserole dish, and rolling out the dough to be 6×12″ instead of the larger size. Each cinnamon roll will be rolled as a 1.5×12″ strip.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cinnamon roll with icing
- Calories: 275
- Sugar: 37.9 g
- Sodium: 49.8 mg
- Fat: 12.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 41.3 g
- Protein: 1.1 g
- Cholesterol: 15.8 mg