Vegan Espresso Cinnamon Rolls

Rolled Up Recipe

A delicious treat and fun bake to do with friends and family.
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To continue the baking saga, I tried my had at another rolled treat over the holiday break. Vegan cinnamon rolls. The recipe we used can be found on the almond eater’s site which is also full of many other fun and delicious looking recipes! We had a lot of fun making these rolls and i will definitely be trying them again. I forgot to take many pictures during the actual process, but did manage to remember to get a good one before they were all consumed.

This time around there were fewer mistakes than with the yule log, so it seems practice in baking is working! One note I will make is that, reading a recipe and instructions all the way through is key when you are just learning. I again, just tried to read as I went and ended up rolling the dough a little too thin. Thankfully the textures and flavors were still delicious but the rolls did not get the extra fluffiness in the center. That being said because of the thinness of the dough there were more layers to the roll, so not a bad trade-off!

I went off book to make my frosting as I really wanted to try to do a cream cheese one. It took so much longer than anticipated to get the frosting to the right consistency. Vegan cream cheese and butter don’t seem to reach quite the same consistency as their dairy counter parts. I was also trying to work with cream cheese and butter that was not quite room temp so i will make sure to set those out much earlier next time.

Vegan Espresso Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast

• 2 tbsp sugar

• 1/4 c warm water

• 6 tbsp dairy free butter

• 1 1/4 cup oat milk

• 3 1/4 c all purpose flour plus 1/3 c more once the dough has risen

• 1/2 tsp salt

For the filling:

• 2 tbsp dairy free butter melted

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 2 tbsp cinnamon

• 1 tbsp cocoa powder

• 1 tbsp espresso powder

For the icing:

• 1/2 c powdered sugar

• 1-2 tbsp oat milk

• 8 oz dairy-free cream cheese

• 4 tbsp dairy-free butter

• 1 tbsp espresso powder

• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Instructions

• Combine yeast and sugar in a bowl, add the warm water stirring everything together. Set aside until mixture begins to bubble, about 8-10 minutes.

• Meanwhile, combine butter and milk over medium-high heat on the stove, stirring occasionally until butter has melted. Do not to let them come to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside.

• Mix together flour and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

• Pour butter and milk mixture into the bowl with the yeast and stir to combine, then pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl with the flour. Mix together to combine. The dough will be sticky.

• Grease a large bowl with some coconut oil, and transfer dough to that bowl. Place a towel over the bowl, and set in the proving drawer or an oven set to prove and allow the dough to rise doubling in size, about 1 hour.

• While the dough is rising make your filling. Melt the butter, and set it aside, then combine cinnamon, cocoa and espresso in a separate bowl and set them aside as well. (This should be done close to when the dough is almost done rising).

• Once your dough has doubled in size, stir in an additional 1/3 cup flour. This will make the dough less sticky and easier to roll out.

• Flour your work space, and then roll the dough out into a rectangle. Brush the dough with the melted butter and sprinkle the sugar on top, then the cinnamon, cocoa and espresso mixture, using your hands to press everything gently into the dough.

• Roll the dough up into a log starting on the long side of the rectangle. Cut the log into 1" cinnamon rolls, placing them cut side down into a baking pan.

• Cover the baking pan with the towel and place in the oven, to rise for 30 minutes.

• Remove rolls from the oven, keeping towel over them, and preheat the oven to 350°.

• Remove towel and bake rolls for 25-30 minutes, or until dough has cooked and cinnamon is bubbling.

• While rolls are in the oven, make the icing by dissolving the espresso powder in the milk. Beat the room temp cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the vanilla, powdered sugar and milk mixture and beat until smooth.

• Once rolls are done, drizzle icing over top, serve and enjoy!