The dough is made with plant-based buttermilk which helps to create a pillowy soft texture and slightly tangy flavor that makes these vegan sticky buns so crave-worthy.
Like my vegan sticky buns and apple pie cinnamon rolls, you can prep them the day before and pop them in the fridge overnight, all that’s left to do is finish proofing the dough and bake!
🧾 Ingredients Needed
These homemade cinnamon rolls require just a few simple pantry staples. Here’s what to grab:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Vegan Buttermilk: Soy milk makes the best vegan buttermilk for fluffy cinnamon rolls, but you could use oat milk or almond milk if needed.
- Vegan Butter: Make sure to reach for block-style butter for the best results, not the spreadable kind from a tub.
- Vanilla Extract: For added warmth and complexity. Feel free to swap in vanilla bean paste or powder instead.
- Instant Yeast: This recipe calls for instant dry yeast. If you are using active dry yeast, you need to activate it first. To activate, add the yeast to warm milk with a spoonful of sugar and stir. Once the mixture begins bubbling and foaming (about 5-10 minutes), it’s ready to go!
- Light Brown Sugar: I use light muscovado, but conventional light or dark brown sugar, grated jaggery, or coconut sugar can also be used.
- Ground Cinnamon: Feel free to use up to 1½ tablespoons for the cinnamon sugar filling depending on how much spice you like in your vegan cinnamon buns. Alternatively, warming spice blends like pumpkin pie spice can also be used for a fun twist on the original.
- Powdered Sugar: Also aptly known as “icing sugar,” this powdery white sweetener ensures your dairy-free cinnamon roll icing is perfectly luscious and smooth. You can easily make your own using granulated sugar, cornstarch or potato starch, and a food processor.
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🥣 Instructions
Here are step-by-step images showing how to make vegan cinnamon rolls from scratch. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions:
Step 1: In a jug or small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (melted vegan butter, buttermilk, and vanilla extract). In a separate large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, sugar, instant yeast, and sea salt). Combine the wet and dry ingredients with a rubber spatula to bring the mixture together into a shaggy dough.
Step 2: Turn the dough out onto a clean dry surface and knead for 5-7 minutes until it forms a smooth ball. DON'T be tempted to flour the surface - I know this is tempting! The dough will be very sticky at the start but will form a smooth dough ball once ready.
Step 3: To proof the dough for the first time place it in a clean bowl lightly greased with some oil. Cover the top of the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, or a clean tea towel secured with a large rubber band so no air gets in. Place it in a warm part of your kitchen to proof for 1-2 hours until the dough has puffed up.
Step 4: Once doubled in size, punch out the air with your fist.
Step 5: Transfer the dough onto a clean surface that's very lightly dusted with flour. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle (about 11”x16”).
Step 6: Carefully spread the softened butter in a thin layer using a spatula or your fingers - going all the way to the edges.
Step 7: Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter in an even layer.
Step 8: Carefully and tightly roll the dough into a log. Mark the log into 9 portions.
Step 9: Use unflavoured toothfloss to slowly cut them into equal pieces. You can also use a serrated knife or pizza cutter - but toothfloss works best!
Step 10: Transfer the rolls to the baking dish (I use a 10.5"x7.5" dish) lined with parchment paper + cover the plastic wrap or foil.
Step 11: For the second rise, let them proof in a warm place for 1-2 hours until they rise and double in size (or overnight in the fridge).
Step 12: Preheat the oven to 175°C(347°F) and bake for 20-24 minutes until the tops are light golden brown. Cool slightly for 15 minutes.
Whisk together the powdered sugar, dairy free milk, and vanilla for the frosting, and drizzle over the hot cinnamon rolls. Adding the vegan cinnamon roll icing while the buns are still warm from the oven will help the glaze spread evenly over the top.
💭 Recipe Tips
Store yeast in the freezer. You can easily extend the lifespan of your yeast packets by several months or more by tucking them in the door of your freezer.
Measure with a digital kitchen scale. This will give you the most accurate results, alternatively if you must measure with cups make sure to measure your flour correctly.
Don’t flour your work surface. The dough for these egg-free cinnamon rolls is rather sticky, so you’ll be tempted, but avoid the impulse. It will come together after some kneading. Also, remember: if it gets too messy, you can wash and dry your hands halfway through the process.
A dough scraper is also very useful to help scrape up any dough that sticks to the surface.
Measure the cinnamon buns. Measure out and gently mark 9 rolls with a knife. A silicone baking mat is helpful for this - it also doubles as a rolling mat!
Grab some unflavored dental floss. It’s the best way to cut these tasty vegan cinnamon rolls into perfect rounds! Make sure you pull the floss and cut them slowly, so that the dough doesn't compress too much with the pressure!
💬 FAQs
Tightly cover any leftover rolls, or place them into an airtight container. They will keep at room temperature for 2 days, or you can refrigerate them for up to 5 days. Take them out of the fridge an hour before serving to let them soften. You can also gently warm them in a toaster oven if you’d like.
Of all the flours, pastry flour has the lowest protein content, hovering around 8%. (For reference, all-purpose flour has about 10-12% protein.) By using a lower-protein flour, there is less gluten development, which results in supremely tender baked goods.
That said, yeasted doughs (like for these cinnamon rolls without eggs) rely on gluten structure to poof up and become fluffy. I personally haven’t tried making this recipe using pastry flour, so I wouldn’t recommend it. If you try it, though, let me know how it turns out in the comments below!
🍞 More Yeasted Bread
📖 Recipe
The Best Vegan Cinnamon Rolls (Soft, Fluffy & Gooey!)
Equipment
- 10.5"x7.5" ceramic dish or similar
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 batch (1 cup) vegan buttermilk (236ml soy milk + 1 tbsp acv)
- 75 g (2.65 oz) vegan butter (block-style) melted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 460 g (3⅔ cups) all-purpose flour *see note 1
- 60 g (⅓ cup) granulated sugar
- 2¼ teaspoons instant yeast *see note 2
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Filling
- 60 g (2.12 oz) vegan butter (block-style) softened *see note 3
- 60 g (⅓ cup) brown sugar I use light muscovado
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon use up to 1½ tbsp, depending on taste
Frosting
- 200 g (1⅔ cups) powdered sugar (icing sugar)
- 3-4 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Please read the recipe thoroughly before getting started. For the most accurate results, measure with a digital kitchen scale.
- Preparation: Make a batch of vegan buttermilk. Slowly melt the vegan butter (for the dough) in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave. Be careful not to heat it, you just want to warm it enough to melt.
- Make the dough: Add the melted butter and vanilla extract to the vegan buttermilk and mix. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.Pour the buttermilk mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and use a spatula to bring the mixture together into a shaggy dough.
- Knead: (By hand) Turn the dough out onto a clean dry surface. Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes until it forms a smooth ball. DON'T be tempted to flour the surface, the dough will be very sticky at the start but it will come together once ready. If it gets too messy, you can wash and dry your hands halfway through the process. A dough scraper is also very useful to frequently scrape up any dough that sticks to the surface.
- 1st proof: Clean and dry the bowl and lightly grease it with some oil. Place the dough ball into the bowl and cover the top of the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Place in a warm part of your kitchen to proof for 1-2 hours until the dough has puffed up and doubled in size.
- Punch the air out of the dough + roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle (about 11”x16”).
- Fill the rolls: Carefully spread the softened butter in a thin layer using a spatula or your fingers - going all the way to the edges.Mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the butter in an even layer.
- Carefully and tightly roll the dough into a log. Mark the log into 9 portions. Use unflavoured tooth floss to cut them into sections, with slow and steady pressure. You can also use a very sharp knife - tooth floss works best!
- 2nd proof: Place the rolls in a baking dish (I use a 10.5"x7.5" dish) lined with parchment paper + cover the plastic wrap or foil. Let them proof in a warm place for 1-2 hours until they rise and double in size. Alternatively, to make overnight cinnamon rolls you can place them in the fridge for up to 24 hours at this stage. Then take them out to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours, or until they double in size.
- Bake: Preheat the oven to 175°C(347°F). Bake for 20-24 minutes until the tops are light golden brown. Cool slightly for 15 minutes.
- Icing: Whisk together the ingredients until smooth + swirl on top of the warm buns.
- Storage: Tightly cover any leftover rolls, or place them into an airtight container. They will keep at room temperature for 2 days, or you can refrigerate them for up to 5 days. Take them out of the fridge an hour before serving to let them soften.
Notes
-
- I recommend measuring with a scales. If you must measure with cups make sure to measure your flour correctly.
- Yeast: This recipe calls for instant dry yeast, if you are using active yeast, it will need to be activated first. to activate, add the yeast to warm buttermilk with a spoonful of sugar and stir. Once the mixture begins bubbling and foaming (about 5-10 minutes), it’s ready.
- The butter for the filling needs to be quite soft to help it spread nicely without damaging the structure of the dough. I recommend taking it out of the fridge at least an hour ahead.
- Watch the dough, not the clock. When working with yeasted doughs, you need to tap into your baker’s intuition. While 3 hours is a good guideline for proofing the eggless cinnamon rolls, it may go faster or slower depending on the temperature and humidity where you live. The dough is ready when a slight indentation made with your finger slowly expands back into place. If it springs back immediately, the dough needs more time to proof.
- Add the vegan cinnamon roll icing while the buns are still warm from the oven. It’ll help the glaze spread out evenly over the top and the glaze will stick to the buns better.
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Hey, I wonder whether I can do this with gluten-free flour? What modifications would you recommend if I want to make a gluten free version of this? 🙂
Hi Natasha,
I haven't tried with GF flour, I'm sorry! But generally yeasted doughs like this rely on gluten structure to poof up and become fluffy. So I feel like the recipe would need some work to be able to perform similarly.
Incredible recipe that yield the softest pillowiest most delectable cinnamon buns we’ve ever had! The apple cider vinegar added this very subtle glorious tang too that really elevated them to next level, and I made this with 100% wholewheat spelt flour! Thank you so much Christina for this delicious recipe and your wonderful blog! Also recommend with a mixed berry compote or jam made with frozen berries to cut that sweetness with some yummy sour🤗
Hello! This makes me so happy, thank you ever so much for taking the time to leave this wonderful review
I just saw Mississippi Vegan's recommendation for your sweet rolls, and I'm planning to make them for my son and his family. One question: is there an alternative to soy milk? The littlest in the family can't handle soy (or oats for that matter!). Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Hi Kathy,
Absolutely. I would suggest unsweetened almond milk in this case. Hope you all enjoy the recipe!
Just to say, do not use patisserie flour. I made that mistake just now. It rly doesn't work. I measured everything with a scale, the dough started good, but the longer I kneaded it, the softer and stickier it became, until it was quite unmanageable to be honest. I used my scraper, still it was frustrating as hell 😂. I make bread every day and I bake, so it's not that I'm a complete rookie or smth😂. I always knead everything by hand as well.. After 5 minutes of nightmarish kneading I Left it to proof , soft or not, dunno how I'm going to actually spread it after...just saw your video, the consistency of mine dough it's so different😂 going to try again when I get all-purpose flour
P. S
They still turned out amazing btw 🤣
Nataliya
Hi Nataliya,
Oh gosh, yes pastry flour would not be sturdy enough for this recipe. I'm glad you still enjoyed them!
These are just perfect. Thank you for the recipe!
Thank YOU Marie for trying the recipe and our lovely feedback 🙂
These were incredible! By far the best cinnamon roll recipe I've made, thank you!
Hi Megan,
So happy you loved them as much as I do! Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂