We're kicking off today's recipe with a poll: Are the soft, sweet yeasty swirls of cinnamon, brown sugar, vegan butter and pecans (similar to the above pictured), called cinnamon BUNS or cinnamon ROLLS?
I've always called them cinnamon buns, but according to my google info, most folks checking out my recipe for Perfect Vegan Cinnamon BUNS got there by searching for "vegan cinnamon rolls". So what's the deal, is this a regional/Canadian thing? A personal choice? Are they even the same thing??
This little mashup came to us while William and I were driving around and brainstorming Halloween recipes. First of all, I don't really like Halloween recipes. I don't have the stomach for them. Anything bordering on purposeful (edible) grossness is gonna get a hard pass from me. I want nothing to do with witchy fingers, oatmeal masquerading as youknowwhat and coming out of all ends of a jack-o-lantern, SPIDERS, etc. Creepiness and gore is fine for Halloween costumes, Halloween parties, and Halloween decorations, but for the love of everything spooky, just leave my food out of it, okay?
I prefer the classic Halloween treats. Candy corn, caramel apples, fun-sized candy bars, caramel corn, the innocent fun kinda treats. Those are the Halloween goodies I approve of. This year I reeeeally wanted to do vegan caramel apples, but my first attempt was a total bust. William's vote was for mini baked goods. I wasn't ready to lay the caramel apple idea to rest just yet and we settled on mini cinnamon rolls with a caramel apple twist.
These rolls aren't as "mini" as I had in mind but they're much smaller than our Perfect Vegan Cinnamon Buns. The soft, yeasty dough is loaded with the typical cinnamon roll fare: butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans + chunky bits of chopped apples. In one batch we used Honeycrisp apples and Granny Smith in another. Any apple suitable for apple pie will work beautifully here. We experimented with thinly slicing the apples for one batch and found a couple of issues. They were much harder to roll and the increased surface area made the apples release a ton of moisture before we baked them. While the rolls rose and baked up without issue, the excess moisture of the apples inside made them seem doughy, even though they weren't. So go with chopped apples, not sliced apples.
For the caramel drizzle I went in a different direction than I had with the failed caramel apples (candy method using coconut cream and vegan butter), and instead went for a dulce de leche using mostly Silk Vanilla Soymilk, a little bit of coconut cream and sugar. This caramel was SO much better, SO much easier, and SO much more forgiving. Silk Vanilla Soymilk's sweetness and light vanilla flavour makes a great base for this caramel. The dulce de leche method takes about an hour and a half, but since making cinnamon rolls from scratch requires a healthy chunk of time anyways, I think it's 100% okay.
Back when I was a new vegetarian (almost 15 years ago, holy cow!) I couldn't imagine being vegan. I figured that these kinds of decadent home-y desserts were exactly the type of thing a vegan COULD NOT EAT. I couldn't be happier to be proved wrong. There are soo many amazing plant-based swaps to experiment with. Plant-based eating gets cooler every single day. Sticking to the topic of caramel, a confection typically loaded with butter and cream, it can be made vegan in a number of ways! I wanted to go with something simple but still kinda traditional so I made dulce de leche using sugar, coconut cream, Silk Vanilla Soymilk, and vegan butter. You could also use the typical candy method subbing in vegan butter or coconut oil and plant milks. Or you can make a delicious caramel-like mixture with dates! It would be a bit of a stretch to call this recipe healthy (apples though, am I right?) but damn it feels good to be eating something so tasty. This is the kind of food that makes up a healthily balanced lifestyle.
(PS: Never ever feel guilty for eating decadent treats that don't hurt anyone, okay? Guilt is a serious thing so don't spend any for eating 1 too many vegan cinnamon rolls. Promise?)
This post is sponsored by Silk. All text and opinions are my own.
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Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hours 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hours 60 minutes
- Yield: 24 -26 rolls 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: Vegan
Description
Decadent caramel drizzled cinnamon rolls loaded with tender apple bits and pecans.
Ingredients
Dough
- ⅔ cup warm water
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp warm Silk Vanilla Soymilk
- ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 ¾ tsp active dry yeast
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ cup + 1 tsp coconut oil, melted
- 3 cups + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
Filling:
- 5 tbsp + 1 tbsp vegan butter
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 6 tbsp + 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 small Honeycrisp or Granny Smith apple, cored and finely chopped
- ½ cup chopped pecans
Dulce de Leche drizzle:
- 1 ⅓ cup Silk Vanilla Soymilk
- ⅔ cup coconut cream
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch salt
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp of vegan butter
Instructions
Cinnamon Rolls
- Combine all dough ingredients in a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Knead for 6-8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Coat the dough ball in a light amount of canola oil, place in a large bowl and cover with a damp dish towel. Let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled in size (about 1 hour.)
- Cut dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll one half of the dough out into an approx. 8" X 16" rectangle. Spread with 2 ½ tablespoon vegan butter, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 3 tablespoon brown sugar, ½ chopped apple, and ¼ cup chopped pecans. Starting from the longest edge closest to you, roll the dough away from you (encasing the filling inside.) Place the rolled dough seam side down and cut into 12 equal pieces. Repeat for the other half of the dough.
- Line 2 8" cast iron skillets or baking pans with parchment paper. Spread parchment with ½ tablespoon of vegan butter and sprinkle with ½ tablespoon of brown sugar. In the center, place 3 cinnamon rolls loosely grouped together, and group the remaining buns around the center three. Cover with plastic wrap and a damp tea towel and leave them to rise at room temperature for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 300F. Bake cinnamon buns for 20-25 minutes. (If needed, cover rolls with a layer of aluminum foil to prevent them from getting too brown.)
- Cool and drizzle with dulce de leche.
Dulce de Leche
- In a medium thick-bottomed saucepan, combine soymilk, coconut cream, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the baking soda and turn the heat down to a low simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally (as needed) for 1 ½ hours. Whisk in 1 tablespoon vegan butter and set aside.
Notes
For separated single cinnamon rolls like the 3 shown on the plate, bake rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave 1" between rolls. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Debra
I viewed your Instagram page and the cinnamon rolls looked delicious and I think zo will give them a try thank you so much for the recipe
James Antonio Bramlett
they look really good and delicious. I think I'm have to try it my self.
★★★★★
Shaun
I am a novice vegan unofficial chef 😋😁 however tye only difference I can interpret from this, without experience baking cinnamon rolls; I do have bakery experience, is the fact that a VEGAN CARAMEL APPLE CINNAMON ROLLS is what it's name entails and recipe as shown in the expected recipe mentioned in this article.
It is purely made from a vegan, recipe and natural plant-based ingredients. Vesrus, the high sugar and otherwise, traditional commonly known sweets, called cinnamon rolls.
Alice
Just found your site. I am new to vegan baking, but have to do it for several folks at church. Can you tell me if I can use Almond milk interchangeably with soy milk?
Brittany
Alice, I'd say that typically, yes, almond milk is a good sub for soy milk. You'll probably find a slight difference between baked goods made with almond milk vs. soy milk because soy milk contains considerably more protein than almond milk. I think this makes a bigger impact when a recipe is adapted from something that typically contains eggs and milk (both high in protein) so I like to use soy to make up for that. In this recipe, any non-dairy milk should work just fine!
angela
GOING VAGAN for the first time- Hot Cinnamon Rolls would be the food to try first. A roll with a great taste with some cold are warm milk.
Nadia
I love eating cinnamon rolls at Starbucks but cooking them is even better!
Brittany
I'd have to agree with you. Buying one from a shop won't fill your whole house with the smell of sweetness, cinnamon and fresh bread!
Vicky
Wow! They look amazing!! Definitely going to try them soon. Thank you for this yummy treat hehe 🙂
★★★★
Brittany
Thank you Vicky! I hope you love them 😀
Trish
Those look so good! I'm making some this weekend and I promise I won't feel badly about it 😊
Brittany
I'm so happy to hear that Trish! I hope you LOVE them! 😀
Shaun
I love the combination of granny apples and honey crisp apples, I gots to try this recipe one weekend looks great though, and I hardly ever home cooked desert before. I know my first time will be a great journey for me 😋😋😋 I love some sweets! What a great great dessert and story. I am new and hi to all my vegan lovers! I am definitely planning to be one after succeeding in the basics of meet fundamentally and transitioning speaking.
Justine | JustineCelina.com
These look incredible. I love great vegan baking recipes and these are right up my alley. Pinning!
Brittany
Thank you Justine! 😀
Hilary
YES! These look amazing! I wish I could use that heart-eyes emoticon here! Exactly how I'm feeling! 🙂
Brittany
Thanks so much Hilary!
JUlia (@imagelicious)
I'm with you on the gross Halloween food. I love Halloween but the extent of my halloween is maybe something shaped in a classic scull or spider shape. All other Halloween gross ideas are... well... gross... I love your Rolls/Buns - gorgeous photos too!
Brittany
Haha, thanks Julia! I'm terrified of spiders so even spider shaped food gets a big "NOPE" from me. I think I could handle the classic skull shape though! Thanks for commenting 😀
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs
I love the name for cinnamon buns in german - zimt schnecken or cinnamon snails. How cute is that?! Everyone I know at home calls them cinnamon buns and I always think of cinnamon rolls as the baking powder version people buy from the grocery store and bring to work on treat days (maybe that's only in schools?). What a wonderful flavour combo here and I think it's great that you took the time to experiment more with the size of the apples and made a note about it.
Brittany
Cinnamon snails? I love that! A reader who commented on my instagram said the same thing: cinnamon rolls are leavened with yeast (like a proper bun) and cinnamon rolls are the quick bread ones made with baking powder. If that's the case, these are definitely buns! Thanks for commenting Alexandra!
Cristina @ I Say Nomato
Those are so beautiful! I also use them interchangeably, haha, is it a roll, is it a bun, meh who cares, as long as it's cinnamon and bread and DELICIOUS that's all that matters, right 😉 Look at that drizzle! Gorgeous!
Brittany
Haha, my thoughts exactly Cristina! Thanks for commenting 🙂
Cheryl
Oh, just remembered, our Oma had a wonderful name for cinnamon/carmel buns, not knowing our usual English words---she called them a name I always loved---"sugar buttons".
Brittany
Oh my goodness, that is so sweet Cheryl. Thanks for sharing 😀
Cheryl
Buns or rolls--I call these amazingly delicious.. And with the apples and pecans mmm a great coffee break/breakfast 'roll'.
I am fairly new to the Silk beverages, so checked out their products today. Wow, they have a very nice variety of milks, even omega3. I like that.
★★★★★
Brittany
Thanks Cheryl! We love the Vanilla Soymilk for coffee (and their Vanilla Soy or Almond coffee creamer is really delicious and decadent.) I'm sure you'd find something you like from Silk!
mia
I call them cinnamon buns, but to further complicate matters, in Australia they are also often called cinnamon scrolls! They're great whatever you call them! Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Brittany
Thanks Mia! I love the sound of cinnamon scrolls, so regal!