Cinnamon Rolls (Vegan & Gluten Free!)

Cinnamon rolls make any day special! Like any yeast bread, they do take a little bit of time due to the rising times, but they are really very easy to make! If you use a digital kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients and you follow my step-by-step directions, I promise you can make beautiful cinnamon rolls even if you’ve never made any kind of bread before. I have included a bunch of photos in this post, but this is only to show each little step clearly so a beginner can follow along. Here are the ingredients you will need for the rolls:

Add your flour and the larger amount of sugar to a medium-sized mixing bowl and whisk them together. Then, make a well in the flour mixture and add the yeast and the small amount of sugar to the well:

Heat your seltzer water to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and pour it into the well. Let stand for five minutes so the yeast can activate, then add the vinegar and lemon juice.

Use a sturdy spatula to stir everything together:

Make an indentation in the dough, then add the extracts, vegan butter, and salt. Let them sit in the indentation for now and do not stir them in yet:

Place your bowl in a clean trash bag, twist the end of the bag, and tuck the end under the bowl. This creates a proofing box in which your dough can rise in ideal conditions. Set a timer for 75 minutes.

When your timer goes off, use a hand mixer with dough hooks on high speed, or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed to mix your dough for about 1 1/2 minutes, until all of the butter is incorporated. Use a sturdy spatula to scrape down the bowl, then knead the dough by hand in the bowl about 20 times to be sure the dough has been evenly mixed.

Put the bowl back in the plastic bag and set a timer for 30 minutes:

While you wait for the dough to rise again, draw an 18 x 12 inch rectangle on a large piece of parchment:

Turn the parchment over so the side with the ink is facing the table. Spray the top of the parchment with non-stick spray, then spread the spray out evenly over the entire rectangle. This is absolutely necessary because you will not be able to get your dough to roll up properly if it is sticking to the parchment .

When your timer goes off, remove the bowl from the plastic bag:

Use a sturdy spatula to cut into the dough and fold it about 15 times. You want to knock the air out of the dough so it is easier to shape:

Transfer your dough to the prepared parchment paper:

Gently stretch and pat the dough out evenly until it fills the entire rectangle.

You have two options for the size of your rolls. You can either make 12 smaller rolls and bake them in two jumbo muffin tins, or you can make 8 larger rolls and bake them in a 9″ x 13″ pan.

If you are making smaller rolls, spray the 12 wells of your jumbo muffin tins with non-stick spray and use your hand to wipe the spray all around the inside and top of each well. If you are using a 9′ x 13″ pan, line the pan with parchment paper. Set your prepared pan(s) aside for now.

You also have two options for how to do the cinnamon filling. I recommend mixing the melted butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar together to form a thin paste. It takes a few minutes to gently spread the mixture out evenly on top of your dough, but it is much easier to roll the dough and to pick up your pieces of dough to place them in the pan when the filling ingredients are made into a paste. Alternatively, you can mix the cinnamon and sugar together, brush the dough with the melted butter, and sprinkle the sugar mixture over the melted butter. The disadvantages with this method are that it is harder to get a tight roll when the sugar is loose, and it is harder to transfer your rolls neatly to the pan(s) with the sugar trying to spill out.

Tip: If you are making a paste, use your melted butter when it is still hot, and if you are brushing the butter onto your dough, let it cool down before using it.

If you are making eight large rolls, leave a 1″ border without any filling on one of the short ends of the dough. If you are making 12 smaller rolls, leave the border on one of the long edges.

Position the dough so the border is closest to you. Pick up the far end of the parchment and fold about 1/2″ of the dough over onto itself:

Then, hold the ends of the parchment and use it to roll the dough toward you, keeping the roll as tight and even as you can:

Pull the dough toward you, rolling the dough until the border is on the bottom of the roll. Squish the ends up so they are flat and your roll fits inside the lines on your paper. For the larger rolls, mark your cutting lines for eight rolls 1 1/2 inches apart:

For smaller rolls, do the same but for twelve pieces:

For either size, cut your pieces of dough with a piece of thin dental floss. Hold it with both hands and pull it right through the dough from top to bottom. Then, hold the floss as flat as you can and pull it toward you under the dough. This loosens the piece from the parchment and makes it easy to pick up.

Place each piece into your prepared pan(s) as you cut it. This is what the larger rolls should look like in the pan:

This is what the smaller rolls should look like:

For either size, place your pan(s) in the plastic bag to rise. This will take 20 to 60 minutes, depending on the temperature and humidity. Set a timer for 20 minutes to check on them, and then recheck every 10 minutes until they are ready.

While you wait, place a large, shallow pan of water on the lower rack of your oven, then preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Check on your water level when your rolls are getting close to being ready to bake. It needs to be at least 1/4″ deep when your rolls go into the oven, so add more water if necessary.

Your rolls should be puffed up and there should be tiny bubbles starting to show on the top of the dough. This is what both sizes should look like when they are ready to be baked:

Bake the 2 pans of smaller rolls for 29 to 31 minutes at 400 degrees and the 1 pan of larger rolls for 31 to 34 minutes.

Make the icing while the rolls are baking. Cut the vegan butter into cubes and add them to your bowl. Beat on high speed until smooth, then add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and plant milk.

Beat on low speed until all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, then scrape down the bowl. Beat on high speed for about a minute, then scrape down the bowl again and set it aside.

Get your rack ready while the rolls are baking, and place a large piece of waxed paper under the rack. Place the pan(s) of baked rolls on the cooling rack when they are done.

Leave the rolls in the pan for a few minutes, then move the rolls out of the pan(s) to the rack. Use a plastic knife to loosen the smaller rolls from the muffin tins, then lift each roll out and place it directly on the rack. Use the parchment paper to slide the larger rolls onto the rack while still on the paper.

For both sizes, equally divide half of the icing among the hot rolls and let it start to melt a bit. Then, use the back of a spoon to spread the icing out over the top of each roll.

Wait 10 minutes, then separate the larger rolls and place them directly on the rack. Add the remaining icing and spread it out on top of each roll:

Serve immediately and enjoy!