Cinnamon Rolls
Probably the best cinnamon rolls of your life!
We’ve probably all stared at some luscious looking cinnamon rolls at one point in our lives. Swirls of soft dough speckled with warm cinnamon and drizzled with drippy frosting. I mean, is there anything more tempting? I stared at (and gobbled down) those pastries more times than I can count and I one hundred percent intend to continue that tradition going forward.
So I decided to convert my passion for cinnamon rolls into a baking project and fired up my KitchenAid (aka my mirror machine). The goal: to create a healthier version, without refined white sugar, without wheat flour and totally vegan.
The result, I must warn you... is seriously addictive. My neighbours who tested multiple batches of those healthier cinnamon rolls can confirm this. I thought at some point they would push the pause button, but they gratefully keep munching away every batch I throw at them.
A bit about the ingredients: coconut sugar is a great alternative to regular sugar because the textures are similar so it’s an easy swap. The caramelly flavour works wonderfully well paired with cinnamon. For the filling I added unsweetened apple sauce, which makes the rolls less dry, adds more tart sweetness and is just plain delicious. Spelt flour is probably my favorite flour because it has a super yum nutty flavor and I just digest it better than wheat flour. Winwinwinwinwinwin...etc. I used a regular flour (not whole grain) so you’d probably need to adjust if you do want to go wholegrain.
Ingredients
DOUGH
1 cup (240ml) almond milk
1/4 cup (50g) coconut oil
3 tbsp (30g) coconut sugar
1 pack (7g) active dry yeast
3 - 3,5 cups (400g - 450g) spelt flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 ⁄ 2 tbsp cinnamon
FILLING
1/4 cup (60g) unsweetened applesauce
1 ⁄ 2 cup (70g) coconut sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
(or go for 1,5 tbsp cinnamon + 1⁄2 tbsp ground cardamom)
FROSTING
1⁄2 cup coconut yoghurt
1⁄4 cup soaked cashews
(soaked in cold water the day before,
or in warm water for at least 2 hours)3 tbsp almond milk
1 tbsp agave syrup
1⁄4 tsp vanilla extract
3⁄4 tsp lemon juice
Pinch of salt
How to
1.
Grease a large cake pan (one that can fit 10-12 cinnamon rolls) with a bit of coconut oil. You can use a spring cake tin or an ovenproof cast-iron pan for this as well.
2.
Add almond milk and coconut oil to a microwave-safe bowl, and heat. Let it cool until you reach around 40C. Too warm and the yeast will not survive.
3.
Sprinkle the yeast evenly over the warm mixture and let sit for 10 minutes.
4.
Add the coconut sugar, salt and cinnamon and whisk. Add this mixture to the bowl of your KitchenAid with the K-hook attached.
5.
Now little by little, add the flour. Knead on low speed, regularly checking the texture of the dough. It will be sticky in the beginning but keep kneading until the dough just comes together in a loose ball and doesn’t stick to the sides of the bowl anymore. It’s possible that you will have to add a little bit more or a little bit less flour.
6.
Transfer dough to a floured kitchen counter, rinse and then grease the bowl with a little oil to prevent sticking. Add your dough back to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel and put away in a warm spot to rise until it has doubled in size (about 1 hour).
7.
Meanwhile prepare the frosting: mix all the ingredients on high speed until smooth and put in the fridge to set. If it stiffens up too much, add a splash of almond milk.
8.
Prepare your filling: combine apple sauce with spices and sugar and set aside.
9.
Once the dough has risen, transfer to a floured surface and roll it out into a thin rectangle (about 1⁄2 cm thickness).
10.
Coat generously with the apple sauce mix.
11.
Roll up the dough: start at one long end and gently roll up. End with the seam-side down. The apple-saucing-and-rolling process can get messy but don’t worry, they’ll turn out beautiful once they’re out of the oven.
12.
With a sharp or serrated knife, cut the dough into 4cm pieces. Add to your greased baking pan with a bit of breathing room in between. Cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel and let rise for 30 min.
13.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush the rolls with almond milk and add to the preheated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden (slightly undercooked is the texture we’re going for).
14.
Remove the rolls from the oven and let cool in the pan for a few min. Drizzle with frosting. Top with chopped walnuts if you so desire.
15.
Serve while still warm. If you do have leftovers (savage), you can save them in the fridge for 3 days. I’d recommend not frosting them yet, that way you can easily reheat them for a few minutes in the oven.
