Making cinnamon rolls from scratch is gratifying but time-consuming. These easy vegan cinnamon rolls only take about 20 minutes!
Y'all, my family loves cinnamon rolls, and I make these easy vegan cinnamon rolls for them often. They're a weekend morning special!
Finding vegan crescent rolls
No need to hit a specialty store for vegan crescent rolls, unless you want to. Many common brands of pre-made crescent roll dough are accidentally vegan.
To find vegan dough for your cinnamon rolls, just check the ingredients for dairy. Pro tip: check the allergy declaration. If it doesn't say "contains milk" or "contains milk derivatives", then it's vegan!
Some brands will write something like "may contain milk" in the allergy declaration, but that's a cross-contamination concern, not an ingredient. If you have a dairy allergy, that may be something to look out for, but if you're vegan, it's no problem. We don't live in a perfect, dairy-free world.
You can use gluten-free dough for gluten-free vegan cinnamon rolls. In that case, follow the package directions for the baking time and temperature, since it can vary from conventional crescent rolls.
If you like getting creative with crescent roll dough, you will also love my vegan cherry cheese danish recipe! It is so easy to make and delicious!
Recipe notes
Got your crescent rolls ready? Let's make some easy vegan cinnamon rolls!
The first thing you have to do is make your cinnamon sugar spread by whisking brown sugar, cinnamon, and vegan butter together.
I use brown sugar in my cinnamon rolls, because it gives the filling a lovely, molasses flavor, just like in my recipe for vegan brown sugar cookies.
You can use white sugar for your cinnamon sugar filling, if you prefer.
If you want to give these a real holiday flair, try using pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon. What a treat!
Now, it's time to convert your sheet of crescent roll dough into a single dough sheet. Roll it out on a piece of parchment paper, and pinch all of the seams along the dough closed.
Spread the cinnamon sugar mixture all over the dough, and then roll it up. Then, transfer it to a cutting board, slice it into eight rounds, and then bake them on a lined backing sheet.
Your cinnamon rolls are ready when the dough is golden brown around the edges.
You can serve them straight up or drizzle on some maple glaze to really up the ante.
How to store them
Leftover cinnamon rolls will keep for 2-3 days in a covered container on the kitchen counter.
I do recommend letting them cool completely before storing, so you don't get condensation inside the container. That can cause spoilage.
Warm them back up in the toaster oven at 350° F for five to seven minutes before serving.
📖 Recipe
Easy vegan cinnamon rolls recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegan butter - softened
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon - or pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar - loosely packed
- pinch of salt
- 1 8-ounce container of vegan crescent roll dough
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375° F.
- In a small bowl, whisk the margarine with the cinnamon and sugar until it's evenly mixed and creamy.
- Roll out the crescent rolls flat onto a piece of parchment paper, and pinch together any seams, so you have a single, flat sheet of dough. Spread the cinnamon-butter mixture evenly over all of them.
- Roll up the sheet, then transfer to a cutting board and slice into 8 rounds. I like to use a serrated knife for this and gently saw off the rounds, so I don't squish the rolls.
- Arrange the rounds on a lined baking sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes, until they turn golden brown.
lazysmurf
Those do look incredibly dangerous. I'm going to forget I saw this ;)
Becky
That is probably best. Nothing to see here!
Jes
Eeep! What a great idea! This could be dangerous for my weekend health though... :)
Becky
It has been totally dangerous for us. In a delicious way, but still. I think I need to start setting limits on how often we can call these breakfast...they are not exactly health food!
kim
genius!!!!!