Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Things have been pretty busy round these parts now that I've started working part time in addition to my regular full time job. But here and there I have been able to make some tasty vegan treats - like these heavenly vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls!

These are SO GOOD. I was desperate for some sort of sweet and was having pumpkin dessert envy after seeing all of the amazing fall baked goods my non-vegan friends were enjoying on instagram and Facebook. These vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls totally hit the spot - I like them even more than the pumpkin cinnamon rolls I made last year, which were non-vegan!

Vegan butter (I used Earth Balance), almond milk, water and sugar are blended with canned pumpkin.

Flour, yeast, and salt are mixed in. The dough then has to rise for about 3 hours, or until doubled in size.

The filling is a mixture of melted vegan butter, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice.

After the filling is spread onto the dough, it has to be rolled. This dough was veryyyyyy sticky so I rolled it on a sheet of floured parchment paper and used that to help coax the dough into a tight roll that could be sliced.

I sprayed my sharpest knife with cooking spray and cut the dough log into 1-inch thick slices. The rolls filled two pans.

The dough is covered and left to rise for another 30 minutes, then baked for 25 minutes. I covered them in a simple glaze of powdered sugar and almond milk.

There was some leftover dough, which I stuffed with vegan dark chocolate chips and baked. HEAVEN. I may do a whole post on how to make those vegan pumpkin chocolate rolls because they were just out of this world.

A cup of hot coffee or tea is the perfect accompaniment to these soft, chewy, sweet and spicy vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls. 

Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

Dough

1/4 c vegan butter, melted

1/2 c almond milk

2 T warm water

1/4 c brown cane sugar

3/4 c pumpkin puree

1/2 packet active yeast (about 1 1/4 tsp)

2 3/4 c flour

3/4 tsp salt

Filling

1/4 c vegan butter, melted

1/2 c brown cane sugar

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Icing

3/4 c powdered cane sugar, sifted

1 1/4 T almond milk

1. Mix melted butter, milk, and warm water. Add sugar and mix until sugar is mostly dissolved. Mix in yeast and pumpkin.

2. Sift together flour and salt. Mix dry ingredients into wet until dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl. The dough will be wet but if it's too unmanageable and sticky, add a bit more flour.

3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a dishtowel. Let it rise in a warm, draft-free area of your kitchen for about three hours, or until doubled in size. 

4. Punch the dough down. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. 

5. Preheat oven to 375°

5. Remove the dough from fridge and let rest 10 minutes. Roll out dough into a rectangle on a large piece of floured parchment paper. Spread with melted butter/sugar mixture.

6. Roll dough into a log. You can use the parchment paper to help roll the dough up. 

7. Cut the dough log into 1-inch thick slices. Place rounds into two pans. Let the rolls rise for 30 minutes.

8. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes. 

9. While baking, mix together powdered sugar and almond milk. If it's too lumpy, you can also whiz it through a blender. 

10. Take vegan pumpkin cinnamon rolls out of the oven. Let cool for 10 minutes, then drizzle with glaze. Best eaten warm within a day or two.