Delicious, swirlicious Vegan Cinnamon Rolls made with homemade oat milk and slathered with maple cream. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, dessert or simply paired with your afternoon coffee. 

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Yup. Another vegan cinnamon roll recipe. Because we need it. I need it. You need it. Heck, even Loki needs it! What’s so different about these vegan cinnamon rolls? The core of the recipe is similar to my basic vegan cinnamon roll recipe, but I swapped out my usual unsweetened almond milk for some homemade oat milk! And then I slathered the rolls in some extra gooey Maple Cream, which, is honestly 100% superior to any powdered sugar based glaze or cream cheese frosting. Don’t believe me? Make these and try to just eat one. It’s impossible.

I made these vegan coconut oil cinnamon rolls at the cabin while we were there over the weekend. My favorite Sunday morning cabin routine looks a bit like this. Wake up with no alarm clock (which means I might sleep until 7am if I’m feeling like a real lazy Loody). Start the coffee and while that’s brewing, start the dough for cinnamon rolls. Pour myself a big ol’ cup of coffee, stir in some of that homemade oat milk and sip away while the yeast is proofing. Once the yeast has proofed, its time to knead the dough (because the cabin doesn’t have a resident stand mixer…yet). Lay the dough down to take a 2 hour nap and get myself out the door for my Sunday morning miles. The cabin is in a verrrry hilly area of Vermont, so I’m definitely earning those cinnamon rolls. The 2 hour proofing time for the dough is the perfect amount of time to go for a nice long run, stretch afterwards, and shower. Leaving just enough time to prep the counter for rolling and line a pan with parchment.

I savor my early mornings. They are my favorite part of the day. Just a little me time before the rest of the world wakes up. Yes, I am a creature of habit. And routines. Of early mornings. And of cinnamon rolls.

Because the early bird gets the cinnamon rolls. (edit: Jesse is NOT an early bird, but he still gets the cinnamon rolls. Because I love him.)

-loody!

You might be asking yourself at this point, is it really worth it to make the homemade oat milk? And the answer is yes. Definitely yes. Unsweetened almond milk or soy milk are delicious alternatives, but the oat milk add this luscious richness to the dough that I think is missing from recipes that use other nondairy milks. Plus the leftover homemade oat milk is delicious in your coffee! Or on some homemade granola! Or for dunking these bomb diggity vegan peanut butter cookies in. Basically, its totally worth making.

Vegan Cinnamon Rolls with Oat Milk and Maple Cream

for the dough:

1/4 cup warm water
1 packet yeast
1 cup homemade oat milk* see below for recipe
1/4 cup white sugar + 1 teaspoon
1/3 cup coconut oil
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

for the filling:

3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

for topping:

maple cream

Homemade oat milk

4 cups water
1 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon maple syrup
pinch of salt, optional

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend on high for 1-2 minutes, until consistency is fairly even. Be careful not to over blend or the consistency will be slimy. Using a cheesecloth (or an old thin t-shirt) over a bowl, strain the oat milk mixture. You may need to squeeze the cloth a bit to get all the liquid out. Transfer filtered oat milk to an airtight container and store in the fridge up to 5 days. You can either just toss the remaining oat sludge, or it makes a groovy basil plant fertilizer. I haven’t tried baking with it, but this could also be a viable option.

maker’s notes

If you can’t get your hands on maple cream (it’s also called maple butter or maple spread! just make sure to check the ingredients, you want 100% maple syrup in there, no cream or dairy products), you can follow these instructions for making your own vegan maple cream at home! This is the brand I like is Merle Maple – they’re near my hometown!

If you don’t care for oat milk, or just don’t feel like the extra step, unsweetened almond or soy milk works just fine.

This recipe yields 8 large cinnamon rolls or 12 modestly sized rolls. I vote for big rolls. Or a variety of sizes, so you have options.

how to whip it up:

Gently stir water and yeast plus 1 teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl, and let proof until foamy (10-15 minutes).

While the yeast is proofing, warm oat milk and coconut oil over a medium-low heat until steaming. Then stir in sugar until dissolved. Off heat and let cool.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, stir flour and salt together. Once yeast is done proofing, add to flour mixture along with oat milk mixture. Stir gently until combined, using a spatula to scrape down the sides.

Turn out dough onto a lightly floured countertop. Knead for 5 minutes, or until dough is slightly sticky but smooth. Place in lightly oiled bowl, cover with a warm damp cloth and place in a warm spot in your house. Let rise for at least 2 hours.

Line a quarter sheet pan or 9×9 square pan with parchment and lightly oil. Once dough has risen, on a floured surface roll out dough into a 12×18 rectangle. Spread melted coconut oil with the back of a spoon across dough, then sprinkle brown sugar-cinnamon mixture evenly. Roll up the long way, then cut into whichever size rolls you like – I usually try to get 9 out of the roll.

Place onto prepared pan. Cover and let rise another 30 minutes – 1 hour or until rolls have doubled. Preheat oven to 350°.

Bake rolls for 25-27 minutes. Check at 15 minutes to make sure tops are not browning too quickly – cover with foil if they are. Remove from oven, smother with maple cream. Eat at least 5 cinnamon rolls. This is not a drill.