Soft, fluffy, and oh-so-flavorful, these cinnamon rolls are the perfect addition to your Fall mornings. They’re loaded with carrots, brown sugar, and cozy spices for the most delicious treat.
Ingredients
The yeasted dough is loaded with freshly grated carrots and cozy spices for a perfectly flavorful base to these rolls.
The Dough
- Nondairy milk, heated to 100-110°F
- Light or dark brown sugar
- Active dry yeast (can use fast rise yeast in a pinch)
- All-purpose flour
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
- Salt
- Freshly grated carrots, wrung out to remove excess liquid (or else your dough will be too sticky) — we like making very thinly grated carrots for this recipe
- Vegan butter
These rolls have a cinnamon sugar filling and a cream cheese glaze.
The filling
- Vegan butter, softened
- Cinnamon sugar: Brown sugar and ground cinnamon
Assembling the rolls
The yeasted dough requires two rises, making for perfectly soft and fluffy cinnamon rolls.
First rise: You’ll make a classic yeasted dough using a mixture of warmed milk (be careful that it’s not too hot!) and your active dry yeast. You’ll also add a little brown sugar to help activate the yeast. If your mixture doesn’t foam up, your yeast may be inactive – start again!
You’ll add this yeast mixture to a mixture of flour, salt, freshly grated carrots, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vegan butter. This should be kneaded either in a stand mixer or by hand for 5-7 minutes. Once it’s ready, coat it in a bit of oil, cover with a towel, and let rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.
Second rise: Once ready, you’ll deflate the dough slightly, then roll it out into a large rectangle. Now for the fun part. You’ll spread softened vegan butter evenly over the dough, then top it with a cinnamon sugar mixture (that’s made with brown sugar!).
Roll up the dough into a tightly swirled log. Cut into 12 equal pieces. We recommend using unflavored floss for perfect cuts. Just wrap it around the spot you want to cut, pull it tight, and voila!
Place these evenly into a buttered pan and cover with a towel. Allow to rise until doubled, 30 minutes to one hour.
Bake: Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 18-22 minutes, until deliciously golden-brown.
The glaze: Make the glaze by combining all the ingredients together, adding just enough milk to create a pourable glaze that’s not too thin.
Once the rolls are slightly cooled, pour the glaze overtop and spread evenly over the rolls. Enjoy!
If you like these, try:
Carrot Cake Pancakes
Carrot Cake
Cookie Butter Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake
Carrot Cake Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup (240 mL) warm nondairy milk (heated to 100-110°F [37-43°C])
- 1/4 cup (55 g) packed light or dark brown sugar, separated
- 2 1/4 tsp 1 [7 g] packet active dry yeast
- 3 – 3 1/2 cups (375 – 437 g) all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled or weighed), separated, plus more for kneading as needed
- 1 1/2 cups (165 g) freshly grated carrots, wrung out to remove excess liquid (or else your dough may be too sticky)
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup (56 g) vegan butter, softened and cut into 4 pieces
For Rising
- 1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) canola oil
Cinnamon Sugar
- 3/4 cup (165 g) packed light brown sugar
- 1 tbsp (8 g) ground cinnamon
Filling
- 1/3 cup (84 g) vegan butter, softened, plus more for pan
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 1/4 cup (56 g) vegan butter, softened
- 1/4 cup (56 g) vegan cream cheese
- 1 1/2 cups (187 g) powdered sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp (30 mL) nondairy milk, plus more as needed
Topping (optional)
- Chopped walnuts
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the warm milk with 1 tablespoon (12 g) of the brown sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top and whisk until it is completely dissolved. Set aside for 5-10 minutes, until the mixture has foamed.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment, stir together 2 3/4 cups (343 g) of the flour with the carrots, cinnamon, nutmeg salt, and the remaining 3 tablespoons (36 g) of brown sugar. Add the butter and beat until incorporated (you can also mix it with a rubber scraper or large wooden spoon—the butter should break up slightly into the flour, but it’s okay if large pieces remain). Once the yeast is foamy, add it to the flour mixture. Beat on low speed or stir with the rubber scraper or wooden spoon, scraping the sides as necessary, until you have a soft but manageable dough. Add more flour, up to 1/2 cup (62 g), as needed, to ensure the dough is not too sticky to handle.
- Either beat the dough in the stand mixer for 5-7 minutes or transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 5-7 minutes, incorporating more flour as needed so that the dough does not stick to the sides of the bowl or to your hands. Coat a large bowl with the canola oil. Form the dough into a ball and place in the bowl. Turn to lightly coat the ball with the oil. Place a clean towel over the bowl. Let rest in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Fill and shape the rolls
- In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar and cinnamon until well combined.
- Butter a 9"x13" (23 x 33 cm) baking dish with vegan butter. Once the dough has doubled, punch it down to release any air bubbles and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle, about 14"x16" (36 x 40 cm) in size. Spread the softened butter evenly over the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar topping evenly over the butter mixture and lightly press it into the butter. Beginning on the longer side, tightly roll the dough into a log. Cut into 12 equal pieces (you can use unflavored floss for clean cuts). Place the rolls, swirly side up, evenly in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap or a large towel and set in a warm place to rise again until doubled in size, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Once the rolls are close to being doubled in size, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Once doubled, bake the rolls for 18-22 minutes, or until golden-brown.
Make the glaze
- In a small bowl, mix together the butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and the milk until well combined. If necessary, add more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached—it should be slightly thick but still pourable.
Finish and serve
- Once the rolls are out of the oven, allow them to cool slightly, then spread the glaze evenly over the rolls. Top with walnuts, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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