Vegan Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls (2024)

Soft and fluffy homemade vegan gluten-free cinnamon rolls you can serve at breakfast, brunch, on Christmas morning, or for dessert! Yes, they're 100% dairy-free, egg-free, and nut-free, plus to make them even more special, they’re topped with gooey vegan icing.

Step-by-step images are included to show you how to make and bake them, plus, you can refrigerate these rolls overnight and bake them the next morning. Read on for all of the details!

This recipe is one that I've been testing for quite a while because who doesn't love cinnamon rolls?! I started over a year ago and decided to shelve my efforts because I wasn't getting the results I wanted.

I decided to pick it back up this fall and after a few more tries, building from where I left off, I finally have a winner. Persistence pays off!

I won't bore you with all of the details about my trials and (big) errors, but I can tell you that I ended up with rock hard rolls on more than one occasion.

Rock hard rolls are what some may think of when they hear "vegan gluten free cinnamon rolls," but you'll be happy to know that this is not the case with this recipe.

These rolls are soft, tender, fluffy, and they have that drool-inducing gooey center that we all love in a cinnamon roll. Plus, they're topped with a delicious, easy-to-make icing.

This recipe has a few more steps than my regular recipes, but don't let that intimidate you, they're simple to make and when done, you're going to end up with the most delicious gluten-free vegan cinnamon buns (rolls, buns, or scrolls...whatever YOU call them!) you've ever had.

So let's get to it. I have pictures for every step to help you through, as well as tips and pointers throughout, so make sure you read EVERYTHING before you make the recipe. Let's go!

Before You Get Started

There are a few things to keep in mind as you make these rolls, especially if you've made wheat rolls in the past; this recipe is very different because of the following:

• If you’ve made cinnamon rolls with wheat flour, you’ll know that there are two rises. That’s not necessary with this gluten free vegan cinnamon rolls recipe, there’s just one single rise which means they’ll be ready quicker!
• Wheat rolls double in size before they bake but these do not. They will rise and expand slightly, but they will not rise the same as wheat rolls. They will also rise and expand a little more as they bake.
• The dough for these rolls is different from wheat dough. Wheat flour cinnamon roll dough is stretchy and pliable, this dough is the opposite, it’s very soft and fragile, so keep that in mind as you prepare and work with the dough.
• Kneading this dough is not necessary since there is no gluten to develop.
• The final texture of these rolls is different from wheat based rolls. These rolls are soft and fluffy, but not like wheat flour rolls, so know that going in, you’re not going to get the exact texture as regular cinnamon rolls.

Are you new to vegan gluten-free baking? If so, be sure to read all of my vegan gluten-free baking tips!

Ingredients + How to Make Them

(Note: I’ve outlined the step-by-step on how to make this recipe here, but find the full recipe, ingredients, and directions at the end of this post.)

There are four groups of ingredients for this recipe, I'm going to walk through each group and show you how to prepare them and how to do each step.

Step 1 - Prepare the Yeast

You'll need six ingredients for this step, warm non-dairy milk, active dry yeast, sugar, apple cider vinegar, melted butter, and a flax egg.

You'll start by preparing your flax egg and setting it aside. Next, add the yeast, sugar, and warm milk to a bowl. Give it a quick stir and set aside for about 10 minutes or so for it to foam up like the image below on the right.

NOTE: If your yeast doesn't look like the picture below on the right after 10 minutes, then something is wrong with either your yeast or the temperature of your milk. See the "Expert Tips for Success" section below for more info on how to fix this. If your yeast didn't foam up, you'll have to start over with new yeast.

Step 2 - Prepare the Dry Ingredients and Filling

While you wait for the yeast to foam up, measure out your flour (accuracy is important for this recipe, so please refer to my article about how to measure flour correctly) and whisk it together with sugar, salt, baking powder, and a little cinnamon.

For the filling, you'll need brown sugar, cinnamon and melted, cooled butter. Start off by mixing your brown sugar and cinnamon together and then setting it aside. (You'll use the melted butter to brush onto the dough so the filling sticks to the dough.)

Step 4 - Prepare the Dough

After the 10 minutes for yeast proofing has passed, add the remaining ingredients to the yeast mixture: apple cider vinegar, melted butter, your flax egg and then give it a stir.

Pour the yeast mix into the flour mixture and stir until the dough starts to form. Once that happens, get in there with your hands and gather up all the stray bits and dry areas of flour to form a ball. Don't over work it.

Brush some oil onto a large piece of parchment paper and you can measure and make some marks on the paper so you have some guides to help you know how much to roll it out, or you can just keep a tape measure close by.

Place the dough ball on top of the oiled parchment paper and using your hands, form it into a square (this makes it easier to form it into the proper shape, see bottom right image below).

Step 5 - Press (Or Roll) Out the Dough

It's important to not have the dough be too thin or the rolls will fall apart. The final size needs to be roughly 10 inches long x 14 inches wide and ¼ inch thick.

You can either use your hands to press it into that rectangular size or roll it with a rolling pin. Have a measuring tape nearby or as mentioned above, you can mark guides on the parchment paper. The longer, 14-inch side, should be facing you.

You can also use a rolling pin to get it to the proper size. If you use a rolling pin, since this is a sticky dough, lightly flour the top of the dough and then place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and roll to the proper size.

Once rolled out, brush the melted butter on top.

Step 6 - Fill and Roll

Sprinkle the filling on top of the dough, leaving a small space at the top edge, as shown below.

This is a soft dough, so rolling it up with just your hands will not be easy. To make it easy, use the parchment paper, as shown in the picture below, to slowly roll the dough away from you.

Step 7 - Slice, Rest

With the seam side down, using a sharp knife, slice the rolled up dough into 9 rolls (roughly 1 ½" each) and place them in a greased 8-inch x 8-inch baking dish or an 8-inch round cake pan (if using a cake pan, slice into 8 rolls (roughly 1 ¾" each) rather than 9).

It's important that they sit close together but I wouldn't go smaller than the pan/dish sizes mentioned because then they will be TOO close and not have room to grow. And it's okay if they're touching, this will keep the sides soft.

Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a warm area to rest for one hour. Use the proof setting on your oven if you have it.

The image on the top left below shows the rolls immediately after they've been sliced and placed in the dish and the image on the top right shows how the rolls will look after they've rested.

Step 8 - Bake

Just before the one hour has passed, preheat the oven and once the rise time has passed and the oven is ready, place them in and bake.

After they've finished, remove from the oven and allow them to cool for a while. The image at the bottom is the baked rolls.

Step 9 - Make the Icing

You can use the icing recipe provided, or you can make my vegan cream cheese frosting for them.

While the buns are cooling, gather the following five ingredients: powdered sugar, melted butter, non-dairy milk, vanilla, and salt.

NOTE: Not all powdered sugar is vegan, look for a brand that's organic (organic sugars are always vegan) or one that is marked as vegan on the label.

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and the result is the richest and most creamy vegan icing for cinnamon rolls you've ever had!

Step 10 - Ice the Buns

After the buns have cooled, spoon and spread the icing onto them. If you aren't going to serve them all at the same time, just add the frosting to the buns that will be served right away.

And that's it! You've made it through all the steps, now it's time to devour the best gf vegan cinnamon rolls you've ever had!

For Overnight / Make-Ahead Rolls

Do all steps up to #8 and then cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator so the rolls can slowly rise overnight.

In the morning, remove the dish from the fridge and allow it to sit on the counter at room temperature for 1 hour, then start back at step #9.

What's the Texture Like?

Soft, tender, fluffy, and gooey, thanks to the filling and the icing...and so delicious. See the picture below.

There's no need to miss out when you're vegan + gluten-free, almost everything can be made vegan AND gluten-free (well, almost anything!)

Storing Leftovers

Leftover icing can be placed in an airtight container and kept in the refrigerator. Remove from the fridge about an hour before you need it so it can get back to room temperature.

These rolls are best on the day they're made, but if you have leftovers, keep them in a covered airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.

If they're not done after 2 days, move the container to the refrigerator for up to 3 more days. When you're ready to serve them, reheat and they'll be just as delicious and as soft as they were on day 1. Allow them to cool slightly before icing.

Expert Tips for Success

• Make sure your yeast and baking powder are fresh. These are the two ingredients that make the rolls rise and get that nice soft texture that a cinnamon roll needs.
• Make sure that your milk is not too hot and not too cold. It needs to be within the correct temperature range to activate the yeast properly, which is in the 100° F - 110° F (38° C - 43° C) range. If you don't have a thermometer, it should be lukewarm (warm to the touch, but not hot).
• Don't skip the apple cider vinegar. Yes, it's a strange ingredient to add to a cinnamon roll recipe, but it helps the yeast to grow which in turn will help your rolls to expand and rise better. White vinegar can be used instead if you don't have apple cider vinegar.
• Measure your flour correctly. Too much flour in this recipe will result in rolls that are tough, hard, and not soft and fluffy. Measuring all ingredients correctly is essential in any baking recipe, this one is no exception, so please read my article about how to measure flour correctly).
• Don't overwork the dough or your rolls may turn out tough.
• Don't roll / press the dough out too thin or you will have trouble slicing the dough, it needs to be at least ¼ of an inch thick.
• Make sure to place the rolls in a warm, draft-free place to rise. If it's not warm enough, they won't rise properly and if it's too warm they'll rise too fast and have an unpleasant yeast flavour. I like to place them in my oven with the light on. If you have a "proof" setting on your oven, this is the perfect time to use it.
• Follow the recipe exactly as it's written for the very best results.
• If you're making these for a special occasion, give the recipe a test run before the big day.

FAQ

If You Make This Recipe...

Tell me about it! I spent a lot of time perfecting it, so I'd love to hear how things went for you.

Please leave me a comment and rating below or you can also post a picture to Instagram and tag me (you can find me here: @delightfuladventures)

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And If You Like This Recipe...

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