Apple Cinnamon Rolls
These vegan apple cinnamon rolls are made with a soft, fluffy yeast dough, a cinnamon-sugar filling, and small pieces of fresh apple that make them especially moist. You can let the dough rise for about an hour in a warm place or overnight in the refrigerator, making the cinnamon rolls easy to prepare ahead. A simple lemon glaze finishes off the sweet, cinnamon-spiced rolls.
What Makes These Vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls So Moist?
You don’t need eggs or dairy to make really good apple cinnamon rolls. The yeast dough turns out beautifully soft and fluffy with plant-based milk and either oil or vegan butter.
The apples in the filling are what make these cinnamon rolls especially moist. After several tests, I’ve found that peeling the apples and cutting them into small pieces works best. The peel is edible, of course, but I find its texture a little distracting once baked into the soft filling. Grated apples also release much more liquid and can quickly make the filling soggy.
I also mix the sugar and cinnamon separately and add the apple pieces afterward. Mixing the apples with the cinnamon sugar in advance draws additional moisture out of the fruit.
The Yeast Dough: Same Day or Overnight
For the vegan yeast dough, you’ll need flour, dry yeast, plant-based milk, oil or vegan butter, sugar, and a little vanilla sugar. A good yeast dough doesn’t need eggs – my sweet coconut milk bread is another great example.
After kneading, the dough should be smooth and supple. From here, you have two options:
- Same day: Let the dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until it has noticeably increased in volume.
- Overnight: Cover the dough and place it in the refrigerator to rise slowly overnight. The next day, you can continue shaping the apple cinnamon rolls. The overnight rise is especially convenient if you want to bake them fresh in the morning.
In this short sequence, you can see the dough after proofing overnight in the fridge:
How to Fill and Shape Apple Cinnamon Rolls
After the first rise, roll the yeast dough out as evenly as possible into a rectangle on a lightly floured work surface. About 5 mm thick is a good guideline. If you roll the dough too thin, the filling can break through more easily and the rolls are more likely to lose their shape.
Brush the dough with a little oil or softened vegan butter and sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over it. Then distribute the small apple pieces on top.
Leave a border of about 2 cm along one long side of the dough. This uncovered edge helps seal the roll at the end.
Starting from the opposite long side, roll the filled dough up relatively tightly and as evenly as possible. If it’s rolled too loosely, the cinnamon rolls can come apart, especially if the dough is also too thin. Before rolling, make sure the dough isn’t sticking to your work surface, as it may tear otherwise.
Use a sharp knife to cut the log into individual rolls. I prefer to gently move the knife back and forth rather than pressing straight down, which can squash the rolls. Alternatively, you can cut the filled rectangle into strips first and roll each cinnamon roll individually.
Let the shaped rolls rise once more before baking.
How to Bake Apple Cinnamon Rolls
I bake the apple cinnamon rolls at 180°C (360°F) top and bottom heat. If you prefer to bake with convection, reduce the temperature to 160°C (320°F).
They should be ready after about 20–25 minutes. Don’t rely on the baking time alone – keep an eye on their color as well. Once the rolls are lightly golden brown, they can come out of the oven. They don’t need to be deeply browned all over; baking them for too long can make the yeast dough dry.
For Even Softer Apple Cinnamon Rolls: Bake Them in a Dish
You can bake the rolls spaced apart on a baking sheet or place them close together in a baking dish.
When baked in a dish, the rolls touch as they rise and bake, which keeps the sides especially soft and gives you a result more reminiscent of American-style cinnamon rolls. They won’t separate quite as neatly afterward, though, and they’ll be a little stickier.
If you want to pack individual rolls for a snack or take them with you, baking them with some space between them on a baking sheet is more practical.
Lemon Glaze for Apple Cinnamon Rolls
For the simple glaze, all you need is powdered sugar and lemon juice. Mix them into a thick, smooth glaze and drizzle it over the cooled cinnamon rolls.
The lemon juice adds a little acidity to balance the sweet cinnamon-apple filling while giving the glaze a fresh flavor.
How to Store and Reheat Apple Cinnamon Rolls
These vegan apple cinnamon rolls taste best freshly baked. I store leftovers in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator.
Before eating, you can let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. They’re even better when gently reheated. About 20 seconds in the microwave is usually enough for a single roll to make the yeast dough soft and fluffy again.
Can You Freeze Apple Cinnamon Rolls?
Yes. I freeze the apple cinnamon rolls after baking. This is the method I’ve tested myself and know works well.
Take out as many rolls as you need about 30 minutes before eating and let them begin to thaw at room temperature. You can then warm them briefly; about 20–30 seconds in the microwave is usually enough.
Unbaked cinnamon rolls can also be frozen, although I haven’t personally tested that method.
I would like to show you with whom I love to share my vegan apple cinnamon rolls most … 😉
Speaking of rolls: If you enjoy working with filled yeast dough, try my savory vegetable pizza rolls as well.
Vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls – Soft & Moist
Useful equipment
- kitchen machine *) (stand mixer)
Ingredients
Dough
- 500 g all-purpose flour
- 7 g dry yeast
- 50 g sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar see notes
- 250 ml plant-based milk e.g. oat milk (see notes)
- 80 ml oil e.g. rapeseed oil, or 80 g (2.8 oz or 1/3 cup) vegan butter (see notes)
Filling
- 2 tablespoons oil e.g. rapeseed oil or approx. 30 g (1 oz or 2 tablespoons) soft vegan butter
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon ground
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 2 apples
Sugar glaze
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Make the dough: Knead the flour, dry yeast, sugar, vanilla sugar, plant-based milk, and oil or vegan butter for about 5–10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and supple.
- Let the dough rise: Form the dough to a ball, place in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or refrigerate for 8–12 hours. If the dough has risen overnight in the refrigerator, let it sit at room temperature for about 1 hour before continuing.
- Prepare the filling: Mix the cinnamon and sugar. Peel the apples and cut them into small pieces.
- Roll out the dough: On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough evenly into a rectangle at least 5 mm thick.
- Add the filling: Brush the dough with oil or softened vegan butter. Sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon-sugar mixture, then distribute the apple pieces over the top. Leave a border of about 2 cm along one long side.
- Roll it up: Starting from the opposite long side, roll the dough up relatively tightly toward the uncovered edge.
- Cut the rolls: Using a sharp knife, cut the log into slices about 2–3 cm thick. You should get approximately 12 rolls, depending on the size of the rectangle and the thickness of the slices.
- Let them rise again: Place the apple cinnamon rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or in a greased baking dish. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for another 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven: Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F) using top and bottom heat.
- Bake: Bake on the middle rack for about 20–25 minutes, until the rolls are lightly golden brown. Let them cool.
- Make the glaze: Mix the powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled apple cinnamon rolls with a spoon and let it set briefly before serving.
Notes
- Flour: You can replace part of the white flour with wholemeal spelt flour. I sometimes use 250 g white flour and 250 g wholemeal spelt flour, or 300 g white flour and 200 g wholemeal spelt flour. The rolls will still be soft and moist, although slightly less fluffy. Wholemeal flour absorbs more liquid, so if the dough feels too dry, add 1–2 tablespoons of plant-based milk.
- Plant-based milk and vegan butter: For a same-day rise, use lukewarm plant-based milk and, if using vegan butter instead of oil, softened butter at room temperature. For an overnight rise in the refrigerator, use cold plant-based milk and cold vegan butter cut into pieces.
- Vanilla sugar: Vanilla sugar is widely available in Austria and other parts of Europe. I make my own by using ground vanilla bean powder *), which I combine with sugar and store in a sealed jar. You can also use whatever other way for some vanilla aroma or simply skip it.
SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!making them for the second time this week everyone i gave them out to love them and i loved them wow whoa ty
Thank you SOOO MUCH!!! 🙂 I’m so happy to hear that – and love that they were such a hit with everyone!
I haven’t made them yet but they look delicious. Thank you for your lovely recipes, you sound more like an angel to me, not the other thing the other poster intimated.
Dear Linda,
hahaha, very sweet of you, thanks a lot. 🙂 Your comment made me smile and laugh.
Hope you will make these rolls soon. They are so good. 🙂
RAPESEED OIL? RAPE SEED OIL. seriously you could not find a more appropriate oil to use for this??? ALSO WITCH CRAFT AND YOU LOOK LIKE A WITCH SPELLS ALALLA BAMMA TO ME.
Dear Miranda, thank you for visiting my blog and for taking the time to comment on this post.
Rapeseed oil has always worked fine for me. It’s grown locally (at least where I live), is budget-friendly, neutral in taste, has a high smoke point which makes it perfect for frying and baking, is healthy, … Feel free to use another one and let me and everyone else know in the comments if it has worked for you.
All the best,
Heidi
Ps.: Don’t forget to take your medicine.
Pps.: I just put a spell on you.