Vegan Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

90 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

These vegan sweet potato cinnamon rolls are by no means meant to be a healthy alternative to non-vegan cinnamon rolls. There is no way to make these oil-free/vegan butter free, though you may find success making them gluten-free––I've never tried it. I've given a "healthy" alternative to regular sugar in the filling––coconut sugar instead of brown.

Author: Jenné

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp ground flax seed + 3 tbsp water
• ¾ cup unsweetened plain soy milk or other unsweetened plain non-dairy milk
• ¼ cup vegan butter, (I used Earth Balance), melted
• 2-2½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup water

Filling

• ⅓ cup vegan butter
• ½ cup brown sugar or coconut sugar, or a mixture
• ½ tbsp cinnamon
• ¾ cup chopped raw pecans

Sweet potato frosting

• ½ cup sweet potato puree
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp vegan butter
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Dough

1. Mix the ground flax seed and water in a small mixing bowl and set aside to thicken and become a flax “egg”.
2. In a small sauce pan warm the soy milk and vegan butter until the vegan butter has melted. Remove from heat.
3. Mix the flour, active dry yeast, sugar, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Once the temperature of the melted vegan butter and soy milk has reduced to 100°-110° pour it into the dry ingredients.
4. Also add the water and flax egg and use a whisk to stir. If you have a standing mixer, you can use that instead.
5. Once it’s too sticky to whisk, use our hands to combine the ingredients.
6. Transfer the dough onto a floured workspace, and knead it until you’ve got a smooth dough ball.
7. Place the dough ball into a lightly greased mixing bowl, and cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, and allow it to rise for at least one hour.

Filling

1. Make the filling for the rolls by combining the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl.
2. Chop pecans into small pieces.
3. Melt ⅓ cup of vegan butter.

Assemble Rolls

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Once the dough has doubled in size, you can press out the air, then transfer it back onto your floured work space.
3. Roll the dough until it is about ⅙th inch thick, and about 12x16 inches.
4. Brush the dough with the melted butter, top with cinnamon sugar mix, and then top with your chopped pecans.
5. Roll the dough tightly.
6. Carefully cut the roll into 1 inch slices, you’ll have about a dozen.
7. Place the rolls onto a greased skillet or baking dish (about 10x10).
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes (less if your oven runs hot).

Make your sweet potato icing

1. Place powdered sugar, sweet potato, vanilla, and vegan butter into a food processor and blend until creamy and smooth.
2. Remove rolls from oven, and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.
3. Top with sweet potato icing, and serve immediately.