No mixer needed for these vegan no knead cinnamon rolls. The dough rests overnight and takes just 15 minutes of work the next morning. The result? Gooey, delicious and perfectly pillowy cinnamon rolls! These are even more incredible when topped with a simple powdered sugar glaze. Try these cinnamon rolls for a holiday, brunch, or any day! Add it to the list of vegan breakfast recipes that aren’t boring ;)
The key thing about these vegan no knead cinnamon rolls is that they’re probably the laziest (but still so delicious) version of cinnamon rolls you can make.
If you follow me on Instagram, maybe you already know about my obsession with Jim Lahey’s no knead bread. I started making it about a year ago, always switching up the types of flour and add-ins. I make a perfectly breakfast-y marathon bread version with dried fruit and seeds now. Similar to that bread, these vegan overnight cinnamon rolls are stirred up the night before with a bit of filling and rolling the next day.
Probably the easiest from-scratch vegan cinnamon buns you can make:
- The night before: stir up flour, water salt, and yeast in a big bowl. That’s it!
- Cover and leave out at room temperature.
- Next morning: Roll out the dough, sprinkle the cinnamon filling, roll the dough up, cut into individual buns.
- Let the buns rise and then bake!
- Cool and smother in powdered sugar glaze.
These aren’t those picture perfect spirals that evoke a certain shopping mall eating experience. These rolls are rustic, home-y, and slightly craggy-edged. No two look alike and that’s all part of the charm for me. Plus they are incredibly easy to make! The recipe looks long, but I just like to be extra thorough :)
No-Knead Vegan Cinnamon Rolls (Overnight Recipe)
Ingredients
Overnight Dough
- 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 ⅔ cup room temperature water
Cinnamon Filling
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter, melted and cooled
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Powdered Sugar Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- 2-3 tablespoons almond or other plant-based milk
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Notes
- You need overnight resting time for the dough, between 12 and 18 hours. Plan ahead!
- I’ve tried these with light whole wheat flour and light spelt flour, and both turned out a bit bread-y. Still delicious, but not ideal. Good old refined all purpose is the best for true bun-ly goodness. Use substitutes at your own risk! ;)
Instructions
The night before:
- Make the dough: in a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, yeast, and water. Using a rubber spatula, stir it all together until you have a shaggy, bump-y, sticky dough. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set the bowl in a warm spot for up to 18 hours. I place mine on top of the fridge.
The next morning:
- Make the cinnamon filling: in a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Line a 9×13 inch baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
- Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and flour a rolling pin as well. This dough is sticky, so keep some flour on hand. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the dough out onto your floured surface. Shape it into a log of even thickness that’s about 12-14 inches long.
- Start rolling out the dough into a rectangle. You want the dough to be an even thickness and about 14 inches wide and 11 inches tall when you’re done.
- Brush the entire surface of the dough with melted vegan butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon filling mixture evenly over the top, patting and rubbing it in with your hand.
- On the long (14-ish inch) side, start rolling up the entire piece of dough, making a nice cinnamon-swirled log. Then, cut the log into 12 even rolls. I cut off the shaggy ends because I was taking photos, but you can keep them :)
Second rise:
- Arrange the cut rolls in the 9×13 baking dish in (4 rolls along the 13 inch side). Cover the baking dish with a clean towel and let the rolls rise in a warm spot for 40 minutes, or until they have increased to 1 ½-2 times their original size.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Once the rolls have risen a second time, uncover them and slide them in the oven. Bake the rolls for 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown and one of the middle rolls sounds hollow when you tap it.
- Let the rolls cool at least an hour before glazing.
- Make the glaze: In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, plant-based milk (start with 2 tablespoons), salt, and vanilla (if using) until completely smooth. Add more milk if you need to.
- Drizzle the glaze over the cinnamon rolls. Best enjoyed the same day!
These are my go to cinnamon rolls. I prefer them to the more “brioche” style. These are light and fluffy and so delish. I’m making them probably for the 5th time and will bake tomorrow morning for Christmas. Thank you for such a simple and great recipe!
Made these for Christmas morning, so so good! So fluffy and tender.
I just made these. But I think the brown sugar should be less?’it says 3 / 4 cup… should that be 1/4 (aquarist vs three-quarters of a cup)? I had more than half the sugar left over. Can’t wait to try them :)
Hi Kiran,
3/4 cup is the correct amount here! There’s no need to really pack the brown sugar into the measuring cup, so that could account for some excess? Of course, if you personally like less sugar in the filling of your cinnamon buns, it’s fine to use less.
-L
I am eating this right now, it turned out so good! We are going to make this for Christmas breakfast along with a fruit salad. I’d love to try something like this with orange rolls, too.
Wow I can’t wait to make this! Any ideas on how to make a maple icing? & do you have any suggestions for the vanilla powder as I only have extract. Thank you!
Hi Marina!
Vanilla extract works totally fine and you can use the same amount. For a maple icing, I would seek out maple extract and use 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon! Using maple syrup itself is great, but the extract will get you that strong maple flavour.
-L
My dough is rising as I type this!! Do you have any idea whether these freeze well if you store them without the glaze? Thanks for the recipe!
Do you mean after you’ve baked them? I think they would be fine!
I think you could freeze the rolls right after you roll them up with the filling as well and simply thaw them in your baking dish in the fridge overnight as well.
-L
If I don’t have AP flour will bread flour, whole wheat flour, or spelt flour work as a replacement?
Hi Beth,
I have not tested the recipe with any of these options, so cannot guarantee results. I think your best bet would be to try the spelt flour with this recipe!
-L
Hi, Laura! I’m doing two of your recipes today, does this give you an idea of how much you are part of our lives? I hope so. Thank you or your amazing work and dedication. I have a question: since we’re two in the house and confinement gives little room to offering baking goods to friends/neighbors… do you think this recipe can be frozen at some point? I was thinking of freezing 6 rolls right before putting them in the oven. All the best!
Hi Maria!
Thank you so much for this kind comment. I would freeze the cinnamon rolls as soon as you fill and cut them. Then, they can do the second rise as they thaw. Does that make sense? Hope this is helpful.
-L
I am so excited to make these for my vegan spouse for Christmas morning! Question: My yeast packet instructs me to dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup water. Should this measurement be included in the water measurement provided in the recipe, or is it additional (for a total of nearly 2 cups)? Or, should the yeast just be added in dry to the dough recipe? Thank you in advance for assisting this baking noob!
Hi Krystal,
Apologies for not seeing this sooner. In this recipe, you do not dissolve the yeast in water ahead of time. It naturally “dissolves” in the dough mixture overnight.
-L
could i substitute GF flour?
Hi Julia,
Since this is a yeasted dough, a GF flour will likely not directly substitute. Cinnamon rolls are one of the trickier things to make gluten-free unfortunately, especially with the no-knead method here. Honestly, I think it would be best to seek out a recipe from a dedicated gluten-free site.
-L
I tried this recipe and it didn’t turn out as well for me and the rolls were very bready. Still delicious but not the texture I was hoping for.
I did leave them to rise for a bit longer since I got stuck doing errands. Could this be why?
Cheers
Hi Ariah,
So unfortunate that these didn’t turn out for you. One thing to note, as I mention in the blog post, is that these rolls will not be exactly the same as a typical brioche-style cinnamon bun. The texture and appearance is definitely more rustic because we are starting with a pizza dough essentially. It is possible that they over-proofed, or (less likely) that your yeast wasn’t super fresh, but part of the equation here is the nature of the recipe itself. I’ve had so much great feedback for this one on Instagram and the blog, but it’s totally possible that this recipe just isn’t the right one for your personal taste texture-wise!
-L
Hi Jen!
Did this work for you? Considering trying the GF option his weekend. Thank you!
Hi! Do you know if white whole wheat flour would substitute for this recipe?
It will but the rolls will be slightly more bread-y and less tender.
-L
Could you substitute instant yeast?
Yes, in this recipe you can!
-L
Wow… This is a great version of cinnamon rolls! Simple to prepare, but very tasty! I cooked this yesterday and it turned out delicious! Thank you for the nice recipe, Laura, and Merry Christmas!
Let us know how the GF sub goes!! I’m hopeful because I’d love to try these!
I have tried this yesterday. It wasn’t styled as beautifully as this, however, It tasted great xD
I’ve been reading for years but tend to be too crazy busy to comment. Just wanted to say I really enjoy your recipes and your approach a whole lot. I’m also a beverage obsessive so I really love your beverage posts! Cheers!
Laura, these are insane! I was special for how the yeast dough would rise with such a simple ingredient list, but it did (of course!) and turned out amazing!! I did sub white spelt flour because that’s what I had. The buns are light, fluffy and perfectly soft and chewy when you bite into it. I also used some coconut oil and non-traditional ingredients in the filling (again because that’s what I keep on hand) but they turned out and I’m overjoyed. I wanted to start a cinnamon roll tradition for Christmas and this will be my go-to recipe for here on out!
Hello! This is probably sacrilegious to ask on here….but my husband and I are not vegan, though I am vegetarian and often find myself eating vegan….I was thinking of making these with real butter instead of vegan butter, do you see any issues with measurements or are they pretty 1:1?
Thank you and sorry for the non-vegan question, just figured I’d ask if you might have any thoughts! Thank you!
Hi Caitlin! Dairy butter will substitute 1:1, no problem :)
-L
These look delicious! We always have cinnamon buns on the 25th. Now that my oldest kiddo is vegan (she was veg always), and other kiddo has celiac, and i can’t deal with making two separate recipes….i have to ask, any idea on making this gf? I find its rarely a straight across substitution.
We love your blog, from the recipes to everything you share. You are one of my go to blogs for those days when i need some kitchen inspiration. Looking forward to reading more in 2019. All the best
Hi Katie,
Thank you so much for this kind comment. Very honestly, I have no idea where to start to make these cinnamon rolls gluten-free. So many things could go wrong with flour substitutions (and a lack of eggs) here. I think your safest bet would be finding a recipe on a dedicated gluten-free/celiac blog where the recipe developer has a bit more expertise in the GF realm. Wish I could help, but I’m sure you’ll find something great.
-L
Merry Christmas Laura! I am looking forward to your 2019 posts.
Can I substitute 2 T of olive oil or grape seed oil for the melted vegan butter? Also, would a few drops of vanilla be ok to replace for the vanilla powder or does the icing taste great without the vanila? Thanks so much for your help.
Hi Susan,
I would opt for grapeseed if I had a choice of those two. If you have coconut oil around, I think it would be the best substitute for the vegan butter (melt it first though). Vanilla extract would be great in the icing.
-L
Such a sweet way to end the yesr! I really enjoy and appreciate all that you share in your space here. Best holiday wishes to you, Laura!
Thank you so much, Jean! <3
-L
Oh, I do hope you stick around in 2019. I recently discovered you and you are inspiring me to eat more plant-based meals. I’m certain I’ve pinned every recipe of yours ha!
Thank you so much, Misty! I’m definitely sticking around ;) Happy holidays to you.
-L