The Best easy vegan cinnamon rolls with cashew frosting. They’re soft, fluffy, and delicious. Furthermore, they’re healthier than the average cinnamon buns are because they contain no white sugar, no eggs and are dairy-free! Ideal for a snack, breakfast, or dessert.

I don‘t know about you, but I need to make cinnamon rolls at least once a year. Preferably a homemade and healthier version of cinnamon rolls, which by the way are also incredibly delicious! Making it possible to enjoy more of them without a guilty conscience. For some reason I usually make them on St. Nicholas’s Day, so I thought that it would be a good idea to share the recipe with you today! Of course, you can make these delicious easy vegan cinnamon rolls any time, but maybe you also want to bake them on this holiday too. Obviously, vegan cinnamon buns are the perfect treat for Christmas time, and they come together super fast. I imagine that like me, you will probably have the required few simple ingredients on hand.


Healthy cinnamon rolls made with coconut sugar
The great thing about this recipe is that these easy vegan cinnamon rolls are much healthier than the ones you’re probably familiar with. Instead of conventional white sugar, I used coconut blossom sugar. The sugar extracted from coconut blossoms has a low glycemic index. This means that your blood sugar level rises slowly, making you feel satisfied longer. Maybe you know the problem with food cravings, which are caused by blood sugar fluctuations after consuming treats that are loaded with white sugar. If so, you know what I’m talking about.

A soft, fluffy yeast dough
Incidentally, cinnamon rolls come from Sweden and are therefore also called “Swedish cinnamon rolls” or “Swedish cinnamon buns” or in the Swedish language “Kanelbullar”. But they’re also well known in America. Anyways, they taste incredibly delicious because they are so soft, fluffy, gooey, and have a flavorful cinnamon filling. That‘s why it‘s definitely worth it to make the yeast dough because the secret is in the chilling time. Besides the waiting time, they‘re made super fast and easy as you can see in the recipe video! Honestly, I’m personally not one of the most patient people, but for these cinnamon buns, I‘ll take the time. And trust me, once you’ve made yeast dough for the first time, you’ll be surprised how easy the preparation is!


Yeast rolls with a delicious cinnamon filling
Similarly, the filling for these easy vegan cinnamon rolls is also mixed together quite easily and fast. It‘s only made of vegan butter, coconut sugar, coconut syrup, and cinnamon. I also like to add some chopped walnuts and raisins, but of course, that’s just an option. Feel free to keep these cinnamon rolls simple or get creative with the filling by adding cinnamon apples, vegan chocolate chips, different fruits, Christmas spices, nuts, or whatever you like.
Despite their filling, cinnamon buns are generally not overly sweet, but that’s a good thing because then you can smother them in delicious frosting. I made a healthier frosting with cashews and coconut which turned out really delicious! I think it tastes even much better than the simple classic frosting made of only powdered sugar, water, and a little lemon juice.

Use your favorite toppings
As I mentioned before, you can use any toppings you like for your easy vegan cinnamon rolls, like nuts or raisins for example. However, you can also enjoy the cinnamon rolls plain just like that, without any toppings, with nothing more than the cashew coconut frosting or any other spread of your choosing. If I serve them for dessert on cozy tea or coffee afternoons, I’d rather them be a little sweeter. But for breakfast, on the other hand, I like them more when they‘re not so sweet.


These best vegan cinnamon rolls are:
- Fluffy
- Soft
- Gooey
- Healthier
- Dairy-free
- Egg-free
- Loaded with Cinnamon flavor
- Coconut infused
- Easy to make
- Satisfying
- SO delicious!

Use your favorite baking dish
Usually, vegan cinnamon buns are baked in a round or rectangular baking pan/ baking dish. However, this time I wanted my cinnamon rolls to look a bit different than most cinnamon rolls do, so I used an oval-shaped dish. Of course, you can use any baking dish you have on hand to make this recipe, and if all of the cinnamon rolls don’t fit in it, simply add the rest to another baking dish. That’s so easy!
Can I make gluten-free vegan cinnamon rolls?
For this recipe, you can use wheat or spelt flour, or even a gluten-free flour blend. However, keep in mind that you’ll get the best and fluffiest result by using regular plain all-purpose flour. If you’d like to use whole-grain flour, I’d rather recommend using a mix of whole grain and lighter flour, otherwise, your buns may get too dense.

Christmas recipes with cinnamon
If you’re still looking for more Christmas recipes, you can check out my recipes for Apple Pie Roll-Ups, Vegan Apple Pie, or Apple Hand Pies. You will also find many other fall and Christmas recipes on my blog, also some that include pumpkin, such as my Pumpkin Cake with Cheesecake swirl. Just have a look around. I wish you a lot of fun with baking!


Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
Author:You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
Yeast dough:
- 2 ¼ tsp (7 g) instant dry yeast or 21 g fresh yeast
- 1 cup (250 ml) + 1 tbsp lukewarm soy milk
- ⅓ cup (75 g) coconut sugar or any other sugar
- ⅓ cup (75 g) coconut oil
- 4 cups (500 g) flour
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp salt
Cinnamon Filling:
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar or muscovado sugar
- 2 tbsp coconut syrup or more sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ cup (50 g) vegan butter
- ½ cup (60 g) walnuts (optional)
- ⅓ cup (50 g) raisins (optional)
Cashew Coconut Frosting:
- ½ cup (75 g) soaked cashews approx. 3h (or use cashew butter)
- 1 tbsp coconut syrup
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- ⅓ cup (50 g) powdered sugar
- 2-4 tbsp dairy-free milk
For Brushing:
- 2 tsp vegan butter melted
Instructions
*Note: Watch the recipe video for visual instruction! 🙂
Vegan yeast dough:
- Crumble the yeast and dissolve with 1 tablespoon of sugar in the lukewarm milk (approx. 95°F / 35°C).
- Melt the coconut oil and add to the milk mixture. Add the sugar, cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Then add the flour and knead the dough using your hands or in a food processor, until smooth and stretchy, for about 10 minutes. Then put in a large bowl, cover with a damp kitchen towel and let chill on a warm place for 40 minutes.
Cinnamon Filling:
- In the meantime, melt the vegan butter over low heat. Add the coconut sugar, coconut syrup and cinnamon and stir to a syrupy, viscous mixture. Stir in chopped nuts and raisins if desired.
- Once the dough volume has doubled, it can be rolled out on a well-floured working surface to a large rectangle, about 1 cm thick.
- Then spread the filling evenly over the dough.
- Carefully, roll up the dough from the long side, then cut into even sized pieces (approx. 1.4 inch / 3.5 cm thick). Place them in a greased or parchment paper lined baking dish, leaving enough space between each cinnamon roll, as they will rise a lot. Let chill for further 30-45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 356 °F (180 °C) top and bottom heat.
- Optionally brush the cinnamon rolls with a little melted vegan butter before baking and bake for about 20 minutes.
Cashew coconut frosting:
- Mix all ingredients for the frosting in a high-speed blender, until you get a smooth and creamy sauce. Add a little more plantbased milk to thin, if needed. (If you don‘t have a blender, you can simply use cashew butter. Just mix the ingredients together using a whisk).
- Allow the cinnamon buns to cool slightly after baking and pour over the frosting.
- Enjoy while they’re still warm!
Notes
- You can use spelt flour or a gluten-free flour blend but you'll get the fluffiest result by using regular plain all-purpose flour.
- If you don‘t want to bake all of the cinnamon rolls at the same time, you can freeze them individually after walking. Simply lay the rolls next to each other with a little distance between on a plate and place it in the freezer for about 2-3 hours. After pre-freezing you can put them in a sealed container or freezer bag because so they do not stick together anymore.
- The cinnamon rolls taste best when they're freshly baked, so I recommend eating them within 2 days. But you can also freeze baked leftovers. When serving, simply thaw and rebake briefly in the oven.
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Just tried it and I absolutely love the cinnamon rolls. Such a great idea to already add cinnamon to the dough. Thank you for the recipe 🧡
So glad you love this recipe! Thank you so much! ❤️
Liebe Bianca, das Rezept sieht mega aus! Möchte ich am Wochenende gleich ausprobieren, jedoch habe ich Kokosblütenzucker. Kann ich für die Füllung auch normalen Rohrzucker verwenden? Danke und liebe Grüsse
Na klar! 🙂
I made this over Easter for my family they enjoyed the notes of cinnamon and the creamy topping I didn’t have walnuts so we opted for almonds instead which worked just as well. Definitely will be making this one again to enjoy as a weekend treat an easy to follow recipe.
So glad you love this recipe! Thank you so much! 🙂
Hey Bianca!
I made this from your book and I must say I’m blown away! These rolls are so fluffy and the glaze is a dream. It’s so difficult to stop eating them….
Thanks for this amazing recipe!
Big hug
Heike
So glad you love this recipe, my dear Heike! Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback and rating! 🙂
I used wholeweat flour and they still turned out super fluffy and yum 🙂
So glad they turned out great with wholewheat flour! Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
Hab die Zimtschnecken ausprobiert und sie schmecken einfach zauberhaft!
Mir persönlich war es ohne das Frosting lieber, weil ich es einfach nicht so süß mag. Aber ich werde das Rezept auf jeden Fall nochmal machen.
Danke!! 🙂
Das freut mich sehr zu hören, liebe Claudia! Vielen Dank für dein tolles Feedback. 🙂
I have made it today and all my family LOVE IT!!! ❤️
So happy that you liked the recipe too 🙂 Thank you <3
Looks amazing, Bianca! I adore cinnamon rolls and I want to stuff my face with yours, haha.
Much love, Ela ❤️
Thank you so much, Ela!❤️
So glad that you like this recipe.
Lots of love,
Bianca ?
Yummy Delicious!
I’ve maid it today and I can tell that it deserves the 5 star rating.
When will you post the Vegan Cheesecake Crumble with Cranberry recipe?
We are all waiting for it and I wanna make it for Christmas.
Best Regards from Portugal
Thank you so much, Sandra!
I’m so happy that you like this recipe so much!
I will share the recipe for the cranberry cheesecake next Sunday!
So, stay tuned ?
Lots of love to you!❤️
Have made them today. So easy to make and so delicious? None of my friends knew it was vegan and they loved it. ❤️
Thank you, my dear Klara!
So glad that you and your friends liked this recipe ?
Lots of love to you!❤️