Double-the-Cinnamon Rolls (Make Ahead Option)

By srumbel

These dairy-free cinnamon rolls are a beloved pantry recipe that has actually been on Go Dairy Free for years, but the post was in desperate need of an update! And though I still don’t have new photos, I can guarantee that these will be some of the best darn cinnamon rolls you have ever tasted, that just happen to be dairy-free and vegan. Perfect for holiday mornings or a weekend brunch.
from godairyfree.org

Ingredients

• Dough:
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 1 single-use package)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened or plain milk beverage (your choice; I use almond milk), heated to lukewarm
• 3 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup mashed ripe banana*
• 1/4 cup coconut oil or dairy-free buttery spread, melted (can sub another oil if needed)
• 1 tablespoon sugar (can sub coconut sugar)
• Filling:
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar (can sub coconut sugar, will be less sweet)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons dairy-free buttery spread or coconut oil
• Glaze:
• 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water, as needed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup (optional)
• 1 teaspoon melted dairy-free buttery spread or coconut oil (optional)

Preparation

Step 1

Dough

In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast and the warm milk beverage, and let it rest for 5 minutes.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cinnamon, and salt.
Mix the banana, melted oil or buttery spread (I use coconut oil), and sugar into the yeast mixture. Add half of the flour mixture and stir to combine. Slowly mix in the rest of the flour until a nice dough forms.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead it for 10 minutes or so, adding more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed to keep it from sticking to your hands. You should end up with a fairly soft dough that is just slightly sticky.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and allow it to rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes, or until it has doubled in size. Tip: I actually mix the dough by hand in a round pyrex baking dish with a glass lid. When done making the dough, the bowl is still lightly floured/greased (I cheat and even knead the dough in the bowl), and I just pop the lid on and set it aside to rise.
Punch the dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes. While that is resting, prepare the filling.

Filling

Combine all filling ingredients in a medium bowl. If using chilled buttery spread, you should end up with coarse crumbles. If using softened buttery spread, you will get big soft globs of sugar. Oil or shortening should work okay, but I do like margarine for the filling.

Preparation

Roll the dough into a 12x10-inch rectangle on a floured surface. Sprinkle with the brown sugar mixture (it won’t fully cover, just evenly spread it out in small pieces as much as possible).
Roll up the rectangle tightly, from the long side, pinch the seam to seal, dabbing it with a bit of water if needed.
Cut the roll into 12 even slices. Place the slices in a greased 9-inch square or round baking pan**, cut sides down. Give them a little bit of space, as they will rise. Cover with plastic wrap, and pop them in the refrigerator to rise overnight (or let rise 1 hour if you are baking them same day).
In the morning, pull the cinnamon rolls from the fridge and place them on top of the stove while you preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until they are a light golden brown (I like them on the less browned side).
Glaze

In a medium bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of water. Add the maple syrup and/or oil or buttery spread, if using. Whisk in additional water as needed, to get the consistency desired. I play it a bit fast and loose with the glaze additions!
Serve the cinnamon rolls warm, drizzled with the glaze.

Notes
*No Banana? – Like the recipe from Don’t Eat of the Sidewalk, you can use pumpkin puree or sweet potato puree in equal amounts to substitute for the banana. Heck, you may even be able to use applesauce … or some dairy-free yogurt! Surprisingly, the fruit does not have a notable effect on the cinnamon roll flavor, so don't be afraid to serve these to banana-haters.

** Pan Size – I actually didn’t have any 9 x 9 pans, so I used an 8-inch cake pan, fit nine cinnamon rolls in it (giving them each a wee bit of room to expand) and popped the other three, cut sides down in three muffin tins. The ones in the muffin tins cooked up just a few minutes faster. Feel free to wedge these babies into whatever size pans you have available. Give them just a bit of room, but not too much; you want them to rise, but also to be smooshed together once they rise and bake for that tender, pull-apart affect.

Serves: 12 cinnamon rolls