Cinnamon Rolls (Buns)
(Makes about 18-19 rolls) ~ Vegan

A Labor of Love
I made this recipe to redeem myself. Why? Because the birthday cake I made for myself a little over a week ago was a disaster. This recipe also began kind of rough – I had to save it. Guess I’m rusty from not blogging or creating these last couple of months. We have been experiencing a wave of quick recipes in our home, lots of: rice/beans, mashed potatoes, pastas, veggies and meatless products (i.e. Gardein/Tofurky) – our convenience foods.
About my birthday cake… It was rather laughable. The original recipe I had written out turned out very liquidy or smoothie-like. So I tried to save it but the result was a dry sponge. We joked so much at the table as we tried to eat it. We wondered if we could cut the cake into slices and wash the dishes with it or wipe down the counters with that cake. Hehe. The next day I made a vegan pudding and broke up/crumbled the cake and layered it into a trifle.
Saving the cinnamon bun: Make sure you gradually add the flour and/or reserve a portion for flouring the surface. I made the mistake initially by only reserving about 2 Tbsp to flour my surface. Quick Tip: If you add too much flour and your ball of dough as you’re kneading becomes rough just add a bit more liquid or in my case honey! Honey is a great way to bring your ball of dough back to life.

Ingredients:
Yeast/Flour Mixture (#1):
1 Pkg Active Dry Yeast
¼ Cup Warm Water
¼ Tsp Sugar
#2
¾ Cup Non-Dairy Milk (I used almond/coconut blend)
1/3 Cup Sugar
½ Cup Earth Balance (Vegan Butter) or 1 Stick
#3
4 Cups Flour
1 Tsp Salt
1 ½ Tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer, optional
2 Tbsp Honey, optional
Filling (#4):
½ Cup Earth Balance or 1 Stick, melted
1 ½ Tbsp Ground Cinnamon
¼ Cup Light Brown Sugar
¼ Cup Sugar
Topping/Glaze (#5):
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp Non-Dairy Milk (I used almond/coconut blend)
¼ Tsp Ground Cinnamon

Directions:
-Proof your yeast. In a small bowl dissolve yeast with warm water and stir ¼ Tsp Sugar. Let this stand for about 5 minutes. (#1)

-In another glass bowl, microwave: milk, earth balance and sugar (#2) for about 2 – 2 ½ minutes. You will want to take the chill of the milk and melt/soften the earth balance.
-In a separate bowl whisk together (#3): flour, salt, egg replacer to combine. Typically one may sift these ingredients together but I don’t own a sifter and probably would just continue to use a whisk since it seems easier. 😊

-To the bowl with milk/butter bowl add about ½ of the flour mixture. Stir together to combine. Add in yeast mixture and stir again to combine. Add in remaining flour, however, be sure to reserve some for flouring your surface. (Initially I only reserved 2 Tbsp for my surface but my dough ball started to break apart. I added the honey here, during the last 2 minutes of kneading, to revive my dough ball during kneading.)

-Knead for the dough for about 10 minutes.
-Grease a large glass bowl (with oil or non-stick cooking spray) add your ball of dough. Cover and let rise for about 1 ½ hours. Dough should double in size.
-Punch down the dough or remove and fold out to remove the air.
-Flour your surface again and roll out your dough into a rectangular shape, about ¼ inch thick.
-In a glass bowl, combine filling ingredients (#4): Earth balance, sugar(s) and cinnamon. Microwave for about 1-1 ½ minutes to melt. -Pour into your dough and spread evenly, leaving about 1-inch from the edge.

Pre-heat oven 350 degrees F.
-Roll up dough with filling carefully pinching the final piece to secure.

-Grease (2) two (9-inch) round pan – Earth Balance (Vegan Butter) or cooking spray, if you prefer.
-Cut dough log into 1-inch pieces. I was able to cut into about 18 pieces, which included the two ends that were a bit teeny.
-Add pieces to prepared pan and let these rise for about another 25 minutes.

-Bake for 30 minutes.
-While your rolls are in the oven combine ingredients for the glaze (#5). Just whisk together to combine.

-Remove from oven and let them stand for about 10 minutes before glazing. You can let them cool longer if you can wait. 😊 Enjoy!

Whew…
Well I did say it was a labor of love, right? ❤ But really it wasn’t so bad. If feels like a long time and really it was but I did other things to break up the time. During the initial 1 ½ hours while the dough rose I went off to the grocery store to do my weekly (or 2-day) shopping trip. During the rest of the time in between prepping I made breakfast. J You really can get a lot accomplished during this time, don’t be discouraged – these are delicious and well worth it.