Vegan Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

4.70 from 10 votes

Vegan Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls

These Vegan Sweet Potato Cinnamon Rolls are light, fluffy and loaded with a sweet potato flavor + warms spices for a decadent breakfast or brunch situation!

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Rise Time:1 20

Total Time1 5

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert

Keyword: baked, breakfast, brioche, brunch, cinnamon, cinnamon rolls, dairy-free, dessert, fall recipe, healthy, homemade, maple, pecans, sweet potatoes, sweets, vegan

Servings: servings

Calories: 441kcal

Author: Shanika

Ingredients

DOUGH:

4 cups organic all purpose flour
2 cups organic Artisan Bread flour (See Notes!)
1 cup sweet potato puree, homemade or canned (See Post for More info!)
1 packet Rapid Rise Yeast (That's 2 ¼ tsps!)
½ cup organic brown sugar + 1 Tbsp!
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ cup WARM water
1 ¼ cup Almond milk, room temp. (You can use your fave plant-based milk)
6 Tbsps vegan butter, melted (Should be cooled to WARM, not hot)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FILLING:

½ cup organic brown sugar
¼ cup vegan butter, softened
2 tsps ground cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon ground allspice

MAPLE PECAN SAUCE:

¼ cup chopped pecans, toasted (See Notes!)
¼ cup pure maple syrup
3-4 Tbsps Almond milk (You can use your fave plant-based milk)
Pinch of ground cinnamon

GLAZE:

Maple pecan sauce
3 cups organic powdered sugar, sifted
1-2 Tbsps Almond milk (You can use your fave plant-based milk)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

TO MAKE THE DOUGH:

Combine yeast and 1 tablespoon brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and slowly pour in warm water while stirring frequently. Allow 10 minutes for the mixture to sit and for the yeast to activate.
Add in the room temperature milk and warm melted butter to the yeast mixture and whisk until well combined. Add in the sweet potato puree and vanilla, whisking to incorporate.
In a large bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, bread flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and sea salt and add them to the wet ingredients and mix on low-speed until well combined and everything begins to form into a dough-like consistency, about 2-3 minutes.
Change “Mixer head” to kneading accessory and knead dough for 5-10 minutes on high speed until dough ball becomes smooth and elastic and dough springs back when lightly pressed together with 2 fingers. NOTE: If dough is still too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until texture is achieved!
Lightly grease a large bowl with a small amount of olive oil and place the dough ball in the bowl, tossing it around until coated. Cover with plastic wrap (or a towel) and let sit for 1 hour, allowing the dough to rise and double in size.
In the meantime, you can work on the filling!

TO MAKE THE FILLING:

Add the softened the butter (best if done at room temp. so that it's more "paste-like" in texture once smeared) in a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the cinnamon, allspice, and brown sugar, mixing them together. Set aside.

ASSEMBLY + BAKE:

Once the dough has risen fully, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line a large 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper, allowing excess to hang from the sides.
Add a bit of flour to a surface and place the dough onto it, lightly adding a bit of flour to the top. Using a rolling-pin, roll out the dough into a rectangular shape (approximately 9″x14 and ½-inch thick), trimming the edges if needed. NOTE: Try not to make the dough too thin or else rolling it up will be hard to do!
Then, generously add ¾ of the softened butter atop dough (spreading it out evenly with a spoon or knife), followed by the brown sugar-spice mixture, ensuring that the top is coated evenly. NOTE: I also use a 'pastry brush' to sweep sugar mixture evenly across the dough to ensure that every bite is sweet!
Tightly roll dough (long-ways) and using a pastry cutter, cut dough into 1.5" rolls, placing each roll (cut side down) in the baking dish. Repeat until all rolls are set.
Then place plastic wrap over the baking dish with rolls, smear the tops with remaining softened butter and let them rise again (for another 20 minutes).
Once the rolls have doubled in size (once again!) or have gotten significantly larger, bake them for approximately 35-40 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden brown, ensuring that the middles are baked through.
Remove the rolls from oven and wait 10-15 minutes or until it cools enough to be remove from dish and add glaze.

TO MAKE THE MAPLE PECAN SAUCE:

In a high-powered blender, add the toasted pecans, maple syrup, cinnamon, and milk together and blend on high-speed until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. NOTE: The sauce should be thick, but liquid-y. If needed, add another tablespoon of milk if it's too thick or "paste-like".

TO MAKE THE GLAZE:

In a bowl, add the powdered sugar, maple pecan sauce, and milk, whisking until smooth and the glaze slowly runs off the whisk when lifted. NOTE: Add additional milk (1 tablespoon at a time) if the glaze is too thick or powdered sugar (1 tablespoon at a time) if too thin.
Spread the glaze atop the rolls using a rubber spatula evenly until generously covered.
To serve, cut out each roll desired and enjoy.
Bon Appetit!

Notes

TO STORE: Leftovers can be kept fresh at room temperature when tightly wrapped or sealed for up to 3 days. Fresh for up to 1 week in the Refrigerator. Baked rolls can be frozen up to 2 months.
RAPID (INSTANT) RISE YEAST VS. ACTIVE DRY YEAST: If you’re not using the Rapid Rise Yeast for this recipe, please know that the rise time will be twice as long (about 3 hours) since regular Active Yeast doesn’t work as quickly.
OVERNIGHT OPTION: If you don’t want to make your rolls on the same day, you can simply follow all steps (including the initial 1+ hour rise) and after cutting rolls and placing them into your baking pan, just cover them tightly (using foil paper of plastic wrap) and refrigerate them overnight or for 8-12 hours instead. The following day, remove from refrigerator and keeping them covered, let rolls rise at room temp 1 to 1 ½ hours.
FLOUR: If you don’t have bread flour, you can always just use all-purpose flour entirely instead.
TOASTED PECANS: Add chopped pecans to a baking sheet and toasting them in the oven (400 degrees Fahrenheit) for 10-15 minutes, tossing them halfway to avoid browning on one side.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: If you're looking to make these GF, I recommend substituting both flours with Bob's 1:1 Baking flour and slightly reducing the amount by 1 cup, slowing adding more if the dough is too sticky.

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