Vegan Wholemeal Maple Cinnamon Rolls

Vegan wholemeal maple cinnamon rolls – incredibly good sticky cinnamon buns flavoured with maple syrup that just so happen to be vegan too!

These soft, gooey, sticky vegan wholemeal maple cinnamon rolls are some of the best cinnamon buns that I have ever made, ever. Damian was completely stunned that they were vegan and said that they were utterly indistinguishable from non-vegan ones, and that they were some of the best, most amazing cinnamon buns he had ever had. Which just goes to show that vegan food can be just as indulgent and delicious!

I made the dough using half wholemeal bread flour and half plain white flour. I figured that using all wholemeal flour would have made the rolls too dense and heavy, so going for half is a happy medium – the rolls are a little bit more wholesome, but still have a wonderful soft, light texture. If you want more of a chewy, bread-like texture then you can replace the plain flour with white bread flour instead.

The buns are filled with a sweet, sticky, delicious mixture of maple syrup, brown sugar, vegan butter and obviously lots of cinnamon. When they came out of the oven I brushed the tops with a little more maple syrup to give them even more maple flavour and a lovely shine. The buns are topped with a simple maple glaze, you can skip it if you like, they are utterly delicious and quite sweet enough as they are; but the glaze just takes them into all-out indulgence territory and sometimes that is exactly what you want!

Do make sure that you use proper maple syrup in these, the darker the grade the better to give the best flavour. Maple flavoured syrups just aren’t as good as the real thing and won’t give you the same delicious taste that using real maple syrup will.

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Vegan Wholemeal Maple Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Dough:

• 215 g (1 3/4 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
• 215 g (1 3/4 cups) wholemeal bread flour
• 7 g (2 1/4 tsp) fast action yeast
• 50 g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 50 g (1/4 cup) coconut oil melted
• 240 ml (1 cup) unsweetened almond milk lukewarm

Filling:

• 80 g (1/3 cup) vegan butter
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 45 g (1/4 cup) light brown soft sugar
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup to glaze the buns

Glaze:

• 130 g (1 cup) icing (powdered) sugar
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp unsweetened almond milk

Instructions

1. Place the plain and wholemeal bread flours into a large bowl; add the yeast to one side and the sugar and salt to the other. Give it a stir then add the maple syrup, coconut oil and almond milk.

2. Mix until it forms a rough dough then either place it in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and let the machine knead it until it becomes smooth and elastic and begins to pull away from the sides cleanly; or turn it out onto an unfloured worksurface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. The dough should be quite sticky at first but become less so as you knead. When it is ready it should pass the windowpane test.
3. Shape into a ball and place in a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover with clingfilm and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Alternatively, you can place the bowl in the fridge and allow the dough to rise overnight; in which case, allow it to come up to room temperature for half an hour before proceeding with the next step.
4. Once the dough has risen make the filling. Place the vegan butter, maple syrup, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Don't worry if it looks a bit curdled.

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle about 20X40cm/8x16inches. Spread the filling evenly all over the dough then roll it up tightly from one of the long sides.

   Cut the log into 12 even pieces. Line the base of an approx 20x30cm/8x12 inch rectangular tin with baking parchment. Arrange the buns well spaced apart in the tray. Loosely cover with oiled clingfilm and set aside to rise for about an hour until puffy.

6. While the buns are rising preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Bake the buns for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 100°C/212°F on a probe thermometer.

7. Brush the tops of the buns with the 1 ½ Tbsp maple syrup while they are still hot then set aside to cool in the pan.
8. Once the buns have cooled make the glaze (if using). Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl and gradually stir in the maple syrup and almond milk until smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the buns and serve. Best eaten on the day they are made.

I originally made these vegan wholemeal maple cinnamon rolls for DIYs, check them out for some awesome craft and recipe ideas.