Flaky and soft Vegan Gingerbread Cinnamon Scrolls perfect for the festive season! Easy to make and more fun than classic cinnamon scrolls.
Truth be told, I avoided making cinnamon scrolls for years because I was scared of baking with yeast. BUT once I realised easy it is, I couldn’t stop baking!
These Gingerbread Scrolls are a fun and simple twist on classic cinnamon scrolls. They are soooo comforting to devour hot from the oven and remind you of Christmas at every bite!
Step-by-step: How to make gingerbread cinnamon scrolls
The dough
Combine all the ingredients in your stand mixer or in a bowl. Make sure you knead it for around 5 minutes until your dough is smooth and elastic. I used to be cautious of over kneading BUT kneading your bread for a good 5 minutes is ESSENTIAL for encouraging the gluten to form. When gluten is formed, your dough and scrolls will be flaky and pull apart nicely!
Once you’ve kneaded your dough, place it in a bowl and cover it with a tea towel. If you’re in a moderately warm climate, it should double in size within an hour or so.
Rolling the dough
Dust a clean surface with flour such as a chopping board or kitchen bench. Then use a rolling pin or jar to roll your dough into a rough rectangular shape. The thinner your dough, the more ‘swirls’ your cinnamon scrolls will have! I rolled my dough so it was about 5mm thick. After that, brush your dough generously with melted butter.
Sprinkle that sugar!
Sprinkle the buttered surface even more generously with your spiced brown sugar mixture. Then roll up your dough! You can see that my fingers are extended because I have tiny hands and wanted the length of the dough to roll evenly. You’ll end up with a log.
The therapeutic part (in my opinion at least) 🙂
Use a sharp knife to cut scrolls out of your log. I’d recommend scoring your dough before you cut it so you know you have enough scrolls for everyone :). If you want to make 15 scrolls, cut off the ends, score your log into 3 sections then score each section into 5 scrolls. Then cut away!
Sit back and watch the cinnamon scrolls rise
Place your scrolls into a lined baking tray, cover it with a tea towel and allow it to rise for an hour or so. It should increase in size like below. If not, pop it in your oven at its lowest temperature until it expands.
Bake away! Then frost your scrolls as desired :).
Troubleshooting cinnamon scrolls
I sense that many people avoid baking with yeast because they don’t want to put all their effort into a baked good for it to not RISE!
If you follow the below recipe and do not make any substitutions, 90% of the time it will rise. For the other 10% of the time, it’s very likely your yeast needs a warmer environment. When you are resting your dough or scolls, feel free to pop it in the oven at its lowest temperature. I’ve done this a handful of times when my dough wasn’t rising then BAM – my dough would magically expand!
If you have any issues, please leave a comment below and I’ll see what I can do to help!
Happy baking!
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Vegan Gingerbread Cinnamon Scrolls
Ingredients
Scrolls
- 3 2/3 cups (460g) plain or all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 3/4 cup (180mL) plant-based milk, such as almond, soy or coconut, warm
- 1/2 cup (115mL) melted vegan butter
- 1/4-1/2 cup (40-80g) organic cane sugar, or coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon (9g) instant dried yeast*
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- Pinch of nutmeg powder
- Pinch of any good-quality salt, (skip if using salted vegan butter)
Scroll filling
- 1/2 cup (95g) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
- 1/2 tablespoon nutmeg powder
- 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter
Scroll glaze
- 1/2 cup (120g) vegan cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup (115g) vegan butter
- 1 cup (100g) powdered sugar, or to taste
Instructions
- To make the scrolls: Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and knead for 5-10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Leave the dough in the bowl or stand mixer, cover with a tea towel and leave it in a warm place for at least 1 hour or until the dough doubles in size.
- To make the scroll filling: Combine all the ingredients except the melted vegan butter in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Lightly dust a clean surface with flour. Scoop out the dough and use a rolling pin to flatten the dough into a rectangular shape. Try to make sure the dough is evenly flat. Use a pastry brush to brush the melted vegan butter on the surface. Scatter the brown sugar mixture on top.
- Starting from the long side of the pastry, roll the pastry into a log. Use a sharp knife to cut scrolls out of the log. Arrange on a lined baking tray leaving a little space in between each scroll. Place a tea towel over the scrolls and set aside to rise.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Bake the scrolls in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until they are slightly golden brown or when you insert a skewer in one of the middle scrolls and it comes out clean.
- To make the scroll glaze: Add all the ingredients to a medium size bowl. Use an electric whisk to beat the mixture until it's fluffy and combined.
- When the scrolls have cooled completely, spread the glaze on top.
- The scrolls are best eaten the day they are baked. Alternatively, store them in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge for 1-2 days.
Notes
- Instant yeast doesn't need to be 'activated' or 'bloomed' beforehand. However, if you use another type of yeast, combine it with warm milk and a pinch of sure beforehand. Wait until it bubbles then use it in the recipe.
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Hi Anthea!
Just want to share my experience in making vegan rolls.
In the dough, plant milk is not necessary, just use water. I prefer to use oil instead of vegan butter (more natural).
As a filling, I love to use your coconut caramel from your book. 🙂
Thanks for your feedback Eva! A few people used oil instead of butter in my previous scrolls recipe but said it affected the rising for them so I used only butter in this. You’re welcome to use oil 🙂