Someone tell me how Christmas is less than 2 weeks away! Seriously, tell me. Well, I helped you out a little by making these white chocolate cranberry vegan cinnamon rolls. Let me tell you how. They are super festive, sweet and tart. The best part however, is that these are overnight cinnamon rolls. You can of course make them the same day if you want, but they are perfect to prep Christmas eve and then just throw them in the oven when you get up. Everyone will love you! You will be pretty darn happy with yourself too!
What You Need For These Vegan Christmas Rolls:
- Cranberries, Organic Cane Sugar, Vanilla: To make the cranberry compote filling.
- Non-dairy Milk: I like to use oat milk.
- Active Dry Yeast: I always use active dry yeast rather than instant.
- Vegan Butter, Applesauce: To replace regular butter and eggs.
- All Purpose Flour: For the cinnamon roll dough.
- Cinnamon: Mixed with room temperature vegan butter and cane sugar to make part of the filling.
- Vegan White Chocolate and Vegan Cream Cheese: For the white chocolate frosting, I used King David brand vegan white chocolate and Violife vegan cream cheese.
- Powdered Sugar and Vegetable Shortening: To finish off the frosting.
So if you want to make these white chocolate cranberry vegan cinnamon rolls the night before, it is really easy. You prep the dough, let it rise once, fill them with vegan butter, cinnamon, cane sugar and the cranberry compote. Then roll them, cut them and put them in a baking dish. Put them in the fridge. Then in the morning, let the rolls warm up and rise again on the counter. Bake and top with frosting, and serve them warm. The tartness of the cranberries goes incredibly well with the very sweet white chocolate frosting.
Why Should You Make These White Chocolate Cranberry Rolls?
- Sweet white chocolate and tart cranberries are a match made in heaven.
- The sweet roll dough is incredible and one you should save for all your cinnamon roll needs.
- These cinnamon rolls can be prepped the night before and baked in the morning.
- They make the perfect winter holiday morning breakfast.
- Kid and adult approved!
White Chocolate Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls
Fluffy vegan cinnamon rolls filled with cranberry compote and topped with white chocolate frosting.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 1 Cup Warm Non-dairy milk, I used oat milk(110 degrees F)
- 1 Tablespoon Active dry yeast
- 6 Tablespoons Organic cane sugar, divided
- 5 Tablespoons Vegan butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1/2 Cup Applesauce
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 4 Cup All purpose flour
Cranberry Compote
- 10 ounces Fresh cranberries
- 1 Cup Organic cane sugar
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
Filling
- 6 Tablespoons Vegan butter, room temperature
- 1/2 Cup Organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
White Chocolate Frosting
- 2/3 Cup Vegan white chocolate, I used King David Brand*
- 1/4 Cup Vegan butter, room temperature
- 1/4 Cup Vegetable shortening
- 1/2 Cup Vegan cream cheese, I used Violife
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- Pinch of Salt
- 2 1/2 Cups Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Make the dough first. Add the warm non-dairy milk to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Sprinkle the yeast into the non-dairy milk and then sprinkle 3 tablespoons of cane sugar over the yeast. Stir with a small spoon just to make sure the yeast is submerged in the milk.
- Let the yeast bloom for about 5 minutes, the mixture will get bubbly and frothy.
- Now, attach the dough hook to the mixer and then pour in the melted vegan butter, applesauce, salt and remaining 3 tablespoons of cane sugar. Begin to mix everything together with the dough hook, then start slowly adding the flour about 1/2 cup at a time.
- Continue kneading with the dough hook and adding the flour until everything is added. Then continue to knead until the dough comes together and forms a dough ball that is no longer sticky. This may take 2 or 3 minutes.
- Once the dough forms a ball, knead for another minute or two.
- Then put the dough ball in a large bowl that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Cover with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm dry place for about 1 1/2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
- While the dough rises, make the cranberry compote. Add the cranberries, cane sugar, water and vanilla to a medium sized sauce pan. Heat the sauce pan on medium.
- Stir to combine everything and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for about 5 minutes or until the cranberries start to pop. Once the cranberries are popping, reduce heat to low and start to smash all the cranberries.
- Stir and let simmer for 2 to 3 more minutes, then turn off the heat and let cool completely. The compote will thicken as it cools.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch down the down and then turn it out on top a floured surface.
- Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick rectangle.
- Now, in a small mixing bowl, make the filling, add the room temperature vegan butter, cane sugar and cinnamon and mix together with a fork.
- Spread the filling evenly all over the top of the dough rectangle. Then spread the cranberry compote out evenly over the filling.
- Roll the rectangle into a log, then cut the log into 1- 1 1/2 inch thick rolls.
- Put all the cinnamon rolls up against each other in a 13 x 9 inch baking dish that has been sprayed with non-stick spray.
- Now at this point, if you are making the cinnamon rolls ahead of time and plan to bake them the next morning, cover them and put them in the fridge.
- If you are making them immediately, cover them with a kitchen towel and let rise again for about 30 minutes or until doubled in size.
- If you put them in the fridge to make in the morning, when ready to bake, take them out of the fridge and let them rise for about 30 minutes on the counter.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, once the rolls are done with their second rise, bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
- While the cinnamon rolls bake, make the frosting. Heat the white chocolate in the microwave in a heat proof bowl in 30 second intervals until the chocolate has melted.
- Add the melted white chocolate to the bowl of the stand mixer and attach the whisk attachment.
- Add the vegan butter, vegetable shortening, vegan cream cheese, vanilla and salt to the bowl and begin to whip together.
- Whip, scraping down the sides as needed until the mixture is smooth.
- Now, add the powdered sugar, a little at a time, until it is all combined and the frosting is light and fluffy.
- Once the rolls are done, let them cool for a few minutes, then top them with the frosting and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 436kcal | Carbohydrates: 150g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 3mg | Sodium: 476mg | Potassium: 163mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 59g | Vitamin A: 702IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 56mg | Iron: 3mg
Admitttedly, I haven’t made yet, but will Christmas eve for the morning….but couldjn’t find vegan white chocolate and I ordered the ones you recommended in the past but I don’t have the time to do so now.
So, I’m wondering if you think the ratios will be off if i leave the chips out of the frosting.
We love all your recipes here and your cookbook is closeby in my vegan kitchen, and the omnivores in my family love the results as well.
I think just vanilla cream cheeze frosting would be delicious on these rolls. So, yes, I think skipping the white chocolate would be just fine!