The BEST Soft + Gooey Cinnamon Bun Recipe

I don’t like working with yeast much because it can be finicky. But when you’re craving cinnamon buns during a pandemic, I’m willing to test my luck.

The first time I attempted an one hour cinnamon buns recipe, the buns came out dry. The flavour wasn’t too bad though. Another downside was that it involved a lot of mixing and I didn’t have a bread mixer. My arms and shoulders were SO SORE. I really wish this recipe worked for me. Cinnamon buns in one hour sounds like perfection. It also had too much ‘crust’…if you know, you know. 😁

I shared my woes on insta and a friend sent me a recipe for the gooeyest cinnamon buns EVER. Bonus: it is plant based! 🌱

So Liv and I went ahead and gave it a go. It turned out amazingly.

Look how SOFT and gooey they are!

Before the first rise. So round and perfect.

Then it GREW! This was after 90 minutes in an oven set at 145 degrees.

The buns have risen! This is after 45 minute second rise.

Now they’re ready for the oven.

They came out gigantic! Who doesn’t love a gigantic cinnamon bun?

The Best Ever Soft + Gooey Cinnamon Buns

The recipe is from To Die For, a local Vancouver plant based blog.

INGREDIENTS

For the yeast mixture:
4 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 c. very warm water

For the dough:
1 c. non-dairy milk
⅔ c. white sugar*
⅔ c. vegan butter
2 tsp salt
6 c. organic white unbleached flour

For the filling:
½ c. vegan butter (room temperature)
1 c. white sugar*
3 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cocoa powder**
1 c. toasted chopped pecans (optional)

For the pan sauce:
2 cans full-fat unsweetened organic coconut milk
⅔ c. brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

The directions can be found on the To Die For blog.

A couple of notes:

*I used coconut sugar anywhere it calls for sugar. I opt for coconut sugar because it is unrefined and doesn’t spike glucose levels.

**I also skipped the cocoa in the filling. The buns still taste great without it.

I use about 2/3 the amount of pan sauce. I used the entire amount the first time around and I realized I don’t like it too saucy. Lol.

The recipe also uses pear cream (instead of icing), which I omitted. They’re so good it doesn’t need it! Plus – I feel like the flavour of pear + cinnamon doesn’t jive well in my head. If you try it, let me know how it is!