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Indulgent, rich and gooey, vegan chocolate cinnamon rolls with maple coffee icing. A simple 5-ingredient, buttery soft homemade dough, loaded with cinnamon, brown sugar, and a generous amount of dark chocolate chunks. Drizzle the freshly baked warm, fluffy rolls with a simple maple coffee icing. Devour these homemade chocolate cinnamon rolls for breakfast, weekend brunch or even dessert.
These chocolate cinnamon rolls with maple coffee icing are…
- an indulgent treat.
- pretty easy to make.
- a great sweet treat for any special occasion.
Ingredients for the best chocolate cinnamon rolls
- Flour: All-purpose flour to make the softest sweet rolls.
- Vegan butter: The salted vegan butter is needed for the soft homemade dough, for the gooey chocolate cinnamon sugar filling, and for the maple coffee icing. Remove the butter from the fridge before doing anything, and let it sit at room temperature.
- Plant milk: I used oat milk, but feel free to use whatever plant milk you already have at home! I’d advise using something quite neutral in flavor like oat, soy, or even rice.
- Vanilla extract: Just like the vegan butter, the vanilla extract will be used for both the dough and the filling. Be sure to use vanilla extract and not vanilla essence!
- Sugars: The main sweetener in these sweet rolls is light brown sugar. But a little granulated sugar is also needed to balance out the bitterness from the dark chocolate chunks. And of course, icing sugar for the icing.
- Cinnamon: Just like the classic cinnamon roll, you’ll need ground cinnamon for the filling mixture.
- Chocolate: For sweet rolls that are super chocolatey, but not overly sweet, use 70% dark chocolate bars! I prefer to use chocolate chunks over chocolate chips because the chunks melt almost instantly, making them gooey. Most are already vegan, but just double-check!
- Yeast: You’ll need a pack of fast-action yeast for the fluffiest cinnamon rolls!
- Maple syrup: Use 100% pure maple syrup for the best result!
- Instant coffee: For a simple coffee icing, use instant coffee! And if you’re not a fan of coffee, feel free to omit it or even replace it with cocoa powder to make a delicious chocolate icing.
The homemade, buttery, rich dough…
To start, heat plant milk in the microwave for around 20-40 seconds or until lukewarm. If you accidentally heat it for too long and it becomes warm or even hot, allow it to cool before moving on to the next step. This is crucial, as adding yeast into hot plant milk will kill the yeast. Into the lukewarm water add a little light brown sugar and the instant yeast. Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes or until the warm milk mixture becomes foamy at the top. And while it becomes foamy, melt the salted vegan butter in the microwave. Mix in the vanilla extract. Adding hot butter will also kill the yeast, so allow the melted butter to cool slightly before using. Once the butter has cooled, mix it into the warm milk mixture.
Add flour into a large bowl, then, pour in the wet ingredients. Mix it together with a spatula, and once it starts to come together, use clean hands to knead for around 5 minutes. You can knead the dough directly in the bowl, or kneed it on a clean work surface dusted with very little flour. I like to do a little of both. Once the dough is no longer sticking to clean, dry hands, shape it into a ball. Grease a large clean bowl with a generous amount of butter, carefully place the yeast dough ball in the center and grease the tops of the dough with butter too. This is the secret to my buttery soft chocolate cinnamon rolls. Cover the bowl with a tea towel, and place the dough in a draft-free, warm place. I like to either place it near the heater or in the microwave (with the door closed). Allow to rest for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
All about the chocolate cinnamon sugar filling…
While the dough rests and rises, start getting everything ready for the filling. Just like classic cinnamon rolls, mix together the granulated sugar, light brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl to make the cinnamon mixture. Combine softened butter with vanilla extract to make the vegan salted vanilla butter. And if you’re butter hasn’t softened up quick enough, just pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds. Oh, and don’t forget about the dark chocolate! It needs to be chopped into small pieces so it’s easier to roll the dough into a tight log.
With the risen, yeasted dough, punch out the air. Then transfer onto a lightly floured surface. Dust the rolling pin with a little flour too, and roll the dough into a 17 x 12-inch rectangle. Leaving a slight border, spread over the salted vanilla butter, and sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly all over the butter. Sprinkle the small dark chocolate chunks over the cinnamon sugar. Make sure you add all the chocolate pieces! Even those tiny dust-sized pieces. Starting at the longest side, tightly roll the dough into a log, and gently pinch the end edges of the dough to the log to seal.
With a knife, score the log into 1 1/2 inches thick. You should have 12 perfectly equal pieces. And then with a string of dental floss or even a piece of thread, lift the dough, place the dental floss underneath, wrap around the log and pull. This is the easiest way to get clean-cut cinnamon rolls. It’s way better than using a serrated knife, which can sometimes flatten the shape of the sweet rolls. Place the 12 chocolate cinnamon rolls into a prepared baking pan. Cover with the tea towel once again, and transfer the baking pan back to the draft-free, warm spot for the second and final rise.
Baking the chocolate cinnamon rolls…
Once the sweet rolls have risen for the final time, brush with a little mixture of oat milk, maple syrup and a pinch of cinnamon. Pop into the oven, and bake for 25-35 minutes or until puffed up and lightly golden. As soon as you remove the cinnamon rolls from the oven, cover them with a tea towel for 20 minutes. This will allow the buns to steam up a little, making them even softer.
All about the maple coffee icing…
These chocolate cinnamon rolls are mind-blowing, but the maple icing just takes them to another level. In a medium saucepan, add the vegan butter and maple syrup. Heat over medium heat and once the mixture starts to bubble, turn off the heat and mix in the instant coffee. Add in the icing sugar, a little at a time and whisk together until smooth. Allow the icing to cool slightly before drizzling over the warm buns.
Once you try this vegan chocolate cinnamon rolls with maple coffee icing recipe, please leave a star rating and review below! I try my best to respond to you all. Oh, and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram – I can’t wait to see your images!!
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Ingredients
- 420 g all-purpose flour
- 250 ml lukewarm oat milk
- 7 g fast action yeast ((aka, one pack))
- 1 tbsp light brown sugar
- 56 g salted vegan butter (melted)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Filling
- 100 g light brown sugar
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 90 g salted vegan butter (softened)
- 135 g dark chocolate (chopped into small chunks)
Icing
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 56 g salted vegan butter
- 100 g icing sugar (plus more if needed)
- 1–2 tsp instant coffee
Instructions
- Dough: Combine light brown sugar, lukewarm oat milk and yeast together. Set aside. Combine melted vegan butter and vanilla extract together. Once the oat milk mixture becomes foamy, combine it with the slightly cooled butter mixture. Pour over the flour and combine. Knead on a lightly floured surface for around 5 minutes or until it's no longer sticking to clean dry hands. Grease a clean bowl, and the dough ball with around 1/2 tbsp butter. Place the greased dough ball, into the greased bowl. Cover with a tea towel, and set aside for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Filling: In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon, light brown sugar and granulated sugar together. In another bowl, combine the softened vegan butter and vanilla extract. Roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface into a 12 x 17-inch rectangle. Leaving a slight border, spread that vanilla butter all over the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture, and then the small chopped dark chocolate chunks. Make sure you also use up all those small, dust-sized pieces of chocolate! Tightly roll into a log. With dental floss or a piece of thread, cut the log into 12 equal-ish rolls. Place into a pre-lined baking tray. Cover with the same tea towel, and set aside for another 45 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/356°F.
- Baking: In a small bowl, combine 3 tsp oat milk, 1/2 tsp maple syrup and a pinch of cinnamon. Brush all over the chocolate cinnamon rolls before baking (Use it all!). Pop into the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes. For the softest buns, cover with a tea towel for 20 minutes as soon as they come out of the oven.
- Icing: In a medium saucepan, combine vegan butter and maple syrup, Once the mixture starts to bubble, mix in the instant coffee. Turn off the heat, and then mix in the icing sugar. Allow to cool slightly before drizzling over the freshly baked buns. Enjoy!
