The Fresh Loaf

News & Information for Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts

dairy-free cinnamon bun recipe?

expatCanuck's picture

dairy-free cinnamon bun recipe?

Folks -


Has anyone a dairy-free cinnamon roll / cinnamon bun recipe with which they're pleased?

Many thanks.

 - Richard 

edh's picture


You'll have to do a little creative thinking on the filling, but I posted a recipe for orange sticky rolls back in September that is dairy free. I have to operate under the same constraints, so have gotten pretty good at fiddling traditional recipes.

To make cinnamon buns, I use that recipe for the dough, but make the filling in the usual way, substituting a butter alternative. The best one of those I've found is called Earth Balance. The only drawback is that it's a bit saltier than real butter.

I don't know if you use nuts in your rolls, but I've also had fairly good luck using coconut oil in the filling, adding a very little bit of salt, and using pecans. You've got to have the pecans if you do it that way though; they make it all taste sort of buttery.

Let us know how it all works out; I'm always happy to talk/hear about dairy free creative thinking!


PaddyL's picture

I'm always making cinnamon buns with leftover bread dough, a lot of the dough being dairy-free (made with water) and you don't have to brush the dough with anything, just sprinkle on the sugar and raisins and/or nuts, roll them up and cut them.  Simple as that.  When they're baked, you can drizzle them with the icing of your choice.

Ramona's picture

Coconut oil is definitely a good choice to subsitute for the butter.  How about thickening up some coconut milk and use it as part of the filling?  I use date sugar instead of brown sugar and I add cinnamon and chopped up almonds or pecans would do too.  You could add the rind of a tangerine to the coconut milk as it heats up and let it soak in the flavor and then remove it and thicken up the milk.  I would add honey or maple syrup for sweetner, if needed.  I would use water or maybe some organic soymilk in the dough and just let it sit for about 2 days in the refrigerator.  This will improve the dough.