Vegan Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

Sourdough is the solitary success story of my often too-ambitious new years resolutions. While many start off their Janurary with shiny new gym memberships and lulu lemon tights, I kicked off 2018 elbow-deep in sourdough starter (quite literally).

Now, don’t get me wrong. My sourdough career didn’t take off within a month of me waking up every morning to tip more flour and (filtered!) water into my starter jar. It started years ago, with my first starter, Hamish. Hamish’s life as a bubbly active starter was rather short-lived. The humidity and heat of my kitchen in Singapore led to Hamish’s unfortunate early death. After a mandatory grieving period of 4 months, I started again. And I failed again.

This time, I went into it with about 2 years of sourdough research behind me, and a new book. I know the title ‘Artisan Sourdough Made Simple’ may seem rather contradictory (sourdough? Simple?!?!), but trust me when I say it presents sourdough-making in the least intimidating way possible. Because sourdough can be scary. I get it.

Now I am not one to question a good thing, and cinnamon rolls are a universally adored dessert. Whether they are spiralled with cinnamon-infused butter and lavished with cream cheese frosting, or twirled into intricate knots and garnished with glittering pearl sugar. You will find some variation of a cinnamon roll wherever you go in Europe. But when the dough is made out of sourdough, and the filling laced with an assortment of spices (think of those that go into your chai tea), it becomes a certifiable knockout.

My sister Kyra is well known for eating pretty much anything you set in front of her with feral gusto. I gave her one of these rolls and she declared them skyscrapingly tasty, and that I should ‘make a whole batch to bring back to uni’. I did. All 24 rolls lasted 4 days – a record, even for her. She didn’t even share. If that isn’t testament to how insane there rolls are, I don’t know what is.

There rolls fill every corner of your kitchen with the ethereal, buttery scent of bread and sugar. They are so ridiculously delicious that you can jettison every other cinnamon bun before this (although sourdough is a little more arduous, I admit). While I highly recommend you adorn the mahogany sheen of each bun with a generous slathering of cream cheese glaze, they are equally delicious dusted lightly with some icing sugar.

Wait for the precious warmth of the bun melt the glaze ever-so-slightly, letting the slick tartness of the cream cheese leak into every crevice. Only then should you tuck in, and unravel each roll like a spool of ribbon. Peel off tufts of pillow-soft dough stained with sticky, toffee-coloured goo. This is as close as it gets to pure bliss.

Vegan Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls

 

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Prep time

2 hours

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

2 hours 40 mins

 

These vegan sourdough cinnamon rolls are soft, fluffy, swirled with a luscious chai-spiced filling - and topped with the most delicious cream cheese glaze. Yum!

Author: Sasha Gill

Serves: 12-14 rolls

Ingredients

Dough

• ⅔ cup soy milk, lukewarm
• ¼ cup vegan butter, melted and cooled
• ¼ cup aquafaba
• 3 tbsp sugar
• ½ cup bubbly, active starter (100g)
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt

Filling (reduce in half if you are using a glaze)

• ¼ cup vegan butter, melted
• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup brown demerara sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp ginger
• A pinch of cloves
• A pinch of cardamom powder

Glaze

• 1 tbsp vegan butter, softened
• ¼ cup vegan cream cheese
• 2-3 tbsp icing sugar (depending on how sweet you like it)

Instructions

days before...

1. If your starter is in the fridge, feed it daily for 4 days until it is bubbly and active. If your starter is already at room temperature and active (doubles in size about 6 hours after feeding) you can use it straight away.

The night before baking...

1. Place the soy milk, melted butter, aquafaba and sugar in a large clean bowl. Whisk to combine well. Place your finger in the liquid, it should not feel too cold or too hot, but about the same temperature as your finger.
2. Stir in the starter, until well combined. Then sift in the flour and salt and mix until a shaggy dough forms. Scape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Cover and let this rest for 15 minutes.
3. After the dough has rested, use a dough hook on a stand mixer (or hand knead) for 5-7 minutes until it comes together in a smooth ball. It will be slightly tacky, but if it is too sticky, knead in a tablespoonful of flour at a time.
4. Cover and let this rest for 30 minutes. After the resting time, take a corner of the dough ball, pull it up to stretch it, and fold it inwards, towards the centre. Rotate the bowl by a quarter turn, and repeat the folding process for a total of four times. Now cover with a damp towel, and rest in a warm place for overnight until it is doubled in size (8-12 hours)

The day of baking...

1. Flour a countertop well and punch the dough down. Overturn the bowl and scrape the dough out onto the countertop. Flour your rolling pin, and roll the dough out into a large rectangle (about 12 inches by 16 inches), slightly less than ½-inch in thickness. It is easier if you roll this out with the longer edge of the rectangle closest to you.
2. Melt the vegan butter for the filling, and brush it over the rectangle of dough. Mix together the rest of the filling ingredients in a small bowl, and sprinkle evenly over the buttered dough.
3. Flour your hands, and roll the dough up, starting with the long edge, into a tight roll. work slowly and Gently to prevent tears in the dough, just remember to keep everything well floured!
4. When the roll is tight and complete, cut the log into 1½-inch thick pieces. You can do this with a large knife or bench scraper, but I use a bit of dental flosee to keep the swirls perfectly intact. To do this, just wrap a lenght of floss around the log where you wish to cut it, and pull each end of the floss to slice neatly through the log of dough.
5. Place the rolls on a well-greased (and lined with parchment if necessary) 9-inch cake pan or cast-iron skillet. Leaving some space between them as they will puff up during the second proof.
6. Cover, and let this rest for about 1-2 hours until the rolls look puffier (no need for them to double in size). Bake the rolls at 180C for 40 minutes, or until golden and fragrant.
7. ** If you wish to freeze the rolls, place the cut rolls on a parchment-lined tray, and stick the tray straight into the freezer. No need to proof them for a second time. Once the rolls are frozen you can pop them into a ziplock bag and leave that in the freezer. To bake them from frozen, just arrange the frozen rolls in a prepared pan, and let it sit on the countertop until it is at room temperature, and has puffed up slightly. Bake as in the step above.
8. Make the glaze but whisking all the ingredients together, and once the rolls are cooled, spoon a bit over each one.

Notes

Retarding the dough - If you do not wish to bake the rolls immediately after the overnight proof and after rolling them up, just place the rolls in the pan, as you would just before baking them, and pop the pan into the fridge. This slows down the second proof and can actually help to further develop the flavour of your rolls. You can keep them in the fridge for about 6 hours, but if you want to keep them any longer than that, just follow the freezing instructions above. To bake after resting in the fridge, let the pans sit on the countertop for 1-2 hours until the rolls are back at room temperature, then bake normally.

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