Dairy Free Cinnamon Rolls

3 hours for rise, 25min baking

1 package yeast

1/2 cup warm water

2 tbsp of sugar*…more sugar further down list

1/2 cup ripple

1/3 melted shortening

1 egg

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 cups of bread flour

1 cup of all-purpose

3/4 cup of non-dairy butter (I like “I can’t believe its not butter” Vegan)

2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup candied pecans* you can omit or even use raisins*

Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3tbsp of water

4 tbsp of melted vegan butter

Add the first 3 ingredients, yeast, warm water, and sugar in a cup and let sit for 10 minutes. It should get nice and foamy. This activates the yeast.

Then in another large bowl, add ripple, melted shortening, egg and sugar in a bowl, mix and place to the side. (Ever wondered why, dry and wet are mixed separate? It helps create a uniform mix.)

I use my kitchen-aid but you can use a large bowl and sturdy spoon to mix. Add yeast mix, and wet ingredients to the cup of flour. Slowly mix until uniform. Then start adding flour 1/2 cup at a time until it forms a ball on the hook or can be easily handled and form into a ball. It will still be a little sticky but you should be able to form a ball.

THE RISE:

Take a large glass bowl and coat really heavily with vegetable oil. The dough can easily slide up the sides as it rises. I place the ball of dough in the glass bowl, turn over a few times so that the dough is covered in oil, hen cover with a plastic wrap. I live in Florida where the sun is alway hot. I place in the sun by my glass siders. Remember yeast loves warm environments. If you live in colder climates, turn the oven on the lowest setting, let the empty oven warm a little and remember to TURN OFF. Place covered bowl in the oven for a warm environment. Let rise until doubled min size around 2 hours.

After the first rise, take dough to counter with some flour sprinkled on the counter and punch it out a few times. Roll dough out to about 9X15 inches. Brush or drizzle dough with the melted butter.

Mix sugar and cinnamon in a small cup and sprinkle evenly over the dough.

I add candies pecans but you can skip this, if you want.

Start rolling dough from the 9in side. Take a sharp knife and start cutting your cinnamon rolls into about 1.5 inch sections. You can cut smaller or larger to your preference. Place rolls in a butter coated pan. Then let RISE again, about another hour.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until browned.

Icing:

Mix the powdered sugar, vanilla, melted vegan butter, and 2-3 tsp of water. Then spread over your rolls…done and yum!

On a side note: My friend jokingly wanted pumpkin cinnamon rolls. I added my Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie Filling(check it out) in addition to the icing. It was amazing.