A soft, dairy free cinnamon roll recipe perfect for brunch or dessert!
Place ½ cup of the warm water, ½ teaspoon sugar, and the yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Set aside for 5 minutes. You should see some activity from the yeast after 5-10 minutes. If you don't see any, it means your yeast isn't active and won't raise the rolls!
Add the remaining dough ingredients on top of the yeast mixture. Place on the stand mixer base with the hook attachment. Knead on medium speed for 15 minutes, until nice and elastic. You can add up to ½ cup of extra flour if the dough is really really sticky, but don't add it until the dough has been kneaded for 5 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and allow to rise or 1½ to 2 hours, or until doubled.
In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Grease a 13x9-inch pan with coconut oil and set aside. Grease your work surface as well.
Transfer the risen dough to your work surface. Roll out into a large rectangle that's about 12x17 inches.
Drizzle the oil over the dough and use a pastry brush to brush it all over the dough, leaving a 1 inch strip of ungreased dough along the far long edge.
Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough. Carefully roll up the dough, keeping the roll tight. Slice the roll into 15 individual buns. Place in the prepared pan in a 3x5 pattern.
Cover and allow to rise for 1-2 more hours, or until quite puffy. When the rolls are almost done rising, preheat your oven to 375°F (191°F). Bake the risen rolls for 20-30 minutes, or until they're golden brown and an instant read thermometer inserted into the bready part of a center roll registers 200°F (93°C).
Remove from oven and allow the rolls to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes before icing.
In a small bowl, whisk together all of the icing ingredients really well. You can add more liquid or powdered sugar to achieve the proper consistency. You want the icing to be thin enough to drizzle over the rolls, but not so thin that it will drip right through them.
Drizzle over the rolls and serve immediately.
You can use several different kinds of liquid for the icing. Coffee or orange juice + orange zest are nice since they add extra flavor. But you could use water or a non-dairy milk if you prefer. You could also add other flavor enhancers such as cocoa powder, cinnamon, matcha powder, etc.