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Made with coconut sugar, whole wheat flour, and almond milk, Healthy Cinnamon Rolls are a delicious, comforting treat. They’re perfectly satiating, easy to make, and the perfect homemade breakfast.
A delicious, healthy dessert
Cinnamon rolls are such a cozy sweet treat. They’re great for enjoying during the holidays, especially when included in a dessert spread complete with pecan bars, pumpkin pie, and apple cobbler.
However, they’re definitely not exclusive to the winter months, and can pass as the perfect treat any time of the year! They’re a great “whenever” snack guaranteed to put smiles on the faces of all who enjoy them.
As soon as these bad boys come out of the oven, they’re warm, fluffy, buttery, and full of delight. Seriously, they cannot be beaten.
Since I have a huge sweet tooth, I’ve developed a really big passion for making deliciously sweet recipes that are as healthy as possible. I loving finding ingredient swaps and substitutions that make dessert recipes more nutrient-dense without sacrificing any of the flavor.
By using a few key ingredients, I was able to put a healthy spin on these classic dessert spirals. More on that in a minute!
Ingredients needed for these cinnamon treats
These healthy cinnamon rolls have four separate parts: the dough, filling, topping, and frosting! However, that doesn’t make this dessert complicated whatsoever. In fact, this a quite simple recipe, and includes many ingredients that you probably already have on hand! This is what you’ll need:
- Unsweetened almond milk
- Butter
- Cream cheese
- Instant yeast
- Coconut sugar
- White whole wheat flour
- All purpose flour
- Coconut sugar
- Powdered sugar
- Cinnamon
- Vanilla
- Salt
I love to use almond milk in place of cow’s milk because it’s low in calories and, in my opinion, tastes much better! Another added benefit is that unsweetened almond milk contains way less carbs than cow’s milk.
Likewise, coconut sugar is also one of my favorite ingredients. It’s a great swap to use in place of regular, granulated sugar. It contains healthy fats and has a lower glycemic index, meaning it doesn’t spike blood sugar as drastically as table sugar.
Kitchen tools used for this recipe
To cook this cinnamon roll recipe, you will need the following tools:
- 9×13 dish
- 2 large mixing bowls
- 1 small mixing bowl
- Plastic wrap
- Floss or sharp knife
- Food processor or whisk
How can I make vegan cinnamon rolls?
The answer is simple and requires only two small swaps! If you’d like to enjoy a vegan version of this recipe, substitute the following ingredients:
- Butter: Replace butter with your favorite vegan alternative, such as Earth Balance or Country Crock Plant Butter.
- Cream cheese: Swap cream cheese with a vegan version like Miyoko’s or Daiya! Alternatively, create a homemade version using cashews, water, white vinegar, and salt.
How to prepare healthy cinnamon rolls
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Start by preheating your oven to 350F. Then, grease your 9×13 dish. In a large bowl, heat the almond milk and butter until they’re melted and reach 110F. This should be luke warm (not hot) in order to activate the yeast.
Next, sprinkle the yeast on top of the warm milk mixture and let it sit for ten minutes. While sitting, mix the flours and salt in another bowl.
After ten minutes is up, whisk the coconut sugar into the milk mixture.
It’s almost time to let the dough rise! Turn off the oven and open the door.
Add the wet ingredients into the flour and stir until everything is well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and set in the slightly warm oven for 45 minutes, leaving the door open. When the time is up, the dough should be double in size.
While the dough is rising, mix the coconut sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Flour a large surface and place the dough on top. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour. You should be able to form it into a large rectangle shape.
Once in a large rectangle, cover in a light layer of softened butter, and then sprinkle the cinnamon mixture on top.
Roll the dough from one side to the other, keeping it nice and tight the whole time. Once in a long roll, cut in half once using floss or a sharp knife.
Cut each half into 6 rolls and place them into a greased baking dish, brushing with butter on top. Preheat the oven to 350F, keeping the rolls on top of the oven. Once preheated, bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes, or until slightly golden.
While baking, prepare the frosting by blending all of the ingredients in a food processor or with a whisk. Finally, frost the rolls while they’re still warm.
There you have it! 12 delicious, mouth watering treats.
How to store extra rolls
You can easily keep any leftovers by placing them in an airtight container. When stored on the counter, they will stay nice and fresh for up to 2 days.
They should last for 2-3 in the refrigerator. Before enjoying, feel free to give them a nice little warm-up by placing them in the microwave for 7-10 seconds.
If healthy sweets are your thing, you’ll also want to try these recipes!
Healthy Cinnamon Rolls
Made with coconut sugar, whole wheat flour, and almond milk, Healthy Cinnamon Rolls are a delicious, comforting treat. They’re perfectly satiating, easy to make, and the perfect homemade breakfast.
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil
- .25oz package instant yeast
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1.5 – 2 cups all purpose flour (depending on how wet your dough is)
- 1/2 tsp salt
Inside:
- 2/3 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1/4 cup softened butter
Topping:
- 2 tbsp melted butter
Frosting:
- 1 8oz block cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease 9×13 dish.
- In a large bowl, heat almond milk and butter until melted and 110F. This should be luke warm, not hot, in order to activate the yeast.
- Sprinkle yeast on top of warm milk mixture and let sit for ten minutes.
- While sitting, mix together flours and salt in another bowl.
- After milk has sat for ten minutes, whisk in coconut sugar.
- Once oven has reached temperature, turn it off and open door. I use this as a ‘warm’ place for my rolls to rise during the winter months.
- Add wet ingredients into flour and stir until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and set in slightly warm oven with open door for 45 minutes. The dough should double in size.
- While dough is rising, prepare cinnamon sugar mixture by mixing coconut sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl.
- Flour a large surface and dump dough onto it. If dough is too sticky, add more flour. You should be able to form it into a large rectangle shape.
- Once in a large rectangle, spread softened butter on top. Then evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Roll tightly from one side to the other, keeping it nice and tight the whole time.
- Once in a long roll, cut in half once using floss or a sharp knife (I prefer using floss to cut it)
- Cut each half into 6 rolls and place them into a greased baking dish. Brush with melted butter.
- Turn oven back on and preheat to 350F with rolls sitting on top of oven.
- Once preheated, bake rolls for 25-30 minutes or until slightly golden.
- While baking, prepare frosting by blending all of the ingredients together in a food processor or by using a whisk until smooth.
- Frost cinnamon rolls when still warm, or once cooled if preferred.
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