Vegan Cinnamon Roll Cookies (Egg-Free, Dairy-Free)
If you love cinnamon rolls but don't always have the time — or the dietary flexibility — these cinnamon roll cookies are about to become your new favorite thing to bake. All the warm cinnamon sugar swirl of a classic cinnamon roll, packed into a simple slice-and-bake cookie that happens to be completely egg-free and dairy-free. No yeast, no rising time, no fuss. Just buttery, spiced dough rolled up with a cinnamon brown sugar filling and finished with a simple vanilla icing drizzle. They come together faster than you'd think and disappear even faster.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1–2 tbsp dairy-free milk
- 2 tbsp vegan butter, melted
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1–2 tsp dairy-free milk
Instructions
- 1Cream the Wet Ingredients
In a large bowl, beat the vegan butter and cane sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the applesauce and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- 2Add the Dry Ingredients and Form the Dough
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the bowl and mix until a dough begins to form. Add dairy-free milk 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough just comes together — it should be soft but not sticky.
- 3Chill the Dough
Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap it, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This step makes the dough much easier to roll and helps the cookies hold their shape during baking.
- 4Roll and Fill
On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough out into a rectangle roughly ¼ inch thick. Brush the surface evenly with melted vegan butter, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon over the top, spreading it all the way to the edges.
- 5Roll, Slice, and Arrange
Starting from one of the long edges, roll the dough into a tight log. Use a sharp knife to slice the log into rounds about ½ inch thick and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet with a little space between each one.
- 6Bake
Bake at 350°F for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are just set and the bottoms are lightly golden. They may look slightly underdone in the center when you pull them out; that's perfect. They firm up as they cool.
- 7Make the Icing and Drizzle
While the cookies cool completely, whisk together the powdered sugar and dairy-free milk until smooth, adding milk a little at a time until you reach a drizzleable consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cookies and let the icing set before serving or storing.
Tips:
Don’t skip the chill time. It makes a real difference in how easy the dough is to work with and helps the cookies keep their swirl shape while baking.
Roll the log as tightly as you can without tearing the dough; a tight roll means cleaner, more defined swirls in the finished cookie.
