No-Yeast Vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Icing
No yeast vegan cinnamon rolls with a fluffy baking-powder dough, a sautéed apple-cinnamon swirl and maple icing. Ready in about 40 minutes with no rising.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 20 min
- Rest
- 5 min
- Serves
- 9
No-Yeast Vegan Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Icing is a vegan breakfast recipe made with crisp apples (such as Honeycrisp or Granny Smith), coconut oil, brown sugar. It takes 40 minutes of hands-on time, plus 5 minutes resting, serves 9, and each serving has 390 calories, 5 g of protein and 3 g of fiber.
These rolls skip yeast and rising. Soy milk curdled with apple cider vinegar reacts with baking powder and baking soda to give a soft, biscuit-like dough that can be rolled out right away. Sautéing the diced apples first cooks off their extra juice, so the swirl stays jammy instead of soaking the dough. A quick maple icing finishes the warm rolls.
A cooking method (30-minute no-yeast, no-rise baking-powder dough instead of a yeasted pumpkin dough) + seasonal produce (sautéed fresh apple filling) take on our Soft Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Maple Glaze.
Ingredients
Apple filling
- 2 medium364 gcrisp apples (such as Honeycrisp or Granny Smith), peeled, cored and diced 1/4 inch
- 1 tbsp14 gcoconut oil, for sautéing
- 1 tbsp14 gbrown sugar, for the apples
- ½ tsp1.3 gground cinnamon, for the apples
Dough
- 1 cup243 gunsweetened soy milk, room temperature
- 1 tbsp15 gapple cider vinegar
- 2½ cups313 gall-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 2 tbsp28 gbrown sugar
- 1 tbsp14 gbaking powder
- ½ tsp2.3 gbaking soda
- ½ tsp3 gfine salt
- 5 tbsp68 gcoconut oil, melted and slightly cooled, plus extra for the pan
- 1 tsp4.2 gvanilla extract
- 2 tbsp16 gall-purpose flour, for dusting
Cinnamon sugar
- 2 tbsp27 gcoconut oil, melted, for brushing
- ⅓ cup73 gpacked brown sugar
- 1 tbsp7.8 gground cinnamon
Maple icing
- 1 cup120 gpowdered sugar
- 2 tbsp40 gpure maple syrup
- 2 tsp10 gsoy milk, as needed
- 1 pinch0.4 gsalt
- ¼ cup25 gtoasted pecans, chopped, for topping (optional)
Kit: 9-inch square baking pan, medium skillet, rolling pin, large mixing bowl, sharp knife or unflavored dental floss
Tips
- Dice the apples small (about 1/4 inch). Larger chunks tear the dough when you roll it up.
- Let the sautéed apples cool before they go on the dough, or they will melt the cinnamon sugar into a runny layer that leaks out.
- Handle the dough as little as possible. Overmixing develops gluten and makes baking-powder rolls dense and tough.
- Have the soy milk at room temperature so the melted coconut oil doesn't seize into lumps when you mix them.
Swap ideas
- Firm ripe pears instead of apples
- Gives a softer, more floral filling. Cook a minute less because pears release juice faster.
- Vegan butter instead of coconut oil in the dough and filling
- Gives a richer, more buttery flavor with no coconut taste.
- Oat milk or almond milk instead of soy milk
- Works, but these milks curdle less with the vinegar, so the rolls rise a little less and come out slightly less tender.
- Add 1/4 tsp nutmeg or cardamom to the cinnamon sugar
- Adds a warmer, more fragrant spice to the swirl.
The numbers
Nutrition per serving
390kcal per serving
Everything else · 9 servings per recipe
- Saturated fat
- 10.1 g 51%
- Sugars
- 33.4 g
- Sodium
- 398 mg 17%
- Potassium
- 150 mg 3%
- Calcium
- 158 mg 12%
- Iron
- 2.2 mg 12%
- Vitamin C
- 2 mg 2%
- Vitamin B12
- 0.24 µg 10%
% Daily Value on a 2,000 calorie diet. Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for each ingredient; optional ingredients are excluded. Estimates vary with brands and portions.
Sources: Apples, raw, with skin (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program), Oil, coconut, Sugars, brown, Spices, cinnamon, ground, Soymilk, original and vanilla, with added calcium, vitamins A and D, Vinegar, cider, Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, enriched, bleached, Leavening agents, baking powder, double-acting, sodium aluminum sulfate, Leavening agents, baking soda, Salt, table, Vanilla extract, Sugars, powdered, Syrups, maple
Method
Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and grease a 9-inch square pan with coconut oil. Stir the soy milk and apple cider vinegar together in a measuring cup and set aside to curdle while you cook the apples.
Melt 1 tbsp coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the diced apples, 1 tbsp brown sugar and 1/2 tsp cinnamon, then cook, stirring often, until the apples are just tender and the pan is nearly dry, 5–6 minutes. Spread them on a plate to cool.
Whisk the flour, 2 tbsp brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the curdled soy milk, 5 tbsp melted coconut oil and vanilla, then stir with a spatula just until a soft, shaggy dough forms and no dry flour remains.
Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead gently 4–5 times, only until it holds together. Roll or pat it into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle about 1/3 inch thick.
Brush the dough with 2 tbsp melted coconut oil, leaving a 1/2-inch bare strip along one long edge. Mix the 1/3 cup brown sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon, sprinkle it evenly over the oil, then scatter the cooled apples on top and press them in lightly.
Starting from the long edge with filling all the way to the border, roll the dough up snugly and pinch the seam closed. Cut it into 9 equal rolls with a sharp knife or dental floss and set them cut-side up in the pan.
Bake until the rolls are puffed and golden brown on top and the centers spring back when pressed, 18–22 minutes. If the tops brown too fast, cover loosely with foil for the last 5 minutes.
While the rolls bake, whisk the powdered sugar, maple syrup and salt, adding soy milk 1 tsp at a time until the icing is thick but pourable. Let the rolls cool for 5 minutes, then spread the icing over them, add pecans if using, and serve warm.
Storage: Best the day they're baked. Keep leftovers covered at room temperature for up to 1 day or refrigerated for up to 3 days. Rewarm for 15–20 seconds in the microwave or 8 minutes in a 300°F oven. Freeze un-iced rolls, wrapped well, for up to 2 months.
Questions
- How much protein is in no-yeast vegan apple cinnamon rolls with maple icing?
- Each of the 9 servings has 5 g of protein, 3 g of fiber and 390 calories, calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for every ingredient.
- Is no-yeast vegan apple cinnamon rolls with maple icing vegan?
- Yes. It contains no dairy, eggs, honey or other animal products.
- How long does no-yeast vegan apple cinnamon rolls with maple icing take to make?
- 20 minutes of prep and 20 minutes of cooking, so 40 minutes of hands-on time, plus 5 minutes of unattended resting.
- Can you make no-yeast vegan apple cinnamon rolls with maple icing ahead?
- Best the day they're baked. Keep leftovers covered at room temperature for up to 1 day or refrigerated for up to 3 days. Rewarm for 15–20 seconds in the microwave or 8 minutes in a 300°F oven. Freeze un-iced rolls, wrapped well, for up to 2 months.
- What can I substitute in no-yeast vegan apple cinnamon rolls with maple icing?
- Firm ripe pears instead of apples — gives a softer, more floral filling. cook a minute less because pears release juice faster.. Vegan butter instead of coconut oil in the dough and filling — gives a richer, more buttery flavor with no coconut taste.. Oat milk or almond milk instead of soy milk — works, but these milks curdle less with the vinegar, so the rolls rise a little less and come out slightly less tender.. Add 1/4 tsp nutmeg or cardamom to the cinnamon sugar — adds a warmer, more fragrant spice to the swirl..
- Does no-yeast vegan apple cinnamon rolls with maple icing contain gluten or tree nuts?
- Yes — the ingredient list includes gluten and tree nuts, in some cases as an optional ingredient you can leave out. Check the labels on the products you buy if you're cooking for an allergy.
Nutrition is calculated from USDA data for every ingredient — how we work it out.
Published October 23, 2026 ·American
