Beautiful Buns

Vegan. Whole Wheat. Cinnamon Buns.

Winning!

I discovered these bodacious breakfast buns on With a Side of Sneakers, and knew it wouldn't be long before they made an appearance in my kitchen. Do you recall last month's botched bun attempt? Ever since that disastrous morning, I've been determined to roll out a new recipe (pun intended).

This recipe will defy everything you previously thought you knew about cinnamon rolls. They contain no butter or oil, and only a modest amount of sugar. Best of all, they don't require a lengthy rising time--nor a lengthy prep time--which is just what this hungry girl wants on a Saturday morning.

The trick to these ooey gooey breakfast gems is to just barely bake them 'til done--it'll give them that oozing, doughy quality of bakery buns. We drizzled (covered) the tops with a powdered sugar glaze, but if you're not in a vegan-kinda mood, I urge you to whip up a bowl of cream cheese frosting.

Now please: Do your loved ones justice and step away from that tube of refrigerated cinnamon rolls. Tubes belong to socks, tops, and flotation devices, but they certainly do not belong in your refrigerator.

Vegan Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buns

(recipe from With a Side of Sneakers blog)

These buns will change your opinion of breakfast forever. And it's a good change.

Dough Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 - 1/4 tsp. yeast
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup bread flour (plus more for kneading)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 4 TBSP applesauce

Filling Ingredients:

• 2 - 3 TBSP vegan non-hydrogenated margarine
• 2 - 3 TBSP applesauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Glaze Ingredients:

• Powdered sugar
• Almond milk
• Vanilla extract

Directions:

1) Heat the almond milk in the microwave until just warm. Sprinkle yeast on top and set aside.

2) Meanwhile, Combine the dry bun ingredients in a large bowl. Add milk mixture and applesauce and mix until a soft dough forms (add more flour as needed). Knead dough for a few minutes--I cheated and used the dough hook on my stand mixer :)

3) Roll the dough out into a large rectangle. Spread with the vegan margarine, then the applesauce.

4) In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon for the filling. Sprinkle evenly over the dough rectangle. Roll up the dough, lengthwise, and cut into 10 rolls. Place in an 9 x 9 inch baking dish (coated with cooking spray). Cover and allow to rise briefly while you do the dishes and tidy up the kitchen :)

5) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake buns for 20 minutes. Combine glaze ingredients in a small bowl in your desired amounts (I just kept mixing sugar and milk until I got to the amount and consistency I wanted!). Drizzle on top, and eat up.