Spelt cinnamon rolls with cashew icing

As always I was surfing around the internet for cool food blogs and discovered some new favourites; This Rawsome Vegan Life and My New Roots.

My New Roots had an amazing idea for making cinnamon rolls without all the sugar and fat that’s normally in them by using dates for the filling! And I loved the idea of a cashew frosting from This Rawsome Vegan Life.

My regular go-to cinnamon roll recipe is from Vegan Yum Yum, so I changed it around a bit to make these sugar-free, wholegrain cinnamon rolls! They were SO yum.

I was just playing around with these, but they turned out pretty well so I thought I'd share the recipe. But for perfect cinnabuns and more detailed instructions, check out Vegan Yum Yum!

Here's how I made them:

Ingredients [makes 10-12 rolls]

2 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)


1 tsp coconut sugar
 or raw sugar

1/2 cup warm (not too hot) water 




1/2 cup soy milk

1/3 cup maple syrup 


1/3 cup sunflower oil

1 tsp salt


1 flax egg (mix a tablespoon of ground flax seeds with 3 tablespoons water and let it sit in the freezer for 10 minutes)

Yeast mixture from above


4 cups spelt flour, plus more for kneading

Filling

1 ½ cups dates, soaked in ¾ cup boiling water for 15 minutes to soften

1 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1 tablespoon cinnamon

pinch salt

Cashew icing

1 cup cashews, soaked for a few hours

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil

1/3 cup maple syrup

Water

Combine yeast mixture and set aside to proof (until it's nice and foamy).

Whisk together the soymilk, maple syrup, oil, salt, and flax egg in a small bowl.

Combine the yeast mixture with the liquid ingredients.

Add the 4 cups of flour to a large bowl, make a well in the centre. Add the liquid and mix until a dough forms. You may need to add more flour if it's too sticky. Knead for about 10 minutes, adding more flour as you need to, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Once the dough is done place it in an oiled bowl, covered with plastic wrap and let it rise for 90 minutes in a warm spot.

Now make the date caramel filling - add the soaked dates (with the water) to a food processor with the rest of the ingredients, and blend until a smooth caramel paste is formed.

Once the dough has risen, turn it out onto a floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle about 15 x 20 inch.

Spread a thick layer (about half the date mixture) over the dough. Then roll up the dough and cut into 10 - 12 rolls. 

With the remaining date mixture, you can make a caramel sauce to put in the bottom of the pan. Blend the date paste with water until you get a thinner sauce-like consistency, then pour a layer into the bottom of the baking pan before putting the cinnamon rolls on top. 

[here's the caramel paste compared to the sauce after adding a bit of water]

Once the buns are in the pan, cover and let rise for 45 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 180º C.

Bake the rolls for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool for a few minutes.

For the cashew icing:

Blend or process all the ingredients together until very smooth, and gradually add water until you get the desired consistency. I wanted a thin icing/glaze, but for a thicker frosting you can just add less water.

Pour some cashew icing over the cinnamon buns and enjoy! And since there's no refined sugar or butter you can eat as many as you want! haha, that's what I told myself anyway ;)