Doughy, dairy-free, and indulgent baklava cinnamon rolls with a delightful crunchy filling and honey vanilla icing! The filling consists of lightly toasted, finely ground almonds and walnuts, cinnamon, brown sugar, honey, and vegan butter.

These warm baklava cinnamon rolls are then covered with honey vanilla icing. Warm oat milk is poured into the pan just before the baklava cinnamon rolls go into the oven for the ultimate gooey homemade cinnamon rolls!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE

The taste you love from baklava but simplified and elevated in these delicious baklava cinnamon rolls! I don’t know what’s better…how fluffy these cinnamon rolls are or that they’re dairy-free.

I made these delicious cinnamon rolls for Greek Easter, and they were a huge hit! It’s not easy to please a Greek family, especially with a dessert that’s not traditional and dairy-free.

These easy baklava cinnamon rolls are perfect for a special occasion, Christmas morning, or just any time you feel like baking a sweet treat!

 

INGREDIENT NOTES

Yeast: I like to use Fleischmann’s instant yeast. Quick rise or instant yeast saves time because you don’t have to let the yeast “proof,” and your cinnamon rolls will rise faster.

I like mixing a bit of warm oat milk with the yeast to ensure it still gets frothy and bubbly. If you don’t have instant yeast, you can use active dry yeast, but you’ll need to allow for a longer rising time.

Oat milk: I recommend using creamy, unflavored, or plain oat milk. My favourite brands are Earth’s Own Barista oat milk and Chobani oat milk. I find they have a rich, creamy taste and keep their richness even when heated.

Oat milk is mild in flavour, so it works great as a substitute for dairy in most dishes! Of course, if there are other dairy alternatives, such as almond milk, coconut milk, or soy milk, that you would rather use, then that’s okay too. I haven’t tried these baklava cinnamon rolls with those dairy-free alternatives yet.

Vegan butter: I like using Earth Balance vegan butter sticks. They’re great for baking! The butter has more oil in it, so it doesn’t whisk as well as regular butter, but it’s a great option to make these baklava cinnamon rolls dairy-free.

White granulated sugar: White granulated sugar is added to sweeten the dough and helps activate the yeast. Yeast likes sugar!

Brown sugar: This is used for the baklava filling. Either dark brown sugar or light brown sugar will work. I use 1/2 cup dark brown sugar since I also add some honey to the filling.  But if you like your cinnamon rolls to be really sweet, you can add more!

Salt: Salt helps control the yeast and adds flavour to your cinnamon roll dough. It’s only a tiny amount, but an essential ingredient when making cinnamon rolls.

Honey: Any liquid honey will work. Honey is used in baklava and adds a great flavour to these baklava cinnamon rolls.

Eggs: I use an egg to help tenderize the dough and with rising.  The egg should be at room temperature. If you’re in a hurry, you can let a cold egg sit in warm water for a few minutes.

HOW TO MAKE BAKLAVA CINNAMON ROLLS: STEP BY STEP

 

The Yeast Mixture 

STEP 1: Lightly heat 1/2 a cup of oat milk. You can heat the oat milk in the microwave for about 20-25 seconds or warm it in a small saucepan. If you’re using a saucepan, do not let the milk come to a boil.

The milk should be warm but not too hot, or it will kill the yeast.  The warm oat milk should have a temperature between 105-115 degrees F. If it’s too hot, remove the oat milk from the heat and let it cool slightly.

STEP 2: In a bowl for the electric mixer, add one packet of instant yeast and 1/2 a cup of warm oat milk. Let it bubble and get frothy. Allow a few minutes for the yeast to activate. If the mixture is not bubbly, your yeast may no longer be active.

If that’s the case, it’s best to start with a new pack of active yeast and repeat the process with fresh, warm oat milk as well. If your yeast doesn’t get frothy, your cinnamon rolls won’t rise.

If the yeast mixture gets frothy once you add the milk, you’re good to go to the next step!

Preparing The Cinnamon Roll Dough (First Dough Rise) 

STEP 3: In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg, vanilla extract, white sugar, melted vegan butter, warm oat milk, and honey together.  This step helps to create fluffy cinnamon rolls!  If the milk or butter is too hot, they may scramble the egg, so allow some time for the milk and butter to cool slightly.

STEP 4: Add the egg mixture to the mixing bowl with the yeast. Mix together with an electric mixer. Gradually mix in the flour and salt. Use the dough hook to mix the ingredients. Allow the dough to mix for about 6-7 minutes. A dough ball will form.

If the dough is too sticky, you can gradually add a tablespoon of flour. The dough should be soft and pliable but not overly sticky.

STEP 5: Grease a large bowl with some vegan butter.  Place the cinnamon roll dough in the greased bowl and cover the dough loosely with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature or in a warm environment for about 25-30 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Cinnamon & Sugar Baklava Filling 

STEP 6: While the dough is rising, prepare the baklava filling. Preheat your oven to bake at 325 degrees F.  Spread the walnuts and blanched almonds on a cookie sheet or baking tray.

Place the nuts in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until lightly toasted. Nuts have a high-fat content (it’s why they’re so delicious!), so be sure to keep an eye on them while they’re in the oven so that they don’t burn.

Once the nuts are lightly toasted, remove them from the oven and set them aside on a heat-resistant surface. Let them cool.

STEP 7: Add the toasted walnuts and almonds in a food processor. Pulse together a few times.  You can place the nuts in a Ziploc bag if you don’t have a food processor.  Seal the bag and use a meat pounder to break the nuts into small pieces.  Pour the ground nuts into a small bowl. Set aside.

STEP 8: In another bowl, combine 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 2 tablespoons of cinnamon.  Mix together.

You can either combine the cinnamon, sugar and ground nuts into one bowl or leave the nuts separate.  I like to leave them separate because then I can control how much nut mixture I add to the filling.

If I have some nuts leftover, I can also sprinkle them on top of the cinnamon buns without worrying about the crunchiness of the raw brown sugar.

Rolling The Dough

STEP 9: Clear a large, clean surface like your kitchen counter or table and lightly flour the surface. Remove the dough ball from the greased bowl.

Begin to knead the cinnamon roll dough by folding over the dough and using the palms of your hands to push the dough away from you. Repeat this process until the dough is soft but pliable.

Slowly add a tablespoon of flour if the dough is still really sticky (but you want the dough to be a little sticky!). Once the dough holds its shape, you can stop adding flour and kneading.

STEP 10: Time to roll the dough! Flour the rolling pin so it doesn’t stick to the dough.  Begin to roll the dough until you’ve got a large rectangle shape.  About a 16″ x 8″ rectangle.

Adding The Baklava Filling 

STEP 11: With your fingers or the back of a small spoon, spread a generous amount of softened butter on one side of the rolled-out dough. Sprinkle the nut mixture, cinnamon, and sugar evenly over the butter.

Use your hands to mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nut mixture with the softened butter. Finally, drizzle a couple of tablespoons of honey over the filling.

Cutting The Baklava Cinnamon Rolls (Second Rise)

STEP 12: Tightly roll the dough into a log.  Begin by folding over the long side. Use your hands to roll the dough tightly and lightly press down on it to hold it together.

STEP 13: Use a sharp knife to cut the cinnamon dough log into 1 1/2″ – 2″ pieces and place the cinnamon rolls in a greased 9×13 baking dish.  You can also line your baking dish with parchment paper if you’d like, but it’s not necessary.

Leave about 1/2 an inch between each roll since the cinnamon rolls will continue to expand during their second rise. Cover the rolls with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise for 30 minutes at room temperature or in a warm environment.

STEP 14: Preheat your oven to bake at 350 degrees F.

STEP 15: Warm 1/2 a cup of oat milk in the microwave or stovetop. You want it to be warm but not hot. Pour the warm oat milk over the cinnamon rolls right before placing them in the oven. This will achieve that desirable gooey centre. Don’t worry, they won’t get soggy!

STEP 16: Place the baklava cinnamon rolls in the oven for 22-25 minutes at 350 degrees F or until lightly golden brown.  I like my cinnamon rolls to be doughy and slightly undercooked, but if you like them more golden brown, you can bake them a little longer.

The amount of time needed to bake will vary depending on your oven and the size of your cinnamon rolls. So keep an eye on them, but try not to keep opening the oven door since that will affect the baking time (I know it’s tempting!).

STEP 17: While the rolls are in the oven, prepare the honey vanilla icing.  In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the butter. Next, sift 1 1/4 cups of icing sugar and whisk together the sifted icing sugar, warmed oat milk, vanilla extract, and honey.

The icing will be more on the runny side since it’s meant to seep into the cinnamon rolls.  Similar to how the hot syrup soaks through the baklava.  You can add less oat milk if you’d like the honey vanilla icing to be less runny.

STEP 18: When your baklava cinnamon rolls are a light golden brown colour, remove them from the oven and pour the honey vanilla icing over the warm cinnamon rolls.

If you’d like, you can wait a few minutes before pouring the icing over the rolls, but I like to do it right away so that the icing seeps into the cinnamon rolls for extra gooeyness. Yum!!

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