vegan cinnamon buns

Ingredients

• optional: raisins or nuts

Rolls:
• 3/4 cup / 6 ounces / 175 milliliters soy milk (though I used sweetened, and it was fine)
• 1/4 C / 2 oz /60 ml vegan margarine, softened (Earth Balance is a good one)
• 3 1/4 C / 25 oz / 750 g all-purpose flour
• 1 packet / .25 oz / 7 g package instant yeast
• 1/4 C / 2 oz / 60 g white sugar (some sugar is filtered with bone char. Some vegans eat processed white sugar, some don't. I'm guessing unbleached/raw cane sugar could be substituted pretty easily here)
• 1/2 tsp / .08 oz / 2 g salt
• 1/4 C plus 2 TBS / 9 oz / 85 g water

Filling:
• 1 C / 8 oz / 230 g brown sugar, packed (see note for white sugar, since brown sugar is just white sugar with molasses)
• 1 TBS / 0.5 oz / 15 g ground cinnamon
• 1/2 C / 4 oz / 115 g vegan margarine, softened (not all margarine is vegan; most have whey)

Glaze (I didn't use it all, so you might want to make a bit less unless you really like the glaze):
• 2 tsp / .2 oz / 5 g corn syrup
• 2 tsp /.2 oz / 5 g maple syrup
• 2 tsp /.2 oz / 5 g vanilla extract
• 2 C / 16 oz / 460 grams icing sugar (again, see note for white sugar, since icing/powdered sugar is made from white sugar)
• 4 TBS / 2 oz / 30 ml unsweetened soy milk (again, if you have sweetened soy milk on hand, that'll work, too. I used Silk brand)

Heat the soy milk in the saucepan just until it begins to bubble. Then, take it off heat and add margarine, stirring until it melts. Let mixture cool until lukewarm (so it won't kill the yeast).

Then, mix together 2/3 of your floor with the yeast sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the cooled mixture and beat well. Add remaining flour a bit at a time until dough just pulls together and stops being sticky. Then knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Put dough in a clean, dry bowl and lightly oil surface with canola oil. Loosely cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes. (The original recipe didn't have the oil and instructs to cover the dough on the counter with a damp cloth for the ten minutes, but that is also pretty much the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. I'm sure it would still work fine, though. Your call.)

While waiting, mix together filling ingredients.

Then, roll out dough into a 12x9 inch / 30x23 cm rectangle. Spread with filling. This is where you'd add the nuts or raisins, if you're the type.

Roll dough into tube and cut into 12 slices. You can do this with string, if you'd like, to make an even cut. Form a loop with the string, slide the bottom of the loop underneath the roll, then cross the two ends of the string at the top and pull until it cuts all the way through. That way, there's equal pressure on all parts and it doesn't get squashed.

Put rolls onto lightly greased pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Bake until desired firmness/brownness. Let cool slightly.

Mix together glaze ingredients and drizzle over rolls.

Devour. Offer to omnivores and laugh at their expressions when you tell them it's vegan.

If by some miracle some survive until they've cooled completely, keep them in the fridge and warm them up for 15-30 seconds in the microwave when you're ready for another.