Orange Cardamom Pistachio Cinnamon Rolls (Vegan One-Hour)
These Orange Cardamom Pistachio Cinnamon Rolls are fluffy, pillowy soft and packed with warming cinnamon and cardamom spices. They are ready in one hour, are naturally vegan and have the best healthier yoghurt glaze.
If you love cinnamon rolls and want to make them a little more exciting, then these rolls are perfect. They are so pillowy soft and fluffy and have a delicious filling of orange, cardamom sugar medjool dates, pistachios and walnuts which all work so well together. They are spiced and cosy and have a creamy luscious protein yoghurt glaze to tie it all together.
Why will I love these rolls?
These rolls are so delicious:
- Fluffy, pillowy soft and plus
- Lightly spiced with cardamom and cinnamon
- Packed with medjool dates, nuts and orange
- Topped with a luscious orange protein yoghurt glaze
- Ready in one hour
- Easy to make in a few steps
- Naturally vegan, egg-free and dairy-free
- Easily nut-free (the flavours will change)
- Great to make for brunch or afternoon tea
- Ideal to bake for all the family
- Everyone will love them
- Great for special occasions like Christmas, holidays and long weekends
If you already love the sound of these rolls then skip ahead to the recipe card below. Or, first let’s discuss the recipe in more detail.
What ingredients do I need?
The ingredients are listed by weight in the recipe card below and you can see my favourites in the “shop the recipe” section.
For the rolls:
- Plant-based milk: you can use any dairy-free milk for the dough. I like soya or almond but oat or coconut also work.
- Vegan butter: for the buttery flavour, I like to add half butter and half olive oil. This is the block-style butter and make sure it’s vegan and dairy-free.
- Olive oil: this is as rich as butter and makes the dough really smooth.
- Coconut sugar: I love coconut sugar for the caramel-like flavour and richer colour but you can use light brown or caster sugar, too.
- Fast action yeast: for the rise.
- Plain flour: I use half plain flour and half strong white bread flour for the best results. These buns do not work with gluten-free flour so if you need to bake gluten-free buns, try my gluten-free friendly dough recipes here.
- Cinnamon and cardamom: these work so well together and are slightly spiced and cosy.
- Salt: for flavour and to help the yeast.
As for the filling:
- Coconut sugar: or you can use light brown or demerara sugar.
- Cinnamon and cardamom: for the cosy flavour.
- Orange zest: for the lovely bright and vibrant orange flavour.
- Medjool dates: these are so sticky and delicious inside the rolls. You can use other dried dates or dried fruits like raisins or dried apricots.
- Pistachios and walnuts: these adds so much crunch inside. You can try out other nuts too like pecans, hazelnuts or flaked almonds.
- Olive oil: instead of butter, spread the dough with olive oil to create that “buttery” filling.
And for the frosting:
- Thick coconut yoghurt: this is the dream for creamy frostings and it’s great for gut health. I use the Cocos Organic natural or vanilla yoghurt which is really thick and creamy.
- Vegan vanilla protein powder: this adds sweetness, thickness and flavour to the frosting. I use the Form vanilla protein powder as I love the simple ingredients and my code NourishingAmy10 saves you 10% off the range.
- Maple syrup: for a sweeter frosting. You can also use agave syrup.
- Orange zest and pistachios: for flavour and crunch on top.
Are these gluten-free and nut-free?
These are not gluten-free, but you can try my other gluten-free friendly doughs here. To make these nut-free swap the nuts inside for seeds or skip them all together. Also check that your butter, milk, yoghurt and other ingredients are free from nuts.
How do I make them?
These rolls are easy to make in a few steps:
- Warm the milk and butter: until just melted.
- Stir in the olive oil, sugar and yeast: and bloom for 5 minutes.
- Stir the milky mix into the flour: to reach a shaggy dough.
- Tip onto a lightly floured surface: and knead for 1 minute until smooth.
- Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm: to proof for 20-30 minutes.
- Roll out onto a lightly floured surface: to a rectangle.
- Brush with olive oil, the cinnamon sugar, dates, nuts and orange zest: to cover the dough.
- Slice into strips: and roll each one up.
- Place in a lined or greased tin: and bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through.
- Whisk together the frosting ingredients: until smooth.
- Spread the frosting over the buns: and top with more orange and nuts.
How long will they last?
These rolls are best eaten the same day but will keep for 1-2 days in a sealed container.
What else can I bake?
If you are looking for more rolls and buns to try:
- Chocolate Orange Cinnamon Star Bread
- Mince Pie Cinnamon Rolls
- Pumpkin Pecan Cinnamon Rolls
- Peaches and Cream Cinnamon Rolls
- Orange Curd Air Fryer Baked Vegan Donuts
Orange Cardamom Pistachio Cinnamon Rolls (Vegan One-Hour)
These Orange Cardamom Pistachio Cinnamon Rolls are fluffy, pillowy soft and packed with warming cinnamon and cardamom spices. They are ready in one hour, are naturally vegan and have the best healthier yoghurt glaze.
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 240ml plant-based milk
- 30g vegan butter, cubed
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 2 ¼ tsp (7g, or 1 sachet) fast-action yeast
- 350g plain flour (or 175g plain and 175g strong white bread flour), plus extra
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- A pinch of salt
For the Filling:
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- 1 orange, zested
- 80g medjool dates, chopped small (4 dates)
- 20g pistachios, crushed
- 20g walnuts, crushed
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
For the Glaze:
- 120g thick coconut yoghurt
- 20-30g vegan vanilla protein powder
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 orange, zested
- Crushed pistachios
Instructions
- Make the milk mix: warm together the milk and butter until just melted and the mix is lukewarm (allow to cool down if needed). Now whisk in the olive oil and sugar and pour over the yeast. Leave to bloom for 5 minutes.
- Into a large mixing bowl: whisk the flour(s), cinnamon, cardamom and salt. Pour in the milky mix and stir with a spoon to a shaggy dough. Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 1 minute to reach a smooth ball of dough. Place in a greased bowl, cover and leave somewhere warm to rise for 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile prepare the filling: stir together the coconut sugar, cinnamon and cardamom and chop up the nuts and dates.
- Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180ºC and line an 8-inch Salter Round Tin with parchment paper.
- To shape the dough: place the risen dough on a lightly floured work surface and roll out to about 30x36-cm rectangle (or similar). Spread the dough with 1 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle over the spiced sugar. Cover with the orange zest, chopped dates and chopped nuts.
- Shape into buns: slice the dough lengthways into 6 or 8 strips and roll each one up into a bun. Place into the tin, so they just touch.
- To bake: brush with the remaining olive oil and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until well-risen, golden brown and baked all the way through.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool. - For the frosting: whisk together all of the ingredients until smooth, only using ½ of the orange zest.
- To decorate: spread the buns with the frosting and add on the extra orange zest, some pistachios and extra cinnamon, if you like.
- Enjoy straight away or keep in a sealed container and eat within 1-2 days.
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Stay in touch
I look forward to hearing what you think of these Orange Cardamom Pistachio Cinnamon Rolls so please let me know in the comments below and leave a star review above. If you do make this, I’d love to see so please tag me, I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy. I’m also on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – please say hello!
With cardamom rolls of love x
p.s. this recipe was first made with Salter but this blog post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own.
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