These Vegan Cranberry Orange Sticky Buns are the perfect excuse to use up any leftover cranberry sauce during the Holidays. The best cranberry orange rolls that are soft, fluffy, and perfect for brunch or dessert!
Tips for making cranberry orange sweet rolls
It's been a hot minute since you all went crazy over my Vegan Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls and Vegan Carrot Cake Sticky Buns, so I knew it was time for another epic vegan bun recipe.
Make sure your yeast is active before adding in all your dough ingredients.
If the yeast froths up in 5-10 minutes in your warmed milk, it is active! If it isn't, discard and use a different packet.
Your dough is perfectly kneaded when it is elastic and no longer super sticky.
What do I mean by this? Well, can you pull your dough without it falling apart or aggressively sticking to your hands? Does it stretch and still remain together? If you poke your finger into the dough does it spring back? This means the kneading process has produced enough gluten and the dough is ready for its first rise!
Flour your surface before rolling & Use a Marble Pastry Board!
Using flour on your surface and on your rolling pin will make it so vegan orange roll dough doesn't stick when you are trying to roll it into a log. I use a Marble Pastry Board as the surface to roll out my dough and it is a complete game changer!
I don't recommend spending the money if you only plan to make dough once, but if you are an avid baker it is worth the $30-$100 (and the link above is the exact pastry board I have!). It provides the perfect cool and flat surface you need for rolling out any type of pastry dough.
Two Rises >>> One!
You can't have good dough without the first rise, but the second rise after shaping the dough is where the magic happens. The yeast has time to eat more sugar and the dough develops a better flavor and a finer texture. Also, while you don't have to, I LOVE to do my second rise in the fridge overnight. Because buns for brunch is always a YES!
(the cranberry orange roll recipe calls for an overnight rise, but the second rise can also happen for 1 hour in a warm place for similar results)
STICKY BUN VIDEO TUTORIAL
Now, this is not my first bun-making rodeo. In fact, if you look me up on Instagram @ShortGirlTallOrder I did a behind the scenes of me making these buns you see pictured. I'm not going to lie, it's not up to professional video standards by any means, but I seriously hope my behind-the-scenes help you while you make these vegan sticky buns!
In conclusion, if you are on the hunt for the perfect Vegan Thanksgiving breakfast recipe using leftovers- let these Vegan Cranberry Orange Sticky Buns be it! There's nothing quite like vegan orange rolls filled with a juicy cranberry filling.
Truly makes the best vegan cranberry dessert to highlight the best fruit of the season and is a great dessert or brunch to make and share with others. Enjoy!
-TSG
More delicious vegan dessert ideas for the Holiday season:
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Vegan Cranberry Orange Rolls
Ingredients
Vegan Orange Bun Dough
- ¾ cup warm almond milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- ½ Tablespoon orange zest
- 2 ¼ teaspoon dry active yeast about 1 packet yeast
- ½ cup melted vegan butter *I use Earth Balance
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
Cranberry filling
- ¼ cup water
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 ½ cup fresh or frozen cranberries
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
Instructions
Making the dough
- Begin by adding your warmed almond milk, vanilla bean paste/extract, orange juice, and orange zest from the bun dough ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add the packet of active dry yeast to the mixing bowl and stir in. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. You will know the yeast is active if frothy bubbles form during this waiting period.
- Once you are sure the yeast is active, add in your melted butter and sugar from the bun ingredients and whisk to combine.
- Sift the all purpose flour, pastry flour, and and salt into a separate mixing bowl and stir to evenly mix. Gradually add this mixture of dry ingredients to the large mixing bowl containing the wet ingredients and mix until a sticky dough is formed.
- Now, you will knead the dough. If using a standing mixer, use the bread hook to knead the dough for 5-10 minutes until an elastic and firm, yet slightly sticky dough is formed. If kneading by hand, turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead until the same desired dough consistency is reached.
- Form the dough into a large ball and place it in a well oiled bowl. Cover and place the bowl of dough in a warm place to rise for 1-2 hours until the dough has doubled in size.
Making the cranberry filling
- While the dough is rising, make your cranberry filling. Please note that you'll want to make this at least 30 minutes before you are ready to roll the buns so the filling has time to cool.
- First, whisk together the cornstarch and water together in a small bowl to form a slurry. Then, add 1 cup of your cranberries, ½ cup of the sugar, the cornstarch water slurry, zest, orange juice, and vanilla bean paste/extract from the cranberry filling ingredients to a small saucepan.
- Bring the pot of ingredients to a boil and stir to combine. Let boil 5 minutes until all the cranberries have burst. Stir and let cook 1 more minute. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let cool. Once cooled, add in the additional ½ cup of additional fresh cranberries remaining. You will save the additional ¼ cup of sugar under the filling ingredients for later.
Forming the buns
- Once the dough has doubled in size, turn out onto a well-floured surface. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a ½ inch thick rectangle.
- Use a spatula to spread the cranberry filling over the dough evenly over the dough, leaving a ½ inch border around the outside of the dough. Pour the additional ¼ cup of sugar set aside from the filling ingredients on top of the cranberry filling.
- Starting from the longer end of the dough, roll the dough into a large log. Make sure to tuck the filling and large cranberries as you go so no filling escapes. Seal the dough end together by pinching the dough.
- Cut off the ends of the dough and discard. Use a very sharp knife to cut the bun into 10 evenly sized slices. Add the slices to a buttered/ well oiled 10" pan or cast iron skillet. Cover the buns with plastic wrap (or bees wrap) and place in the fridge to rise overnight.
Baking the buns & making the glaze
- In the morning, remove the buns from the fridge and preheat the oven to 350F.
- Once preheated, add the buns to the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until just slightly browned on top and cooked all the way through. I like to test if my buns are done by sticking a toothpick into the middle bun. If no raw dough comes off the toothpick, the buns are good to go!
- Remove the cooked buns from the oven and set aside to cool.
- While the buns are cooling, make the orange glaze by adding the powdered sugar, orange juice, and orange zest from the glaze ingredients to a medium bowl and whisking until a thick but smooth glaze is formed. If you want a thinner glaze, you can add more orange juice or even a tsp of almond milk, however, a thick glaze works best once on the buns.
- Pour the glaze over the cooled buns and serve immediately. Enjoy!
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