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Need an easy but delicious breakfast? These easy Puff Pastry Cinnamon Swirls are buttery, packed with cinnamon sugar, and have the perfect soft yet crispy exterior. These cinnamon swirls take a fraction of the time of cinnamon buns since they use pre-made frozen puff pastry!
Why You’ll Love These Easy Cinnamon Swirls
If you love delicious cinnamon rolls like I do, then you will love these puff pastry cinnamon rolls! These cinnamon swirls are like a traditional cinnamon roll’s cousin. You can think of this recipe as a cinnamon roll with puff pastry instead of fluffy yeasted dough. Here are a few notes about the recipe:
Emily’s Recipe Notes:
- Flavor: Sweet, buttery and lightly spiced with cinnamon.
- Texture: Rich, flaky and crispy with a gooey center.
- Perfect Treat for a Special Occasion: These puff pastry cinnamon swirls the perfect breakfast or bunch during the holidays when you want to make something homemade but you don’t want to spend a ton of time making it. These would be downright fabulous on Christmas morning!
- Time: Once the puff pastry has thawed, they take less than 30 minutes start to finish to make, unlike yeast-based homemade cinnamon rolls which can take around 3 hours!
Why We Love These Cinnamon Swirls:
These cinnamon swirls are also vegan, dairy-free, and eggless! Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry is accidentally vegan (in the U.S) and we are subbing vegan butter for dairy-based butter in this recipe. This recipe also calls for oat milk & maple syrup instead of eggs for the egg wash!
Ingredients You’ll Need
These easy cinnamon rolls only need 6 ingredients! Yet another reason to love this simple recipe. Hopefully, you already have most of these ingredients on hand.
The frozen puff pastry sheets are the only ingredient you may need to pick up from the store if you don’t have them on hand.
To make this easy recipe, you’ll need to gather to following:
- Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets
- Brown Sugar
- Cinnamon
- Vegan Butter
- Oat Milk
- Maple Syrup
Substitutions
- Vegan Butter: Dairy free butter can be swapped 1 for 1 with dairy-based softened butter. You can also try using softened coconut oil (not melted coconut oil). It’s important to use room temperature butter for the best results. Melted butter or oil will cause the filling to leak from the center of the swirls.
- Oat Milk: this can be subbed for another plant milk (like almond milk) or dairy-based milk.
the best vegan egg wash
No eggs are necessary for these easy cinnamon puff pastry swirls. Today, we’re using a combination of oat milk and maple syrup as our vegan egg wash.
This combo helps the ends of the puff pastry stick together (so the swirls don’t unravel while baking).
When baked, the maple syrup helps brown the tops of the swirls since the sugars caramelize when heated.
Equipment and Tools
This cinnamon swirl recipe makes about 16-20 puff pastry swirls. To make this recipe you’ll want a few tools or pieces of equipment to help it turn out perfect! Below are some suggested tools to make these easy cinnamon puff pastry rolls:
- Digital Kitchen Scale: to measure all the ingredients accurately
- Measuring Cups or Scoops
- Rolling Pin
- Serrated Knife or another Sharp Knife
- Parchment Paper
Step by Step Instructions
🎥 Video Tutorial is Above the Recipe Card Below!
Below are the main steps for making these vegan cinnamon swirls:
STEP 1: Mix together the softened vegan butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. The cinnamon sugar mixture should form a spreadable paste.
STEP 2: In a small bowl, mix together the oat milk and maple syrup to form the vegan egg wash. Set aside.
Prep the Puff Pastry
STEP 3: Lightly flour a clean surface or a surface with parchment paper spread out. Then, unfold the thawed puff pastry sheet.
STEP 4: With a rolling pin, gently roll out the dough length-wise, so it becomes 1-2 inches longer.
STEP 4: Spread the cinnamon filling mixture onto the dough, leaving about ¼” border.
STEP 5: Using a knife, cut the dough lengthwise, so you have two strips of puff pastry about 4-5” wide. Combine the two strips together by gently pressing the short edges together with your fingers, so you have one very long strip of dough about 4-5” wide.
You can brush a little bit of the vegan egg wash on the seam to help seal the dough together if needed. This will help make the swirls larger in diameter once rolled up.
STEP 6: Brush vegan egg wash on the short side of the rectangle. Tightly roll the dough up into a log (the log should be about 4-5” wide). Using a serrated knife, cut the log into discs about 1/2-3/4” wide. You should be able to get about 6-10 swirls out of the log.
STEP 7: Repeat with the remaining puff pastry sheet in the package. You can also brush the egg wash mixture on the exposed surface of the dough for a golden brown exterior.
STEP 8: Place the swirls on a parchment-lined baking sheet with about 2” of space between each one.
baking the cinnamon puff pastry swirls
These swirls bake at 375F or 190 C, so you’ll want to preheat your oven to that temperature prior to baking.
These swirls should bake for 17-18 minutes. They should be slightly golden brown on the top but should still appear soft. Once the swirls cool, they will become crispier on the outside.
cooling the cinnamon swirls
Let the swirls cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely before glazing.
How to Make the Simple Icing
These vegan cinnamon swirls definitely aren’t complete without this sweet simple icing on top. I’ve opted for a powdered sugar icing, but you could certainly top these with a dairy free cream cheese frosting.
This frosting recipe should form a very thick glaze (like the photo above).
You’ll need the following:
- Powdered Sugar, or icing sugar
- Oat Milk
- Vanilla Extract, optional
To make the glaze, mix the powdered sugar, and oat milk together in a small bowl. When drizzling the glaze, it should form thick ribbons. Spoon the glaze onto the cooled puff pastry cinnamon buns and sprinkle on more cinnamon if you’d like!
If it looks like your icing is too thin, add a tablespoon of powdered sugar at a time to the mixture until it reaches the desired consistency.
Storage Tips
Once the cinnamon puff pastry rolls are glazed, they’re ready to eat! The glaze will harden up after about 15 minutes (similar to a thick donut glaze).
- Room Temp: These vegan cinnamon swirls will store well at room temperature for 2 days. I place mine in an airtight container, like a glass Tupperware.
After about 2-3 days, the swirls won’t be as crispy and fresh. - Freezer: But you can definitely freeze the remaining swirls! I like to place them in a single layer inside a ziplock baggie. You could also stack them in a container with parchment paper between them.
Then, pop them in the freezer and they’ll stay fresh for 1-2 months!
puff pastry cinnamon swirls tips & tricks
Below are some tips, tricks, and faqs to help you make the best vegan cinnamon swirls!
Yes! This recipe is dairy-free since it uses vegan butter for the filling. I recommend using Violife Vegan Butter in this recipe.
Is puff pastry vegan?
I’m using store-bought frozen puff pastry. Buying your puff pastry from the store is a lifesaver and a time saver. The brand I’m using is accidentally vegan (Pepperidge Farm brand). If you’re not able to find an accidentally (or intentionally) vegan puff pastry at the store, you could substitute store-bought crescent roll dough. It will have a bit of a different texture (less flakey and crisp), but delicious nonetheless.
Are these similar to cinnamon buns?
These puff pastry cinnamon swirls have a very similar flavor to cinnamon buns, especially if you choose to top them with simple icing! The texture is slightly different. Traditional cinnamon rolls are made with an enriched yeast dough (usually made with active dry yeast or instant yeast).
The cinnamon roll dough is kneaded and left to rise multiple times, which is why it takes a long time. These swirls use store-bought puff pastry. As the name suggests, puff pastry puffs up in the oven forming rich, slightly crisp layers of dough that are very delicious.
More Pastry & Breakfast Recipes
Video Tutorial
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Easy Puff Pastry Cinnamon Swirls
Rate this RecipeIngredients
- 1 package Frozen Puff Pastry Dough, Pepperidge Farm is accidentally vegan (or use Sweet Loren's Puff Pastry if gluten-free)
Filling:
- 2 tbsp salted vegan butter, softened (or butter of choice)
- 6 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg, optional
Vegan Egg Wash (optional):
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp dairy free milk
Simple Glaze (optional):
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 2-4 tsp milk of choice
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, optional
Instructions
- Let the frozen puff pastry thaw at room temp for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F.1 package Frozen Puff Pastry Dough
- Mix vegan butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg into a paste. In another bowl, stir together oat milk and maple syrup for the vegan egg wash.2 tbsp salted vegan butter, 6 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp cinnamon, ½ tsp nutmeg, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp dairy free milk
- On a floured or parchment-lined surface, unfold and gently roll the puff pastry with a rolling pin to make each sheet about 1–2 inches longer. Spread the cinnamon mixture on top, leaving a ¼” border.
- Cut lengthwise into two strips (4–5" wide), press short ends together to form one long strip, seal with egg wash if needed, then roll tightly into a log. Slice into ½” rounds (8–10), place on a parchment-lined sheet 2” apart, brush tops with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar if desired. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry and bake 17–18 mins.
- Cool on a wire rack. Mix together the glaze ingredients in a small bowl, adjust thickness as needed, and drizzle over cooled swirls.¼ cup powdered sugar, 2-4 tsp milk of choice, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Video
Recipe notes
- Because we're using frozen puff pastry in this recipe, it's important to let it thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes before trying to make these. If the puff pastry is still frozen when you go to roll up the swirls, it will crack and the end result won't be pretty!
- Avoid cutting the swirls thinner than 1/2" (this will make them cook too fast and result in very crunchy swirls after baking).
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