Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The Best Raw Vegan Cinnamon Rolls Ever!!

Raw Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
Being healthy can get hard around the times I crave sweet and soft pastries, luckily there's this raw version!! There are 3 parts to this tasty treat, dough,cashew filling and macadamia frosting all made with raw ingredients. In the picture below I put the icing on the bottom and drizzled coconut nectar on top with a pinch of cinnamon, okay my mouth is officially watering!
My favorite part to any recipe is sharing it with others and asking how they like it. Even my non raw food friends say it tastes very similar to a cinnamon roll if not better because it's so moist and rich! There are also a few variations to this recipe like cinnamon fig rolls or cinnamon raisin rolls, I bet it would be good with a fruit filling to!
Yield: 10 cinnamon rolls
Tools: dehydrator, food processor, blender
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Dehydrate Time: 2 hours
Dough- This is the same dough I use for the french toast & bread base recipe
1 cup flax seed ground
1 cup almond flour/cashews ground
1 cup sunflower seeds ground
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup water add more if needed
1/4 cup coconut nectar
3 tbsp oil (grapeseed, olive, sunflower)
2 tbsp cinnamon
a pinch of sea salt
Date Paste
5 dates
1/4 cup water

Get a mixing bowl to start adding your ingredients. Grind all of your seeds in a spice grinder. In a food processor grind all of your nuts. Mix them well and then add in the rest of your ingredients. Stir until it becomes sticky like cookie dough add more water if necessary. I have found that if you follow the recipe exactly you can't go wrong! Spread out your dough using a piece of plastic wrap and a rolling pin. Dehydrate on the first side for 1 hour and then flip and dehydrate for another hour. I made a video explaining how to make your dough perfect here Bread Base Recipe.

Cashew Filling
1 cup cashews soaked
3/4 cup young thai coconut
1/2 cup water -or- coconut water
1 large juicy date
1 tbsp cinnamon
optional: 1 cup figs chopped and/or raisins
Soak the cashews for 1 hour or more. Open the young thai coconut and pour the coconut water into a glass jar to use later for smoothies or use it in place of the 1/2 cup water! Grind the cashews first adding in water slowly, then add in the date, lastly add the rest of the ingredients. Spread the filling out evenly leaving about 1/4 inch on all sides, because we are rolling it the filling will squeeze out and fill the empty space.
Now we need to roll it up. It's easiest to use a pliable piece of something underneath to help fold it evenly. So for instance if you're using parchment paper you would pull up the end closest to you and start rolling the dough on it's self. You will find that the paper helps bring everything up at the same time to avoid cracking and keeps things even. 

Macadamia Icing
1 cup macadamia nuts
1/4 cup young thai coconut or the rest of what you didn't use in the filling
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp lemon
1 tsp salt

I like to place the roll in the refrigerator overnight and in the morning I will put it in the dehydrator to warm up for about 15-30 minutes. Or you can just dig in! Enjoy <3