Sweet, juicy peaches snuggle between layers of cinnamon laced, tender rolls. Topped with a crisp almond oat streusel and finished off with a drizzle of almond glaze, peach streusel pie and cinnamon rolls unite!
A classic cinnamon roll is always in vogue. It’s delicious, comforting, satisfying. All of the things. But I find a hard time applying the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” way of thinking sometimes. This is especially true when I really can’t think of a reason why peaches wouldn’t dress up a cinnamon roll…or why a crunchy crown of almonds, rolled oats and brown sugar wouldn’t be amazing on top….or why an almond glaze wouldn’t just enhance the beautiful summer peach flavor…
So I did it. I added the peaches, the streusel, and the almond glaze. And you know what? The rolls were amazing. We cleaned them out in record time. The one change I made from my test batch was…more peaches! My goal was to not to have hints of peaches, but at least a piece of peach in each bite but not so much that the rolls would be soggy from peach juice (read: overdoing a good thing.)
Indeed there are recipes out there for one hour cinnamon rolls, (I love them and will be sharing a recipe for one soon) but to get a lush, tender, elastic crumb, there’s no substitute for rolling your sleeves up, kneading the dough (or letting your stand-mixer do it for you) and letting the dough rise long enough. The payoff is so well worth the little extra effort and time. And if you’re like me, you may even find yourself enjoying kneading the dough by hand. There’s something almost therapeutic about it, the repetitive motion slowly creating a silky smooth dough with no stickiness remaining.
I use refined coconut oil in the dough and the streusel. If you use unrefined, you’ll have coconut flavor in the rolls which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it isn’t part of the flavor profile I was aiming for here.
In this recipe, the dry active yeast is added directly to the flour. Key word here: active. If your yeast is nearing its best before date, you might want to proof it to make sure it’s still alive and going to rise your dough. To proof it, you simply add the yeast to the warm (not hot or, if your yeast was alive, you’ll now be killing it) non-dairy milk plus a tablespoon of sugar before adding it to the flour. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and if, at the end of that time, there’s no foaming this means your yeast is dead and you’ll have to get new yeast before continuing with the recipe. Dry active yeast that is within its best before date and is stored according to the package directions shouldn’t have any issues and can be added directly to the flour as called for in this recipe.
There’s something about peach and almond together – they marry beautifully. The peach becomes peachier and the almond adds a subtle dimension of flavor. For these cinnamon rolls, almond extract is added to the peaches and to the glaze but just in small amounts as a little almond extract goes a long way. Adding too much makes for a perfume-y product and would overpower the peaches and cinnamon. Almond slices are added to the streusel for some nutty flavor and crispness. The rolled oats also contribute crispness to the streusel – be sure to use the old-fashioned rolled oats, not the quick oats variety. Quick oats are thinner, smaller, and don’t crisp up as nicely as the old-fashioned kind. The quick oats might get a bit lost and don’t offer the same texture we’re looking to have in the topping.
I hope you enjoy these dressed up cinnamon rolls as much as we did. It’s safe to say, these are a new favorite in our home! If you make this recipe, please give it a rating in the recipe card or let me know in the comments! I love connecting on Instagram where you can tag me in your creations using my recipes. You can also follow me on Pinterest and Facebook. Thank you for reading along!
Vegan Peach Pie Cinnamon Rolls with Streusel and Almond Glaze
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 4 tsp dry active yeast*
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups non-dairy milk
- ½ cup refined coconut oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
For the Filling:
- ⅓ cup refined coconut oil
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 3 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 3 cups fresh peaches, pitted and diced
- 1 tsp almond extract
For the Almond Oat Crisp:
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- ⅓ cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ⅓ cup refined coconut oil, melted
For the Almond Glaze:
- 4 tbsp vegan butter
- 2 cups confectioner’s sugar
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 2-5 tbsp hot water (or hot non-dairy milk)
Instructions
To Prepare the Dough, Filling and Streusel:
- In a small saucepan over low heat, bring the milk and coconut oil to 110-115°F (if it gets too hot, let the temperature come down or it will kill the yeast.) Stir in the vanilla. In a large bowl with a wooden spoon or in the bowl of a stand-mixer with a dough hook attachment, mix the flour, sugar, yeast and salt together. Slowly stream in the warm milk and oil mixture. If using a stand mixer, run it on a medium-low setting for about 10 minutes. If doing it by hand, remove the dough from the bowl and on a lightly floured surface with floured hands, knead it for about 5-10 minutes (the longer the better!) Try not to add too much extra flour as this dough is softer and stickier than, say bread dough, and adding more flour will take away its final softness. Add only enough to keep working the dough; keep your hands lightly oiled helps, too. Wash out the bowl and grease it with refined coconut oil. Form the dough into a ball, place it in the bowl and turn it over so both sides are oiled. Lightly cover and let it rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours or until about doubled in size.
- Place the coconut oil for the filling into a microwavable bowl (size of a cereal bowl). Microwave for 15 seconds, check it and if it’s not melted, give it a stir and place it back in the microwave for another 10 seconds. Mix in the brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Combine the diced peaches with the almond extract, and sprinkle in the cornstarch. Stir well to ensure there’s no lumps of cornstarch and that it’s even mixed with the peaches.
- Combine the dry ingredients for the streusel in a small bowl. Drizzle in the melted coconut oil and mix well.
To Assemble the Rolls:
- Line a 9 x 13″ pan with parchment paper, or oil well. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out into a rectangle about 20″ x 14″. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough, and then scatter the peaches evenly over the sugar layer. With the long end closest to you, roll the dough up away from you evenly. When finished, push the roll over a bit so the seam is facing down. Using a very sharp knife, cut the roll into 12 even pieces (I find cutting it in half then each half in half, then each of those into 3 helps keep things even). Place the rolls into the prepared pan cut side down. Sprinkle the rolls with the streusel. Cover lightly and place in a warm spot for 30-60 minutes.
- Uncover the rolls, place them in the preheated oven and bake for 35-45 minutes or until the rolls are golden on top, and a toothpick inserted into a doughy part comes out clean. They should have an internal temperature of 190°F. Remove from the oven, let cool for 10-15 minutes and glaze with the almond glaze or enjoy as is!
For the Almond Glaze:
- In a medium-sized bowl, beat the vegan butter until creamy. Add the confectioner’s sugar a half cup at a time until incorporated. Add in the almond extract and 2 tbsp of the hot water. Beat until all of the lumps are gone. If it’s too thick, add more hot water a tbsp at a time until it reaches the desired thickness. Spread over the slightly cooled rolls.
Trina and Tina
Friday 7th of September 2018
A delish wish!
Blogtastic Food
Sunday 2nd of September 2018
Wow nicely done Bronwyn! So many awesome things going into those cinnamon rolls. And I love the look and sound of that almond glaze.
Crumbs & Caramel
Sunday 2nd of September 2018
Thanks! The name is definitely a mouthful! Haha! Loving the peaches this year!