Thanksgiving Vegan Dinner Rolls Recipe
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Best ever light and fluffy Thanksgiving Vegan Dinner Rolls recipe Italian style, perfect for the holiday table, Christmas dinner and any night of the week. Who can resist a freshly baked bread roll?!
Vegan Dinner Rolls
Made from scratch with only 5 ingredients, these easy homemade dinner rolls are like a hybrid between a croissant and a brioche. Sugar, egg and dairy-free, fluffy on the inside, golden on the outside with the perfect thin bottom crust, these rolls are simply irresistible .
Recipe Tips
- Make sure your yeast isn’t expired!
- Use warm, full fat coconut or cashew milk, don’t worry you won’t taste any coconut at all.
- The dough should be sticky, slightly stick to the bottom of the mixer bowl but not to the sides.
- After the first rise take good care not to overwork the dough. DO NOT KNEAD a second time or your rolls will become too dense. Simply cut and shape by folding the dough onto itself as shown in the how to video below.
- Allow the rolls to rise a second time in the same pan you are going to bake them in until almost doubled in size.
- The rolls are done when lightly golden brown on top. I cook mine for 15 minutes inside a cast iron skillet on top of my pizza stone that lives in my oven.
- Crust Tip: In order to achieve a nice crisp crust on the bottom of your rolls make sure to cook them in a cast iron skillet or pan. It’s very important that you also allow them to cool off inside the same pan after removing from oven.
- Brush with olive oil for that shiny golden finish reminiscent of your favorite Italian restaurant.
Thanksgiving Rolls Dough Ingredients
- all purpose flour (or bread flour)
- instant yeast
- full fat coconut or cashew milk
- olive oil
- sea salt
How to Shape Dinner Rolls
After the first rise of the dough use a serrated knife to cut the dough into 12 equal pieces. DO NOT KNEAD. Lightly oil your hands and fold each piece of dough onto itself tucking underneath until a round roll is formed. Place inside the pan you are going to bake it in. Watch the video below for the step by step instructions.
Make Ahead & Freezing the Dough
Yes you may freeze the dough balls after the first rise and after shaping them into rolls. Once frozen solid you can store in a plastic bag until ready to bake. Remove from the freezer, place inside a seasoned cast iron baking pan and allow to thaw and rise at room temperature until approximately doubled in size. Bake according to recipe instructions below.
Serving suggestions
How to Make the Best Vegan Dinner Rolls
Vegan Dinner Rolls
Best ever light and fluffy Vegan Dinner Rolls recipe Italian style, perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas and any night of the week.
Print Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 tbsp instant dry yeast
- 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk warm
- 3 tbsp olive oil + more for brushing
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- Fleur de Sel sea salt flakes for garnish
Instructions
- Add the flour, yeast and salt to the bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer and combine. Pour in the coconut milk and olive oil.2 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 tbsp instant dry yeast, 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 3 tbsp olive oil
- Using the dough hook knead the dough on low speed for 5 minutes or until a sticky smooth dough forms. It should be sticking to the bottom of the bowl but not to the sides.
- Cover the bowl with a tea towel and allow to rise at room temperature for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- Dump out the dough onto your kitchen counter. Use your hand or a spatula to help it out if needed. DO NOT KNEAD the dough again.
- Using a serrated knife cut the dough into 12 fairly equal pieces.
- Use your hands (lightly oiled if needed) and carefully fold each piece of dough onto itself creating a miniature round loaf (See the how to video above). Place all the rolls in a 10 -12 inch cast iron skillet without touching each other.
- Cover with the tea towel again and allow to rise another 30 minutes. (If you live in a cold climate you might need to increase the second rise to one hour or more until the rolls have almost doubled in size).
- Meanwhile preheat your oven to 400”F.
- Bake your dinner rolls in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top. Do your best not to overcook them so the center stays fluffy and moist.
- Remove the rolls from the oven and lightly brush with some olive oil.
- Sprinkle with the sea salt flakes and allow to cool in the cast iron skillet. This step will ensure a nice crisp crust forms on the bottom of each roll.Fleur de Sel sea salt flakes
Video
Notes
- You can easily double the recipe to make 24 rolls by simply doubling the ingredients.
- A ceramic pan can be used instead of the cast iron, make sure to lightly oil the bottom or line with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Add 1 tbsp of fresh rosemary or caraways seeds to the dough for different flavors.
- If you happen to have pizza stone inside the oven, feel free to leave it in there and place the pan with the rolls on top of it. This will give your rolls an even crisper irresistible bottom.
Nutrition
Calories: 135kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 99mg | Potassium: 53mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 1mg
Servings: 12 rolls
Calories: 135kcal
Amazing fool proof recipe, best homemade rolls!
How much salt? You have it listed as garnish, but no amount to mix.
You’ll need 1/2 tsp sea salt for the dough.
When you say full fat coconut milk do you mean the one in the tin?
Yes, canned coconut milk that is just water + coconut.
Can you use active dry yeast instead of instant? If so, how long should I let it rise?
Yes, it’s active dry yeast!
Coconut and cashew are the two milks that I am allergic to. Have you tried this with almond milk or could you recommend another milk?
I have not made them with almond milk but they should be fine. Cashew and coconut have a higher fat content which is why i prefer using them here. Just make sure the almond milk you use is unsweetened and as plain as possible (no mystery ingredients).
Hello,
Looks really nice! Do you taste the coconut ? It’s difficult to find another fat milk but I don’t like the taste of coconut.
Thanks
You won’t taste the coconut Sandra, the other milk that would work with be cashew milk (you can find the simple recipe on this blog) but I still feel the coconut milk yields the best results.
How can I do this without a dough mixer?
Yes you can make the dough by hand, knead it for about 10 minutes or so.
Can you use active dry yeast instead?
Yes you can!
I do not have a cast iron skillet. Other than the bottoms not browning, do the rolls come out okay baked in a cake pan?
Yes that is totally fine.
So easy and so delicious!
Hi Florentina, my family is Gluten Free and Vegan. Can I substitute the all purpose flour with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Powder?
Hi Gina, unfortunately I have not tested these bread rolls gluten-free so I have no clue how they would turn out.
Hi Florentina – thanks so much for the recipe. Could you add honey in this recipe? Have you tried it with whole wheat flour or is it not as tasty?
Have not made them with whole wheat flour as they wouldn’t be nearly as soft and fluffy. I do not use honey but there’s no need for a sweetener here, these are savory Italian bread rolls 🙂
How long do you think these would take to thaw at room temperature? Could I let them thaw in the fridge overnight?
You could just leave them on the kitchen counter for a couple of hours.
I have made these twice and measured everything exactly and the dough is not sticky but a little dry. Yeast is fresh and at room temperature. What am I doing wrong?
Nene, Is it possible that maybe you packed the flour too much? That would explain a lot. In any case to make things easier I suggest not adding the flour all at once that way you can stop once the desired consistency is achieved. Alternatively you can definitely add an extra splash of water to smooth out the dough if it is a little on the dry side. Hope that helps and tehy will turn out fantastic for you.
Got these rising (for the first time) right now. Looking forward to eating them. I can probably figure it out on my own, but I couldn’t find any video on this page that you spoke of showing how to form rolls.
Hey Bradley if you are on desktop the video loads up at the very top of the post and as you scroll down it will travel with the page in the right hand bottom corner. On mobile it also travels all the way down but it is in the bottom left corner.
I’ve made these a few times now but have substituted plain oat milk and it works great! I have also added rosemary and garlic, and poked small holes in the tops to mimic focaccia and it’s delicious. my favorite recipe by far and so easy!
I forgot to heat the milk so I placed the dough in the oven at a low setting. I just knew I screwed the recipe up but it turned out fabulous! This is a keeper for sure! Thank you.