Healthy Gooey Sticky Buns

Every Christmas morning, my mom would make this HUGE, elaborate breakfast, that was always WAY too much food for us to eat...but man was it good!  For the sake of my sanity, (and my figure) I do not carry on that tradition.  I do, however, crave her recipe for cinnamon rolls, and on special occasions, will make up a batch of these to share with my family!  Now, of course, I couldn't use her original recipe without some tweaking...so here's my healthy, vegan version of a cinnamon roll, that you would NEVER believe to be healthy or vegan!  Cinnabon, eat your heart out...I'd choose one of these any day over your sugar-laced, artery-clogging, heart attack-causing monstrosities!

In a bowl combine:

2 T. yeast
2 T. agave
1/4 c. warm water

-Mix and set aside until yeast becomes frothy and large!

In a pan, scald:

2 1/4 c. unsweetened almond milk

-Add:

1/2 c. coconut oil

-Set aside, stirring occasionally, to bring down to luke warm temp (if it's too hot, it will deactivate the yeast, and you will not have fluffy rolls...they will not rise)

-Once milk mixture has cooled to luke warm, add the yeast mixture to it, along with:

2 t. sea salt
1/2 c. agave
3 "eggs" (3 eggs worth of prepared egg replacer)
7-8 c. flour (I actually used a blend of 2 c. Bobs Red Mill 10 Grain Flour, and King Arthurs White Whole Wheat flour)...you could use either or and be fine.

-Mix thoroughly, and dump onto a well floured area.
-Knead the dough until you get tired (or about 3-5 minutes)
-Return to greased bowl, cover, and let rise until it has doubled in size.

-Note:  the warmer the room, the quicker this will happen...so keep it warm.  Also, don't move it around a lot, bumping it will cause it to deflate.

-Once doubled in size, punch down, cover, and let rise again until doubled.
-Once it has doubled in size for the second time, dump back onto your floured surface, punch down, and divide into 2 equal parts.

-Roll out into a fat rectangle, that's about 1/2" thick
-Spread generously with softened Earth Balance Buttery Spread
-Sprinkle generously with Cinnamon (I do it to where I can't even see the dough through the cinnamon)
-Drizzle with Agave or sprinkle Xylitol (Since this recipe makes 2 9x13 pans, for 1 pan, I did agave, and the other I did Xylitol...just to see if there was a difference in taste, texture...etc.  The only difference I found was that the agave, since it's runny, made a bigger mess when rolling out...other than that, same results).
-Sprinkle with a little bit of sea salt

-Roll into a long log.  (Make sure you roll the longest sides together, or you'll get a fat, short log.)

-On the stove top, combine these ingredients and bring to a boil for about 3 minutes:

1/2 c. agave
1 c. unsweetened almond milk
1 T. Earth Balance Buttery Spread

-Remove from heat and add:

1/2 t. sea salt
1 T. vanilla

-Measure out 1 c. of this mixture, and pour it into the bottom of each 9x13 (You'll need 2 of them).  If you have some left over...just divide it evenly between the 2 pans.

-To cut the "log", I actually used my bread knife.  Use a gentle, sawing motion, and don't apply a lot of pressure, or your log will not stay round!

-Start by cutting the log in half.  Now each half, cut that into halves.  Cut the new halves into halves...etc. until you have 15 even pieces.

-Lay swirly side up in the cream mixture, 3 deep, 5 wide.

-Preheat oven to 350

-Cover and let rise until they are about the size you want them to be (they will rise just a tiny bit more in the oven.

-Repeat for second 9x13 pan

-Bake for 20-25 minutes

The Frosting:

1/4 c. + 2 T. Earth Balance Buttery Spread
1/4 c. + 2 T. Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese

-Cream these two together until smooth, or else your frosting will be lumpy!

-Add:

1 T. + 1 t. vanilla
2 T. unsweetened almond milk
1/4 t. sea salt
2 t. cinnamon (optional)

-Beat together until well incorporated.
-Add:

2 c. Ideal brand low calorie Confectionery (this is the "powdered sugar" made from Xylitol)  I actually found this in my grocery store in the baking aisle...I shop at Meijer, don't know if that helps anyone else...but I think it's relatively new.



-Blend until a nice, smooth frosting emerges!

-You can either frost each cinnamon roll separately, right before serving, or just frost the whole pan when they're still warm!  Either way, this makes enough frosting to do both pans (IF you don't overdo it!!)

-This recipe definitely takes a little work...but you get 2 WHOLE PANS of healthy cinnamon rolls!  Portion them out and freeze the extras for future special occasions...it is WELL worth the work!  (and you don't get the sick, heavy feeling in your gut after you eat them!!)