Thanksgiving Vegan Dinner Rolls Recipe (2024)

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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 afreshly baked bread roll?!

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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

  1. all purpose flour (or bread flour)
  2. instant yeast
  3. full fat coconut or cashew milk
  4. olive oil
  5. 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

  • mushroom gravy
  • soups and stews
  • vegan sausage gravy
  • butter & jelly
  • mushroom Wellington
  • vegan white bean soup
  • cranberry sauce
  • creamed spinach
  • black beans
  • tomato sauce
  • vegan mashed potatoes
  • vegan holiday roast.

How to Make the Best Vegan Dinner Rolls

Thanksgiving Vegan Dinner Rolls Recipe (8)

5 from 4 votes

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

Prep Time:10 minutes mins

Cook Time:15 minutes mins

Rise time::1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time:1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

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

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: dinner rolls, plant based, Thanksgiving, vegan,

Servings: 12 rolls

Calories: 135kcal

Author: Florentina

Thanksgiving Vegan Dinner Rolls Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What bread rolls are vegan? ›

Vegans can eat bread that does not contain animal products or byproducts. This includes breads that only use some variation on flour, water, yeast, and salt including ciabatta, baguette, focaccia, sourdough, pita, and ezekiel breads.

Why are my homemade dinner rolls hard? ›

Too much flour, or not the right kind, could be to blame. Dough made only from flour with a high or even average amount of protein (like bread flour or all-purpose flour) can become tough from overmixing. Protein gives bread structure in the form of gluten—the more you mix and move the dough, the more gluten you get.

How can I make my bread fluffier instead of dense? ›

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

What helps bread to become light and fluffy? ›

Sugar: When yeast is mixed with sugar it consumes the sugar and produces carbon dioxide gas, which causes the bread dough to rise and become light and airy. Instant Yeast: Instant dry yeast can be added directly to the flour mixture without needing to be activated first.

Can vegans eat yeast? ›

Although yeast is technically alive—it's a single-celled organism that metabolizes food into energy—it's no more an animal than other fungi such as mushrooms. Therefore, yeast is generally accepted as part of a vegan diet.

Do vegans eat bread with yeast? ›

Yes, yeast is absolutely vegan! Veganism means excluding the consumption of animal products, and yeast is a type of fungi. If you have no qualms about eating mushrooms, then you can absolutely get on board with yeast.

What happens if you add too much flour to dinner rolls? ›

Too much flour results in a dry, crumbly dough that's unpleasant and difficult to work with. It doesn't stick to itself and tends to fall apart when kneaded.

How long do you let buns rise before baking? ›

The dough rises in about 1-2 hours in a relatively warm environment. Punch down the dough to release the air and shape into rolls. Let the rolls rise for about 1 hour. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Why are my dinner rolls tasteless? ›

In addition to more salt you should consider a few things to improve your flavor. One primary piece of advice would be to try other flours. AP flour is the dullest possible base for bread, and even with more salt, sugar, fat, and a long rise in the fridge there's only so much flavor you are going to get.

What kind of pan is best for baking rolls? ›

If you don't have a large 11 inch cast iron pan, you can use a glass baking dish sprayed with nonstick spray. A 9×13 size would work well. It's best to have the rolls all touching each other when you arrange them in the pan, and I'll tell you why…

What do you brush buns before baking? ›

Egg plus milk or cream

"Using cream or milk is a very old-school egg wash method, but popular," says Haysmith. By brushing an egg beaten with milk or cream, you will get a baked good with a light golden brown color and a nice amount of shine.

Should you brush dinner rolls before baking? ›

Butter basting: Rolls can be brushed with butter before, during, or after baking. While it doesn't brown the surface as much as egg wash will, it does promote browning and adds a lot of flavor.

Why is my bread not light and fluffy? ›

For baking light and fluffy bread, it is necessary to choose flour that has high levels of protein. If you choose to use flour with lower protein levels, you'll be left with the bread being dense.

Why are my homemade rolls so dense? ›

There may be several reasons for a dense, cake like texture in bread. It may indicate the kneading wasn't enough for the gluten to develop properly, or the dough was proved for too short a time or the dough may have been too dry. It is also worth checking the flour you used.

What is the secret of soft buns? ›

Originally Answered: What is the secret behind baking soft and light roll buns? The secret to soft, light rolls, if you're looking for something like a dinner roll, is an enriched dough that contains butter or other dairy, eggs, or both.

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