Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Casserole (Vegan)
Vegan cinnamon rolls don’t have to be hard to make; just let your crockpot do most of the work. This breakfast Cinnamon Roll Casserole uses a vegan-friendly can of biscuits and common kitchen staples. Perfect for holiday brunches or lazy weekends!
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This Vegan Cinnamon Rolls recipe came about when we had a fellow food blogger friend staying with us who is not vegan – let’s call her Jenn.
I wanted to veganize something from Jenn’s site while she was here, and saw her easy recipe for cinnamon roll casserole made in a crockpot with Pillsbury biscuits. Since most of Pillsbury’s canned biscuits are “accidentally” vegan, I happily thought “That’s the one!”
Long story short, I made it and everyone loved it! I mean everyone…even my friend who never eats vegan food! After that initial introduction, it became a staple at any brunch occasion where we want to serve something indulgent without all the work.
I make this vegan cinnamon roll casserole recipe for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Tax Day, any chance I can get! Everyone always loves them, and the house always smells amazing!
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Why You’ll Love This Easy Cinnamon Roll Casserole
- Simple – Forget all the trouble of making fresh cinnamon rolls from scratch.
- Hands Off – Just roll and coat the doughballs and let the slow cooker do the rest.
- Delicious – Nobody can resist this sumptuous cinnamon roll breakfast casserole.
Vegan Cinnamon Roll Recipe Ingredients
This vegan cinnamon rolls recipe only requires a tube of refrigerator biscuits and some common kitchen staples.
For the Rolls:
- Vegan-friendly canned biscuits – See the section below for brand suggestions!
- Vegan butter – We like Country Crock Plant Butter sticks!
- Brown sugar – light or dark brown sugar will work, so will coconut sugar!
- Ground cinnamon
For the Glaze:
- Organic powdered sugar – also called confectioners’ sugar
- Non-dairy milk – We love the creamy oat milk from Planet Oat for this.
- Vanilla extract
Substitutions & Alterations
- Feel free to sub coconut oil for the vegan butter. Make sure you use refined coconut oil unless you want it to taste like coconuts!
- Coconut sugar can be subbed for the brown sugar
- We haven’t tried it, but I think you could probably make this with homemade dough. Just roll the dough into the balls and follow the directions for adding the butter and cinnamon-sugar.
“Accidentally” Vegan Canned Biscuits
While many brands’ prepared cinnamon roll biscuits aren’t vegan, their tube biscuits are. And those can easily be transformed into our vegan cinnamon roll casserole!
Ingredients to watch out for when choosing a brand are whey, sodium caseinate or caseinate, buttermilk, or milk powder.
Note: Whey and caseinate are often not listed as dairy allergens in the allergy information section, so be sure to read any ingredients list carefully.
Here are a few common brands of canned biscuits that are vegan-friendly:
- Pillsbury Grand Southern Buttermilk Biscuits
- Pillsbury Grand Southern Homestyle Butter Tastin’ Biscuits – This is what we most often use in this recipe!
- Pillsbury Grand Southern Homestyle Southern Recipe Biscuits
- Trader Joe’s Organic Biscuits
- Annie’s Organic Flaky Biscuits
- Immaculate Baking Flaky Biscuits (Immaculate’s refrigerated Cinnamon Rolls are also vegan-friendly!)
How to Make Crockpot Cinnamon Roll Casserole
Step 1: Spray your slow cooker with a nonstick cooking spray
Step 2: Open your can of biscuits and separate them. Roll each one into a smooth ball shape and place on a plate to the side.
Step 3: Set up your melted vegan butter in a small bowl and mix the brown sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl. See the photo below for what this set-up looks like.
Step 4: Roll each biscuit ball in the melted butter, use a fork or slotted spoon to lift the biscuit out of the butter and roll it in the sugar cinnamon mixture until completely coated. Transfer the coated cinnamon roll balls to your slow cooker so they are touching. See the photo below for reference.
Step 5: Cover the top of the slow cooker with a paper towel and place the lid on top to hold the paper towel in place. This is my friend Jenn’s trick to keep condensation from dripping on the rolls while cooking – genius!
Cook on low for 2 hours, making sure you check them at 1½ hours. When done, they’ll look like the photo below!
Step 6: Make the vegan cinnamon roll glaze by mixing all the ingredients in a small bowl with a fork or small whisk
Step 7: Transfer the cinnamon rolls to a serving plate when they are done and drizzle the glaze on top before serving.
Tips & Tricks
- Make sure you get the 16.3-oz can of biscuits with about 8 biscuits in it. I’ve used smaller tubes before that had smaller biscuits, and it did not work out nearly as well!
- Don’t skip the paper towel trick! That was the best thing I learned from my friend’s recipe. Place a paper towel in the lid of the slow cooker so the excess moisture doesn’t drip on the cinnamon buns while they cook!
- Every slow-cooker can be a little different, so be sure to check the cinnamon rolls after 1 ½ hours to see if they’re done. They won’t be golden or hard to the touch (if they are, you’ve cooked them too long). You want them to still be soft on the outside but have some internal firmness when you push down on them lightly.
- Be careful about leaving the cinnamon rolls in the slow cooker after cooking. With some slow cookers, they will continue cooking, creating a burnt or hard bottom.
What To Serve With Crock Pot Cinnamon Roll Casserole
You can enjoy these scrummy cinnamon rolls with any of our Delicious Vegan Breakfast Recipes.
Here’s just a few great ideas to get you started:
- Rice Paper Bacon
- Walnut Scrapple
- Vegan Quiche
- JUST Egg Omelette
- Southwest Tofu Scramble
- Easy Breakfast Potatoes
- Vegan Potato Pancakes
How to Store Cinnamon Roll Casserole
Store any leftover cinnamon rolls in an airtight container. Stored at room temperature, they’ll last for 1-2 days. If you refrigerate them, you can extend the shelf life to 4-5 days.
Personally, I would store them in the fridge!
How to Freeze Cinnamon Rolls
You can also freeze cooked cinnamon rolls for up to 2 months. Just don’t add the icing until you are ready to eat them.
Here’s how to freeze:
- Allow the cinnamon rolls to cool completely and separate them.
- Place individual cinnamon rolls on a pie plate or baking sheet and stick in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
- Transfer frozen cinnamon buns to a dated, freezer safe bag and store in the freezer.
Allow the cinnamon rolls to thaw completely before reheating.
How to Reheat Cinnamon Rolls
Reheat cinnamon rolls in the microwave for 15-30 seconds.
More Breakfast Casserole Recipes
We also have a fun round-up with tips on how to prepare all of our vegan breakfast casserole recipes!
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we did! Let us know if you have any questions or if you made it and what you thought!
Leave a comment in the section just below the recipe card along with a star rating. We’d love to hear what you think, and those reviews help to get our recipes seen by more people!
Crockpot Cinnamon Roll Recipe
Ingredients
For the Buns:
- 1 (16.3-oz) can vegan-friendly biscuits see notes for brand suggestions
- 3 Tbsp vegan butter melted
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
For the Glaze:
- 1/3 cup organic powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp non-dairy milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Spray your slow cooker with a nonstick cooking spray to keep the sugar from glueing itself to the sides.
- Open your can of biscuits, split them apart, and roll each one into a smooth ball shape. Place them on a plate to the side.
- Set up your melted vegan butter in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Roll each biscuit ball in the melted vegan butter. Then, use a fork or slatted spoon to lift the biscuit out of the vegan butter and roll this in the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture until completely coated. Finally, transfer the coated biscuit ball to your slow cooker. Repeat this step with all the biscuit balls, placing them right next to each other, touching.
- Cover the slow cooker top with a paper towel and place the lid on top of that, holding the paper towel in place. This is my friend Jenn’s trick to keep condensation from dripping on the rolls while cooking!
- Cook on low for 2 hours, making sure you check them at 1½ hours. Every slow cooker is a little different.
- Make the glaze by mixing all ingredients in a small bowl with a fork or whisk until totally combined.
- When the cinnamon rolls are done, remove them from the crockpot and drizzle (or pour) the glaze on top before serving!
Notes
- Pillsbury Grand Southern Buttermilk Biscuits
- Pillsbury Grand Southern Homestyle Butter Tastin’ Biscuits – This is what we most often use in this recipe!
- Pillsbury Grand Southern Homestyle Southern Recipe Biscuits
- Trader Joe’s Organic Biscuits
- Annie’s Organic Flaky Biscuits
- Immaculate Baking Flaky Biscuits (Immaculate’s refrigerated Cinnamon Rolls are also vegan-friendly!)
SO EASY to make! I LOVE this recipe and I’ve lost count as to how many times I’ve made this! Both vegans and non-vegans love these cinnamon rolls! I do double what the recipe calls for with the icing though.
I am so happy to hear this. Thank you for the review! And 100% on board with doubling the icing. Can never get enough icing!