Cinnamon Rolls

By Gianna Ortiz

Have you ever wondered if there was a healthier version to everything that still tastes good? That is what I’ll be exploring during this issue! Cinnamon rolls have always been a favorite treat of mine, but it’s always too sweet. Therefore, in this issue, I will make a “healthier” version of cinnamon rolls that everyone knows and loves.


Although cinnamon rolls will never be completely “healthy,” the recipe that I am using makes sure to minimize the amount of sugar used. For this issue, the recipe I will be reviewing is from the website Tasty, which is known for its alternate versions of various sweet treats. This website even has a step-by-step video tutorial on making them. Therefore, I will be testing how tasty these healthier cinnamon rolls can get.

The process of making these cinnamon rolls was a lot easier than I expected it to be! Although the recipe doesn’t say the amount of time that should be taken to make them, it took me around an hour and a half to prepare and bake these treats. I found this to be surprising since a lot of other recipes that I looked into said that it would take three to five hours. Therefore, I would rate the time aspect of this recipe very highly since it exceeded my expectations!


Making the dough was a hassle. The recipe had called for yeast, although I ended up not using any and it didn’t impact the recipe at all. Although, at first, the ingredients were not mixing smoothly. Therefore, I had to continuously add milk to form a dough consistency. I would recommend adding around two and a half cups of oat milk instead of two. Also, rolling out the dough was tricky because the consistency was slightly off. Even though it was a lot of trouble through this process, it still ended up working quite well and tasted delicious.


Rolling the cinnamon roll together was easy. Even though the edges weren’t the smoothest, it still ended up working. I recommend rolling the dough thinner and making more of the filling since the ratio of bread-to-filling was slightly off. After putting the cinnamon rolls in the oven, the filling started to rise and overflow slightly. This had no impact on the actual taste of the treat, but it made them look less like traditional cinnamon rolls.


The one part of this recipe that I wouldn’t recommend is the frosting portion. When I attempted to follow the recipe, the picture looked exactly like a traditional glaze. However, the taste was nothing like it. The cream cheese was overpowering all the other ingredients and tasted awful. I attempted to make it taste better by adding more milk and sugar, but it didn't help. In the end, I ended up not having a glaze since the recipe was disgusting.


Overall, for being a healthier alternative to the traditional recipe, I would say that these cinnamon rolls were pretty delicious. Nothing about the taste of the cinnamon roll was off, although it was the process of making them that was a struggle at some points. I had altered the recipe slightly to use oat milk instead of almond milk, but it had no impact. Therefore, I would recommend this recipe since you can make it fully vegan if desired, and it tastes the same as any other cinnamon roll. The main thing I learned is not every recipe is perfect. There are always going to be alterations and difficult parts of the recipe, which makes the experience more enjoyable!


After the dough was rolled, it was slightly thicker than expected to be. Although, when they were divided it didn’t look as bad.

These looked amazing before being put in the oven! They were slightly smaller than traditional but it still ended up being delicious.

This was the final result of the recipe! These cinnamon rolls look slightly messy, but it just adds more character to the recipe. For obvious reasons, there's no glaze being spilled on these cinnamon rolls!