Coconut Cinna Ring by Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes

Happy Friday Everyone! I have a very special treat for you all today. My friend Heather from Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes and I decided to swap guest posts. Her amazing recipe is here today and mine will be up on her blog next week. I KNOW you all are going to love this beautiful treat she cooked up! Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes is an amazing blog with very inspiring recipes and photos, and I'm sure most of you have already visited many times, but if not you should definitely check it out! You can also stop by and say "Hi!" on her facebook page. I'm already getting hungry seeing this delicious recipe, so without further ado, here is Heather!

Guest posts make me a bit anxious – for me, it’s like going into someone’s house unsure whether or not they have a no shoe rule. Do I take them off or do I leave them on? If you are anything like me you actually have a sign in your mudroom telling guests exactly what they should do – in a nice way of course.

I am so excited to be guest posting here on Vegan Fling; I absolutely adore Melissa and her space. I have been following her blog for so long know that I have no clue how we even met. I just remember falling in love with her easy recipes and clean pictures. So how excited was I when she & I were paired as a match for vegan foodie pen pal – super excited. From there the idea of a Guest Post was born. So take your shoes off, leave them at the door and join me in Vegan Fling’s virtual kitchen as I share my tasty & totally acceptable for breakfast Coconut Cinna Ring.

I am a perfectionist, totally type a. I wanted the recipe to be close to perfect – you know, putting my best foot forward. Melissa always has so many amazing sweets so I thought I would share with you something a little sweet along with a new technique that I pinned a while back.

This ring of goodness is refined sugar free utilizing maple syrup and coconut sugar as its main sweeteners – certainly you can sub in dark brown sugar if you are lacking in the coconut sugar department. 

With each bite you get a little burst of coconut that is on the edge of being addicting.

The process of making the ring is quite easy, I would however recommend using a piece of parchment paper as your work surface; it wasn’t much fun trying to slide the ring onto parchment after the fact.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did making it!

Justin recommends a Maple Glaze as the finishing touch but feel free to make any glaze you and your family enjoy!

Coconut Cinna Ring

Serves 12

You will need:

For the sweet dough:

• 3 1/4 cups spelt flour
• 2 tsp package active dry yeast
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup plain soy yogurt

For the filling:

• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

For the glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

Assembly:

• Combine 1-1/2 cups of the flour and yeast; set aside. In a saucepan heat milk, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, and salt until warm (120 F. to 130 degrees F) and butter is almost melted. Add to flour mixture along with soy yogurt. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl; turn once. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double (1 to 1-1/2 hours)
• Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover; let rest 10 minutes. Follow these instructions to make the braided ring.
•  Cover and let rise until nearly double (about 30 to 40 minutes)
• Brush the ring with the remaining filling. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly.
• In a medium bowl combine powdered sugar & maple syrup. Whisk until smooth, adding additional powdered sugar if needed to reach desired consistency - drizzle onto ring just prior to serving.

Make-Ahead Tip

Up to 24 hours ahead, make and shape rolls. Cover with oiled waxed paper; then with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 2 to 24 hours. Before baking, let stand for 20 minutes at room temperature. Uncover and puncture any surface bubbles with a greased wooden toothpick.

Enjoy!