Every Christmas morning my family has a big breakfast after we open gifts. One of my favorite memories of Christmas morning was hot and sticky cinnamon rolls. Over the last decade, I haven't been able to have cinnamon rolls with my family due to being diagnosed with celiac disease. We have found premade gluten-free cinnamon rolls before, but they're always full of unhealthy filler ingredients. I decided this Christmas I was going to make my own homemade rolls so I wouldn't miss out!
This recipe is a little more time consuming than my other baking recipes, BUT it is completely worth it! These rolls are gluten-free and refined sugar-free and there is an option to make them grain-free as well! I baked them ahead of time and will warm them up in the oven Christmas morning and enjoy them with my family!
Ingredients:
Dough:
2 1/4 cups of blanched almond flour
1 cup of GF flour (oat flour or sorghum flour can be used. If you'd like to make these grain-free then you can use 1/3 a cup of coconut flour instead)
3 TBS ground flax seeds
1/4 cup of coconut sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup of warm water (105-110 degrees F)
1 packet of dry yeast
1 TBS maple syrup or honey (this sweetener will be used to feed the yeast)
2 TBS butter (melted)
1/4 cup of coconut cream
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
Cinnamon Filling:
1/3 cup of butter (softened)
2 TBS cinnamon
1/4 cup of coconut sugar (helps give it that nice dark cinnamon color for the filling)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Icing:
I personally used the Simple Mills Vanilla Frosting but you can also make your own.
You can use Swerve confectioners sugar, Lakanto monk fruit sweetener, or organic powdered sugar. You'll need:
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar of your choice
1/4 cup of butter
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2-3 tbs of nut milk
Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl with a hand mixer until well incorporated and use immediately!
Directions:
You will want to start by preparing your yeast. Warm the water up and in a small bowl combine the water, dry yeast and maple syrup/honey. Let the yeast sit and proof for 10 minutes. It should bubble up as the yeast eats the sugar.
While your yeast is proofing you can prepare the dry and wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl combine the almond flour, GF flour of your choice, flaxseed, sea salt, and baking powder.
In the same bowl stir in the melted butter, coconut cream, eggs, apple cider vinegar, vanilla extract and the yeast mixture. Mix the ingredients thoroughly. The dough will be wet and sticky dough since we are using GF flours. The dough should be able to form a ball easily, if it is too sticky add a TBS at a time of gf flour till the dough comes together.
On a baking sheet lay out parchment paper dusted in flour. Pour your dough onto the parchment paper and top with a sprinkle of flour and a second sheet of parchment paper. Roll out the dough till it makes an even square, roughly 1/2 inch thick. Place the dough in the freezer for 15 minutes so it will harden up and be easier to roll!
While the dough is hardening you can make the cinnamon filling. In a small bowl mix together the cinnamon filling ingredients until they're all combined,
After 15 minutes pull out the dough and remove the top piece of parchment paper. Spread the cinnamon filling evenly over the dough, leaving about an inch of dough untouched on the outsides.
Slowly roll the dough into a log, and lift off the parchment paper as you go. Using a sharp knife slice the log into even rolls. I usually start by cutting the log in half and then cutting the halves into half again. This recipe yields roughly 8 cinnamon rolls.
Once your rolls are cut place them face side up into a baking dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. You can slightly press down and reshape the rolls as you place them in the baking dish. Cover the baking dish with either a glass lid or foil.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F and place the rolls covered in the over. Leave the oven on for 10-15 minutes and then turn it off, but still leave the rolls in the warm oven for at least 60 minutes, or until they rise.
Once the rolls have risen you can remove them from the oven and uncover them. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from the oven and top with frosting if you're serving them right away! If you are making these ahead of time then store in the fridge covered and heat up in a 350-degree oven for 5-10 minutes before serving Christmas morning and top with the frosting before serving!
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