The Best Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

The Best Gluten-Free Cinnamon Buns (or Rolls, if you prefer)

January 25, 2011 Jeanine

First off, I want to say THANK YOU to all of you who left me wonderful comments and emails after my last post. I had no idea what an impact my little blog had on so many people. Wow, overwhelming. Thank you for taking a few minutes of out your day to drop me a line and let me know, I truly appreciate it. Now please, don’t go silent…I love to hear from you and know how things worked for you, or what type of recipes you’re looking for. Please feel free to use the comment form, that’s what it’s there for. 

Alright, now onto the recipe! As those of you who join me on Facebook already know, I had a pretty successful baking weekend this past weekend. Here’s the recipe so many of you have been patiently waiting for.

Seriously, folks, if you have to try one recipe for cinnamon buns, I hope it’s this one. I have another recipe for cinnamon buns on this blog, but since the dough was made from only starches, and it didn’t behave the way my “regular” cinnamon buns used to from my pre-gluten free days, I decided to do some re-creating. I’m so glad that I did, and I think you will be pleased as well. If I were writing a gluten free cookbook, THIS recipe would be in it. Seriously, that good!

These cinnamon rolls have a topping, which you cook up and put in the bottom of the pan. They make the cinnamon buns nice and moist and sticky. Once they have finished baking, you flip them onto their serving tray, making that gooey syrup in the bottom of your pan, a great sticky topping for your cinnamon buns.

This recipe is the same cinnamon bun recipe that we were given in our high school Home Ec. class by Mrs. Braun. Mrs. Braun was an older woman who really knew her way around the kitchen & sewing. I learned a great deal from her, and still use what I learned in her classes today. She could never get my name right (and still can’t to this day). She always called me by my Mom’s name, which I thought was crazy, because I didn’t think my Mom & I looked anything alike. Oh well, it was a great class, and these cinnamon buns were first baked there.

Once I was out of school, I continued to make these cinnamon buns. Mainly, because my Mom was never very good at making cinnamon buns, and my Dad & Brother both LOVED them (in Mom’s defense, she does make great cinnamon rolls now). The things we do for compliments, huh? I took and tweaked the recipe here and there, and the recipe has always been a hit. I hope you will enjoy this gluten-free version of Mrs. Braun’s cinnamon rolls. I bet I could bake these for her, and she would never know they were not filled with gluten.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (see note)
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch
• 1 Tbsp rapid rise yeast
• 3 Tbsp white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp guar gum
• 1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix (dry) OR dry milk powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
•  4 Tbsp margarine
• 1/2 cup water
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp oil (I used Canola)
• 1 tsp vanilla

NOTE: 4 cups superfine brown rice flour, 1 1/3 cups potato starch (not flour), 2/3 cup tapioca starch. Combine all ingredients in a large zipper-top bag. Shake until well blended.

Topping:
Over low heat, in a small saucepan, heat 4 Tbsp. butter (or margarine), 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. corn syrup, stirring until sugar dissolves. Add 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 2 Tbsp. whipping cream and a pinch of salt. Stir to incorporate. Remove from heat and pour into the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan (I used a pie pan, but pans with straight sides work better).

Filling:
Combine:

• 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine, very soft
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp. cinnamon

NOTE: Once thoroughly blended, you may add 1/2 cup re-hydrated raisins or pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix all dry ingredients until combined. Set aside.
2. Put water and margarine in a glass measuring cup and microwave just until the margarine has melted. Remove from microwave and stir. Add milk, stir. Add other wet ingredients and whisk to combine.
3. With the stand mixer running (using the paddle attachment), pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Scrap down the bowl if you have to.
4. Allow to mix on medium speed for 3 minutes.
5. Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out on a slightly damp counter top, so it covers an area bigger than 8″ x 16″. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Gently lay another piece of plastic wrap over the top of the dough. Pat the dough down into a roughly squarish shape. Lift and reposition the top plastic wrap whenever you need to. Roll the dough out (with the plastic wrap on top) to a square approximately 8″ x 16″.
6. Remove plastic wrap. Spread filling mixture evenly across dough’s surface. Leave 1 1/2″ along one long end without any filling, this is where your cinnamon rolls will be sealed.
7. Starting along the long end, use the bottom sheet of plastic wrap to lift the edge of the dough and roll it up, forming a long cylinder. Start with the edge that has filling on it, that will be the center of your finished rolls.
8. Using a long piece of dark thread (light colours can be lost in the dough), cut the long “cinnamon bun log” into 8 pieces, about 1 1/2″ wide. You can do this by placing the thread underneath the roll, crossing it at the top, and pulling the threads so they cross each other, pulling it through the dough. This way, you won’t be squishing your dough down by cutting with a knife. Place rolls in prepared pan, with cut side up. I like to push the rolls down to about 1″ high.
9. Allow the cinnamon rolls/buns to rise in a warm, draft free place for about 30 minutes, or until nearly double in size.
10. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are a nice golden brown.
11. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before inverting on a serving tray, and let the syrup run down over the rolls.
12. These are best served warm, however, I had great success with reheating them in the microwave for a few seconds when they were a day old as well.

There you have it. Picture perfect cinnamon rolls. You can actually unroll it the same way you do “regular” cinnamon buns. I also had success with forming the rolls, and covering the baking pan with plastic wrap and putting them in the fridge to bake at a later time. You just have to give them a little more time to rise before baking if you do this.

If you try this recipe, please, please let me know how it works for you. If you need an image to help you understand the rolling and cutting part, please check out this post, the pictures should help you out there.

Update: March 26, 2012

Gluten-free AND Dairy-Free Cinnamon Rolls

I know many, many of you have asked how to change this recipe so that it is both gluten and dairy free. After some playing around last week, these are the changes that I made.

• REPLACE the instant vanilla pudding powder with 1/4 cup almond flour (ground almond meal)
• REPLACE the 1/2 cup water and 3/4 cup milk with soy milk (or your favorite non-dairy milk)
• REPLACE all of the butter/margarine with vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
• REPLACE the heavy cream in the Topping with 2 Tbsp soy milk.

By doing these changes, you will end up with a delicious, sticky, ooey-gooey gluten and dairy free cinnamon roll, just like these: