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Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls

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GlutenFreeCinnamonRolls

There’s been lots of excitement around here lately! We had Andy’s lovely sister, Marcie come to visit from Philadelphia, we decided to stay another year in SoCal, and found a cute little house to rent! It’s been so fun, but I’m also really looking forward to slowing down again. Having things to do is great, but being “busy” is not for me. Unless you count helping the kids with their projects, going for long walks, taking trips to the beach, and spending lazy days at the coffee shop as busy, which I don’t 🙂 And also I forgot to mention eating gorgeous yummy real food—I always do lots of that.

Speaking of eating gorgeous yummy real food, one of the most frequent requests I get is for gluten free cinnamon rolls. There are so many cinnamon roll recipes to choose from, but none quite like mine. My gluten-free cinnamon rolls are also egg-free, refined sugar-free and grain-free! And since they’re half coconut flour, they have a good amount of protein and fiber too! I always joke when I make them, “What was I thinking… ?” Because cinnamon rolls do take longer to make than say, baking a cake. But then I take a bite… and it’s all worth it. There’s just something about eating a cinnamon roll. The texture of the dough, the cinnamon filling, the icing. Mmm…

Be sure to sign up to my new Spunky Newsletter for more news and giveaways!

♥, Kelly

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls

egg-free, grain-free, dairy-free

Dough Ingredients

1 cup apple sauce, without added sugar
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons flax meal OR 3 tablespoons chia seed meal (I grind my chia seeds in a coffee grinder or Magic Bullet)
1½ teaspoon guar gum
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons cashew milk (or other milk)
2 teaspoons vanilla
¼ teaspoon vanilla liquid stevia
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup melted ghee or coconut oil (I use ¼ cup of each)
1 cup coconut flour, sifted
1 cup tapioca flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda

Filling Ingredients

½ cup applesauce, without added sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
¼ cup coconut sugar (if your husband is like mine you can double this 😉

Dough directions

Set the oven to 350°F. Add the applesauce, flax or chia meal, gum, vinegar, milk, vanilla and stevia to a mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer. Add the honey, ghee or coconut oil, coconut flour, tapioca flour, baking powder and baking soda, and mix again until a ball begins to form. Lay the ball on lightly floured unbleached parchment paper, and roll into a rectangle approximately ¼ to ½ inch thick. Set aside and make the filling.

Filling Directions

Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl. Spread the filling onto the rolled out dough.

Assemble

Roll the dough fairly tightly. When I get to the end of the roll I find it easier to turn it around and pull towards myself. Slice into 8 cinnamon rolls. Arrange the rolls in a lightly greased pie dish and bake for 30 minutes, or until done. Top with Macadamia Glaze (recipe follows).

macadamia glaze

¼ cup almond milk
¼ cup coconut milk
¼ cup honey
1 cup macadamia nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
optional: liquid stevia to taste

Puree all of the ingredients in the blender or food processor until completely smooth.

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Comments

  3. I’m slightly new to gluten-free baking and I’ve never used guar gum before. Is there a substitute for it or should I just bite the bullet and purchase it?

  4. I am excited about trying these. They look and sound delicious. They will be my contribution to Mother’s Day brunch!!

  5. Gluten-free cooking has stirred the desire to cook within once again. All theses wonderful blogs and sites have neen so helpful and encouraging. At 68 I feel thosr creative juices flowing know pun intended). I would love a great set of knives to spur me on.

  7. The cookbook sounds wonderful — I always need inspiration for GF foods. My sil has celiac and so it is important that we use the best we can to keep him healthy. Thanks — do enjoy all your posts on facebook too

    Julie

  12. Oh, we will have to try these! We have gluten and dairy allergies in this house, but my son just “outgrew” his tree nut allergies and I have been wading back into recipes using them. This sounds great!

  14. These look awesome! I miss cinnamon rolls more than anything else since going GF.
    And I’d love to win the knives. So glad that Canada is included too 🙂

  17. These sound delicious! Are you using the guar gum as a binder? If eggs aren’t a problem, could an egg be used instead?
    Thanks for all your great recipes and ideas.

    • I can’t remember if I tested it with eggs (and no guar gum). It might work. Please let me know if you try it.

  18. Love your recipes ! Paleo pancakes are a big hit in our home topped with fresh strawberries! !!!

  23. looks yummy….you are so talented and thank you for sharing with your readers:)

  24. awesome give-away… my knives are over 25yrs old and not as sturdy as these!
    Renee

  27. I am food sensitive/intolerant to tapioca flour (as well as rice, wheat, teff & others). Would this recipe work if I used just used coconut flour? It sounds so delicious!

    Just entering the world of no gluten, no dairy, no rice, no oats. . . It’s daunting, but made easier with recipes like yours! Thanks for the site & for your time. : )

  29. Oh wow! You did it again! These cinnamon rolls are a dream come true: gluten free and grain free without a ton of almond flour! I love it!! Thank you for such an awesome recipe…you can be sure that I will be making these ASAP!! ;D
    One question: is there any substitute for the chia/flax seeds or are they essential?? Thanks for all your hard work on this recipe! 🙂

    ~Kelly

    • Psyllium husk powder would probably work in place of chia/flax, but I’m not sure how much to suggest. Definitely less!

  32. Wow!!!! Super excited for this amazing giveaway!!!! I love your blog!!!!!

  33. These look delicious! I can’t wait to try them! And u think I entered the cutlery giveaway but I’m on my phone and not sure if everything went thru alright.

  36. Oh how I’d love to win this set! One can NEVER have too many good knives for cooking! Now if I can only sharpen mine as well as my hubby does…!

  37. Anytime is cinnamon roll time! I could certainly put this beautiful knife set to good use.

    • Unfortunately, I have not been able to accomplish these without guar gum. If I do I will let you know!

  39. I love your news letter thanks for the inspiration! And I love knives 🙂

  42. The cinnamon rolls look divine, cant wait to try this recipe for myself, thank you for sharing it.

  43. Awesome giveaway! I’ve wanted to get you cookbook for awhile…The knife set giveaway is pretty sweet, too! Thanks for the chance to win both!

  46. I love your blog because you always seem to post recipes that I would have thought impossible! Gluten-free, refined-sugar-free, nut-free cinnamon rolls? Get out of town 🙂

    I’m going to have to make these for my fiance this weekend — he’s given up grain for the moment and is not exactly happy about it. Thanks for sharing!

  48. I understand that the applesauce is to replace the eggs…however, im allergic to apples, is there anything I could try to use instead? Maybe along the lines of pureed squash or plantain? Thanks!

  49. I don’t use honey, however, would I be able to substitute coconut nectar for honey? Do you have any other suggestions for vanilla stevia substitutions? Thank you!

  50. I made these using banana purée instead of apple sauce and gelatin instead of guar gum in the dough. I used marmalade and cinnamon purée as the filling but imagine you could also use fig/prune purée if like me your’re allergic to apples :-). I struggled to roll the dough as it was very crumbly and thick. The result was very dense dough and lacking in much flavour. They didn’t store very well in the fridge but happily ate them with some coconut cream/milk to give then some moisture as they’re very dry. I have dysphagia so struggle with dense dry foods.

  54. We make cinnamon rolls for breakfast for Christmas morning, it started as the pillsbury ones, then as I cleaned up our diet we started making them. I’m now GF, due to my health, so I cannot wait to try these at Christmas!!!

  55. 2 questions:

    1. I’m wondering if I can assemble these in advance, store in frig and bake the next morning? Worth giving it a try?

    2. I have xanthan gum, think that will work in place of guar gum? Do you know what the difference is? I wonder if gluccomannan would work?

    Ok, so that was kinda more than 2 🙂

    • 1. I think so, but I haven’t tried, so I can’t be sure.
      2. Xanthan and guar can be used interchangeably. Xanthan comes from bacteria, usually grown on corn, and guar comes from the cluster bean.
      🙂

  56. I just have to comment abput this ridiculously brilliant recipe! It is absolutely fantastic! Yes, there’s a bit of work to it, but it’s quite worth it once you take your first bite. I thought these tasted almost identical to what I expect from a cinnamon roll, but woth the added benefit that I actually felt GOOD eating them. There is a great satisfaction that I feel when I’m eating something truly healthy. Thanks fpr a terrific recipe, Kelly! Truly a “10-star” recipe (if there was such a thing 🙂 I absolutely LOVE it!

  57. First off these are amazing cinnamon rolls. Second I subbed the applesauce in the dough with pureed pumpkin, added maple syrup in place of the milk and added 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice. It worked really well and is perfect for this time of year! Thank you!