Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
I’ve been working on a cinnamon roll recipe for quite a while (more than a year!!!) and I finally got them exactly perfect. Then, hoping it wasn’t just chance, I made them again and they turned out exactly perfect again!
These are bakery-like cinnamon rolls that are big, fluffy, gooey, and are just as good as any other gluten and dairy-filled cinnamon roll! Or if you prefer Keto and Paleo, I have a killer Keto Cinnamon Roll Recipe!
Easy Cinnamon Roll Steps
In a small bowl, mix together some non-dairy milk and vinegar. Set aside. This will be our homemade buttermilk mixture.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together blanched almond flour, arrowroot or tapioca flour, pectin, xanthan gum, salt, baking soda, sugar, and yeast… all the dry ingredients.
Next, add 2 eggs, softened butter (can use non-dairy), and vanilla to the milk mixture. Then, add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well. Knead the dough until it comes together then wrap tightly in plastic wrap.
Allow the dough to rest in the fridge for 6 hours to overnight.
When the dough is finished resting in the fridge, tear off a piece of parchment paper that’s at least 20 inches long. Generously sprinkle the parchment with tapioca or arrowroot flour.
Using a well-floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to 15 inches tall x 20 inches wide – the size of the parchment paper. Add additional starch as needed to prevent sticking.
Melt some butter (can use non-dairy) or ghee and spread over the dough. Leave the bottom 1 inch dry.
In a small bowl, combine some cinnamon, coconut palm sugar, and xanthan gum. The xanthan gum is optional but helps keep the filling from oozing out during baking.
Sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture over the butter.
Starting on the side farthest away from you, start rolling the dough tightly making at least 4 or 5 rotations. You can lift up the parchment paper to help get the dough up and rolling.
When you come to the end, pinch the bottom edge of the dough into the log so it creates a seal.
Cut the dough into 16 equal-sized rolls and place in a parchment-lined baking dish. Slightly press down on each roll.
To proof the yeast:
Bring a medium-sized pot of water to a boil.
Place rolls in the center or top rack of the oven with the boiling water on the bottom rack and allow to proof for 1 hour. They won’t double in size but they will rise and plump up. Cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel while rising.
Baking the rolls:
After they have finished rising, remove the rolls from the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Once preheated, bake the cinnamon rolls for 16 -20 minutes, rotating halfway through to ensure even baking. Bake until rolls are nicely browned to prevent the centers from being doughy.
Frost the rolls you plan on eating while hot and enjoy!!!
Expert Tips
- The dough needs to sit in the fridge 6 hours to overnight, so plan ahead 🙂
- To make the rolls ahead of time: 1) Bake as directed then let rolls cool 2) Freeze 3) Heat in a 250-degree oven for 15 minutes 4) Ice while rolls are hot.
- Instead of the powdered sugar frosting below, sometimes I use my Paleo “Cream Cheese” Frosting and thin it out with a non-dairy milk as needed, it’s awesome too 🙂
- To make your own unrefined powdered sugar: Add Truvia baking mix into a coffee grinder and blend until it’s a fine powder. Stir in 1 Tbsp of arrowroot per cup. I’ve used this homemade powdered sugar with the frosting recipe below and we LOVED it! You can also use powdered xylitol or erythritol. Coconut palm sugar does not work well with this recipe – trust me!
- Leftovers can be stored, unfrosted, at room temperature 2 to 3 days or frozen.
If you’ve tried these Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls or any other recipe on the blog please let me know in the comments below!
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Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For The Dough:
- 3 cups blanched almond flour very finely ground
- 2 1/2 cups tapioca flour + more for rolling dough I've also successfully used arrowroot
- 2 tsp. pectin on the baking aisle
- 1 tsp. xanthan gum
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp. dry active yeast
- 2 Tbsp butter (can use non-dairy) or ghee softened
- 1 Cup non-dairy milk
- 1 tsp. distilled white vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
Filling:
- 1/2 cup butter (can use non-dairy) or ghee melted
- 2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/4 C brown sugar or coconut palm sugar
- 1 Tbsp. xanthan gum
Frosting (or try my dairy, soy, & refined sugar free cream cheese frosting, link above):
- 1 lb. powdered sugar
- 1/4 C Earth Balance butter or ghee melted
- 3 Tbsp. Non-Dairy Milk
- 1 Tbsp. strong brewed coffee optional
- 1 tsp. vanilla or maple extract
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together the milk alternative with the vinegar (we're making buttermilk). Set aside.
- Whisk together the almond flour, tapioca flour, pectin, xanthan gum, sugar, salt, soda, and yeast... all the dry ingredients.
- Add the eggs, butter, and vanilla to the milk mixture and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and knead with a dough hook until it comes together, scraping down bowl as needed. If you don't have a dough hook, mix together with a spoon the best you can and then use your hands to knead the dough until it is very well combined. Batter will be thick and sticky. However, if batter seems too wet, you can add a tiny bit more tapioca flour.
- Scrape/pour batter into plastic wrap and wrap tightly. Place in refrigerator 6 hours to overnight.
- Tear out a piece of parchment paper that is at least 20 inches long and sprinkle generously with arrowroot or tapioca flour. Using a well-floured rolling pin, roll the dough 15 inches (the height of the parchment paper) by 20 inches long. Use tapioca flour as needed to help prevent sticking.
- Bring a medium to large pot of water to a boil... we'll come back to this 🙂
- Melt the butter and spread over the dough, leaving the bottom 1 inch dry.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the cinnamon, sugar, and xanthan gum. Spread evenly over the butter.
- Carefully start rolling the dough tightly making at least 4 or 5 rotations towards the bottom dry part of the dough. You can lift up the parchment paper to help get the dough up and rolling. When you come to the end, pinch the bottom edge of the dough into the log so it creates a seal.
- Using a very sharp greased knife, cut the log in half. Then, cut each half in half. Then cut each roll in half again. You should have 16 rolls.
- Transfer rolls to a large parchment-lined or greased baking dish and slightly press down on each roll.
- Place rolls in the center or top rack of the oven with the boiling water on the bottom rack and allow to proof for 1 hour. They won't double in size but they will rise. I covered mine with a clean, damp kitchen towel.
- Remove rolls and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake for 16 - 20 minutes, rotating half-way through to ensure even baking. Make sure they are very nicely browned so the centers aren't dough-ey.
Icing:
- Whisk all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Icing will be thick. Pour over hot rolls.
Notes
- The dough needs to sit in the fridge 6 hours to overnight, so plan ahead!
- To make the rolls ahead of time: 1) Bake as directed then let rolls cool 2) Freeze 3) Heat in a 250-degree oven for 15 minutes 4) Ice while rolls are hot.
- Instead of the powdered sugar frosting, sometimes I use my Paleo "Cream Cheese" Frosting and thin it out with a non-dairy milk as needed, it's awesome too!
- To make your own unrefined powdered sugar: Add Truvia baking mix into a coffee grinder and blend until it's a fine powder. Stir in 1 Tbsp of arrowroot per cup. I've used this homemade powdered sugar with the frosting recipe below and we LOVED it! You can also use powdered xylitol or erythritol. Coconut palm sugar does not work well with this recipe - trust me!
- Leftovers can be stored, unfrosted, at room temperature 2 to 3 days or frozen.
- If you prefer Keto or Paleo, check out my Paleo And Keto Cinnamon Rolls
Nutritional information is approximate and may vary.
What Non Dairy milk works to make “Buttermilk” I used Organic Almond milk and it didn’t work. And my cinnamon rolls did not rise. I am thinking that was my problem. The flavor is great but they were more flat and doughy (I did bake them all the way through) They just had no puff. I do understand they will not rise the same as traditional. Any other suggestions to get a bit more rise out of the dough?
Hi Lynn!
The buttermilk doesn’t necessarily need to curdle, it just needs to react with the baking soda to give the rolls a bit of rise. As far as “too doughy” is concerned, you can add a little bit more flour to take care of the problem – maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cup more almond flour or a few tbsp to 1/4 cup starch. As far as not rising, you can up the yeast up to a Tbsp. Be sure the yeast is fresh, if it’s been sitting in your cabinet awhile it’s probably gone bad and will not work to make the rolls rise. I hope this helps!!! Please let me know how it goes next time you make them!!!
-Cassidy
These were AMAZING!! Like unbelievable…. so easy and came out PERFECT!! Definitely will make again!!! thank you so much for this gift of a recipe on Christmas!
Oh my goodness, thank you!!! I’m so excited you liked them so much! Thanks for letting me know ?
-Cassidy
Hi thanks for the data. I ordered pectin online! I could use it in other receipes as well. I’ll let you know what was the final result ?
Hi! Thank you for the exact receipe! I have a question, how crucial is the pectin? It’s hard to find in EU and wonder what will happen if I skip it or is there a substitute for it? Thanks again! Maya
Hi Maya! The pectin helps the dough hold together. While you could skip it, the dough might be harder to work with and turn out a bit crumbly. I’d try replacing it some gelatin (not collagen)! Let me know what you think!!!
-Cassidy
I want to cry. My oldest went to college and misses my cooking. Only she has POTS and I’ve kinda figured out the gluten free baking thing but not the cinnamon rolls. Note: been baking my whole life I’m a farm girl. You just gave me the missing piece. Never occurred to me to proof a la Bain Marie how very fancy of you even not actually in the water thank you thank you!!! and we freeze regular abs gf and give as xmas gifts with frosting in frosting tubes with xmas ribbon.
I was very surprised to see you mention your daughter has POTS. I have it also and have been gluten free since a few years before I was diagnosed with POTS. I hope to try this recipe before this Christmas.
Greetings Cassidy!!!
The pectin that you use, is it regular pectin or low/no sugar pectin, also the yeast that you use, is this an instant/fast acting?
Thanks
Hi Stacy! I used regular pectin and the regular active dry yeast, not fast acting. Hope this helps!!!
Hi there. So far, I’ve really loved your baked goods. They are a far cry from most GF recipes and they turn out delicious; better texture and flavor. I’m in the process of making these and am wondering about the rise. While the dough did get a little lighter, they didn’t puff up much in the oven. I’m wondering how the yeast interacts with the gluten free flours? Does it actually create a rise? Or is it more about the flavor the yeast imparts? I’ve had similar outcomes with other GF recipes made with almond flour. Thanks.
Hi Jen, gluten free flours don’t rise the same as traditional baked goods but the yeast still makes them rise slightly and adds flavor which is why I still use it. I hope that answers your question and you liked the cinnamon rolls!!!!