Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

I intended to make blueberry muffins. Really, truly did. But I was hanging out with a friend who, I learned, didn’t like muffins. So I made cinnamon rolls. Gluten free. But definitely not fat free or sugar free…

The finished product.

I snagged this recipe from Breaking Bread, and it was awesome. My taste-testers (all gluten eaters) said there was no way to tell the cinnamon rolls were gluten free. I doubled the filling, which turned out to be a good thing for me. I apparently like cinnamon rolls very gooey. As I didn’t have a pastry bag for the first batch, I just cut the corner off a ziploc and used that instead. I also made a slightly different cream cheese frosting from the one on her site.

Ingredients

Dough

•    1/4 cup millet flour (1.75 oz)
•    1/4 cup brown rice flour (1.75 oz)
•    1/2 cup tapioca starch (2.5 oz)
•    2 cups cornstarch (10 oz)
•    2 Tb (1 oz) sweet rice flour
•    1 t baking powder (optional)
•    1 packet of yeast
•    ½  tablespoon kosher salt
•    1 tablespoons xanthan gum
•    1 1/2 cups buttermilk
•    1/3 cup honey/agave syrup
•    2  large eggs
•    1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
•    2 t vanilla extract

Filling

•    6 ounces dark brown sugar, approximately 3/4 cup packed
•    1 Tb ground cinnamon
•    ½ tsp ground cardamom
•    Pinch salt
•    4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softenedNote: If you want you can also add raisins plumped in water or juice or chopped nuts.

1. Mix all flours, starches, baking powder, yeast, salt and xanthan gum together in a bowl.
2. In a separate container, blend together buttermilk, honey/agave syrup, eggs, butter and extract. This will go faster in a blender or with a stick blender.
3. Mix together flour and liquid blend in a stand mixer or by hand, until well blended.
4. Cover loosely and allow to rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
5. To make filling, mix together sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Add butter and mix until well blended.
6. Place a large piping tip in an 18 inch piping bag. I used a size 17 round tip. Take half of the filling, and spread it evenly up 2/3 of one side of the bag. Then put half the dough batter on top of filling. Pipe a small portion out until filling comes out with the batter, and pipe in spirals onto a piece of parchment, making sure to keep the filling on the inner edge.
7. Place parchment strips between the rolls if you wish to keep them so they will separate easily, but you don’t have to do this. Pipe 2 rows of 4 rolls, such that they will fit in a 9×13 pan. They should be piped closely together.
8. Cover loosely and place in the fridge overnight.  You can skip this step, but it will be a less developed flavor.
9. In the morning, place a shallow pan of boiling water in the oven (don’t turn it on!). Place the rolls in the oven and allow to rise for 30-45 minutes.  Remove the rolls, and preheat the oven to 350. Make sure it is at temperature.
10. Place the rolls in the oven, and splash ½ cup of water onto the shallow plan. Bake for 30 – 45 minutes, or until light golden and the internal temperature registers about 190.

A tray of (smaller) unfrosted rolls

And my cream cheese frosting:

• 8 tbsp cream cheese (1 stick)
• 8 tbsp salted butter (1 stick)
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

It made a lot of frosting; I only used half on the cinnamon rolls. No fear, though. It did not go to waste. J put it on some left over cupcakes from my prior baking experiment.

Check out the original post at  Breaking Bread for more pictures.