Description
My mom always made biscuit style Cinnamon Rolls from her basic biscuit recipe and we all loved them. She never baked with yeast so I never had those soft yeasty-style cinnamon “buns” slathered with icing until I was older. Although I enjoy both of these treats the biscuit recipe is easy so this is the gluten free version of my mom’s cinnamon rolls.
Binders in Gluten Free Baking
As you become more comfortable with gluten free baking and read more recipes you notice that some use binders and gums. If you’re interested in learning more about them check out this post, How To Use Binders in Gluten Free Baking. For now, here are a few points to remember about the role of binders.
- The three most commonly used binders are xanthan gum, guar gum and psyllium husk. They are the glue that gives baked goods their structure.
- They sound like weird ingredients but they’re used in toothpaste, laxatives and all sorts of things you already consume.
- I resisted buying psyllium husk powder for years but it is readily available at health food stores and isn’t expensive. It’s ideal for yeast breads which are always on my list of new recipes to try.
Gluten Free Biscuits
The first gluten free buttermilk biscuits I made were with individual flours and xanthan gum. Over time I’ve experimented with other recipes and always try to bake with my flour blend if possible. Both recipes make delicious biscuits and you could do a head to head comparison to see what you think.
PIN Cinnamon Rolls for later…
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Best Gluten Free Flour for Dusting Dough
When you work with dough you always need a little bit of flour for dusting. Whether you’ve making these cinnamon rolls, sugar cookies or pie pastry if you’re a baker you’ll need some for these jobs. I find sweet rice flour works bests but tapioca starch or any gluten free flour mix can be used as well.
Kitchen Tip – Keep a small jar of flour in with your baking supplies (or where you store your flour) just for sprinkling. Label it accordingly.
Get The Tools
My mom always baked her cinnamon rolls in a metal 9-inch by 13-inch pan with a lid that slides over the top. Although I love that pan I’ve had better luck baking this recipe in a smaller 8-inch square pan. In the smaller pan they don’t spread out and are nice and soft.
These biscuits can be made by patting the dough with your hands but I prefer to use a rolling pin. In my cooking classes students often say they like the weight of my heavy marble rolling pin but any kind will do just fine.
The Baking Challenge
Over the years my mom has made countless pans of Cinnamon Rolls and so have I. Now my son makes them too. If you like this recipe keep making it until you have perfected the technique. Challenge yourself to make the same recipe three times within a few weeks. Then it will suddenly seems like an easy recipe that you can make over and over.
Let me know in the comments below how your cinnamon rolls turned out. If you’re adventurous and made some tweaks let me know how it went.
More Recipes From My Learn To Bake Gluten Free Class
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Cinnamon Rolls
These biscuit style Cinnamon Rolls are soft, sweet and delicious. They can be frozen raw and cooked all at once or just cook as many as you want so you can enjoy them warm from the oven every time.
Servings: 9 rolls
Ingredients
- 2 cups EGFG gluten free flour blend* (265 g)
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 4 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1½ tsp psyllium husk powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp butter, chilled and cubed
- ¾ cup plain yogurt (I use 6% Greek yogurt)
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp lemon juice
CINNAMON FILLING
- ½ cup butter room temperature
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tbsp cinnamon
Instructions
CINNAMON FILLING
- Beat ingredients in stand mixer until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
DRY INGREDIENTS
- In a large bowl whisk together flour mix, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, psyllium husk powder and salt.
- Using your fingers rub the butter into the flour mixture until only small pieces of butter remain. Set aside.
WET INGREDIENTS
- In another bowl whisk yogurt, egg, oil and lemon juice. Stir into flour until well combined.
- Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
ROLL AND SHAPE CINNAMON ROLLS
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Line 8-inch square baking pan** with parchment paper.
- Using a spatula, transfer dough onto a piece of plastic wrap. Cover with another piece of plastic wrap and using your hands gently press the dough into a rectangle approximately 8-inches by 12-inches. Lift plastic and sprinkle with a bit of flour if dough is too sticky. Press plastic back on the dough, flip the dough using a flexible cutting mat or placemat.
- Remove top plastic, sprinkle with flour if needed. Drop cinnamon filling over biscuit dough and carefully spread right to the edges.
- Using bottom piece of plastic gently roll dough lengthwise, pushing the dough and peeling away the plastic as you create a log.
- Refrigerate at any point if dough is warm and difficult to work with. (Can be prepared to this point in advance and kept overnight in the fridge or frozen.)
- Cut log into 1½-inch thick cinnamon rolls and place cut side up in an 8-inch square baking pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
- Cool slightly on wire racks then use parchment to lift out of pan and place back on the rack to cook completely.***
Notes
*EGFG flour blend: 300g sweet rice flour, 300g potato starch, 200g sorghum flour, 200g millet flour (makes ~8 cups)
**Baking Pan: In an 8-inch square baking pan the rolls are close together which makes the sides nice and soft. When baked in a 9 x 13-inch pan they will spread more making them slightly flatter and may bake in less time.
***Cooling: Gluten free baking typically tastes gummy and under done if not allowed to cool long enough for the structure to form. Taste after 10-15 minutes of cooling and decide if it needs longer.
If frozen let rest at room temperature 60-90 minutes before baking as directed.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
2 Comments
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Fabulous flavour! And easy to make. Really! Remember that they are biscuit style and not yeast dough so the texture is different.
I’m glad the recipe turned out for you Sheryl! I always thought Cinnamon Rolls were yeast free and Cinnamon Buns were yeasted but I see these names are used interchangeably. My mom always made the biscuit style Cinnamon Rolls so I learned to make them gluten free and also make savoury variations of this recipe. I think it’s time to post my recipe for yeasted Cinnamon Buns too so I’ll add that to my list. Happy Baking!