My GF dreams come true: Delicious Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Delicious gluten free cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting

I don't know what it is, I've never eaten many cinnamon rolls in my life, let alone store bought ones, but I crave cinnamon rolls like it's my job.  It's a good thing cinnamon is a legal substance because you wouldn't think so the way I want to eat it in everything.  Lately, I want cinnamon rolls all the time, maybe it's this insanely cold and snowy winter, who knows, but there is no way for me to get enough of that hot cinnamon-ey sticky sweet deliciousness.  If I could make them everyday and eat the whole pan without gaining a million pounds, I would try.


After having a chat with my friend Sheri about flours and gluten free alternatives I was inspired to make some cinnamon rolls and play with the proportions of flours.  We discussed the use of cornstarch as a flour component in recipes, I don't know if I can afford to do that since I only pay about $1/lb for my flours at China-mart grocery store that we frequent.  Instead I realized I should stop using the larger grinds of rice flours and sub in potato starch which is a super light powdery flour.  Not to be confused with potato flour which is very heavy, grainy, and smells like potatoes.  I first tried out my theory a few weeks ago making a very lovely batch of cinnamon rolls, my only down fall was that I followed the recipe for glutinous rolls and split the dough so it made these itty bitty rolls that were tasty but not what I had in my mind's eye.  After my flour ratios sat on the white board on the fridge for weeks and Tim getting crabby about me never writing it down on paper, I wrote it out finally.


Then my parents came to visit and I usually use my dad's presence as an excuse to bake all sorts of GF treats, my partner in crime really.  My mom has commented several times over lately how similar my dad's and my palates seem to be, that we like the same foods and have similar cravings.  Of course they were excited to have fresh home made gluten free cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing, trust me no one could turn these things down if they saw them.  They are big, fluffy, soft, chewy, tender, sweet, and just perfect!  Both my mom and Tim said they are better than glutinous cinnamon rolls that you could find at the mall food court.  The rolls were perfect in my opinion, they pulled apart, and the rolls were not overly sweet, a perfect compliment to the sugar cinnamon filling and the super sweet icing.


Making cinnamon rolls is never a simple process, but I'm learning to embrace the time to create deliciousness.  They are well worth the wait of the two proofings and the baking proceesses.  I hope you will try them sometime.  I made them at night and we heated them for breakfast in the morning the next day and they were sooo good!  If you are ambitious I suppose you could wake up super early and make them from scratch to have for breakfast too.  You could also start making them the night before and work up to the point just before the second proofing and put them in the fridge until morning and proof and bake them for breakfast.


AMAZING Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls


Dry Ingredients:
2   Cups Tapioca Starch
1   Cup Sweet Rice Flour
3/4 Cup Potato Starch
1/4 Cup Soy Flour
1   Tbs Xanthan Gum


2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast


Wet Ingredients:
1   Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Sugar
1/3 Cup Butter
1/2 tsp Salt
2   Eggs


Filling:
3   Tbs Butter
1/2 Cup Sugar
2  tsp Cinnamon


1/2  Recipe for Cream Cheese Frosting


Directions:


Blend flours and Xanthan gum in a mixing bowl, then remove 2 cups of blended flours  and place into bowl of a stand mixer with yeast. In a medium saucepan heat and stir milk, the 1/3 cup sugar, the 1/3 cup butter, and salt just until warm (120 to 130 degrees F.) and butter almost melts.  Or combine milk, sugar, and butter in a microwave safe bowl, heat in microwave at 30 second intervals just until butter melts, stirring mixture between microwaving.  


Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl. Beat on high speed 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can, starting the mixer on a slow speed at first so as not to disperse flour into the air.


Turn dough onto a floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3 to 5 minutes total). Shape dough into a ball. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl; turn once to grease dough. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 hour).


Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Lightly grease a 9x9x1-1/2-inch round baking pans.

Rolls rolled up and sliced

Roll the dough into a 12x8-inch rectangle. Brush the 3 Tablespoons melted butter over dough. Combine the 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough. Roll up into a spiral, starting from a long side. Seal seam. Slice roll into 10-12 equal pieces. Place in prepared pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double (about 30 minutes).

Bake in 375 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly; remove from pans. Drizzle with Powdered Sugar Icing. If desired, serve warm. Makes 10-12 rolls.

To have warm cinnamon rolls in the morning; prepare and shape rolls. Cover with oiled waxed paper, then plastic wrap. Chill 2 to 24 hours. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Prick any air bubbles with a wooden pick. Bake as directed.

Finished Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting