Local Heroes Collaborate on Fabulous Gluten-Free Cinnamon Buns

Vancouver Island’s happyditty! Gluten-Free Confections Melissa has collaborated with Bake My Day to create these fabulous gluten-free cinnamon buns. Best of all, they are sharing the recipe with us!

Ingredients for the cinnamon rolls:

1 cup + 1 tablespoon of milk
2 eggs (room temp)
1/3 cup butter (soft/room temp)
4 cups
Bake My Day GF Flour Blend
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Ingredients for the filling:

1 cup brown sugar (packed or unpacked – depends on how sweet you like it)
4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter (soft/room temp)

Ingredients for the frosting:

half a brick of cream cheese (about 4oz)
1/4 cup butter (soft/room temp)
1/4 cup vegetable shortening (you can omit this if you want, but it helps give it the texture theirs has)
1 teaspoon butter vanilla emulsion OR 2 teaspoons vanilla
3-4 cups confectioner’s sugar

Instructions:

Add 2 cups of the flour and your yeast into a mixing bowl – I just used the bowl of my Kitchen Aid mixer.
In a medium pot/saucepan, combine your butter, milk, and sugar over medium heat until the butter is melted.
Add liquid mixture to the flour/yeast bowl, along with eggs.
Mix with regular beater for about 45 seconds.
Slowly add the rest of the flour while using a paddle attachment.
While you would normally hand knead standard dough at this point, for the gluten free, I continued to keep it in the mixer using the paddle attachment for about 3-4 minutes.
Take the dough out of the mixer, spray with cooking spray or rub a little oil on top, and cover with plastic wrap.
Let it sit like that for about 15 minutes while you combine brown sugar and cinnamon and set aside. (Just mix them together thoroughly so you have a sandy mixture.)
Roll the dough into a rectangle (about 16×20″-ish is what I did).
Spread the butter onto dough from side to side and end to end, and cover evenly with your brown sugar cinnamon mixture.
Beginning with your long side, gently roll up the dough into a log.
When you are rolling the log, be very gentle. The dough had a tendency to want to tear a little, but it rolls up great with a little patience.
Cut into relatively even rolls – I got 16 our of mine, but I did cut small. If you want thicker cinnamon rolls, just cut thicker.
Grease a baking pan (I used a 10″ round cake pan, but may try a 9×12″ next time) and place the rolls in the pan. It is fine (and even better)if they are touching one another.
Cover with a tea towel and let sit for about 30 minutes. This step MAY not even be necessary, as GF flour does not ‘rise’ the way regular flour does, but I did it just because it seems weird not to. 🙂
Pre-heat your oven to 375 at this time.
Bake rolls on the center rack of the oven about 15 minutes. They will firm up a little once they come out and cool, so be careful not to over-bake.
It is more difficult to tell with GF, so I used the touch method. When they had a little give, but no hint of ‘doughy-ness’ underneath, I took them out. That was just about 14:30 minutes.
Whip up your frosting while you let them cool for about 15 minutes. (For the frosting, just mix the cream cheese, butter, and vegetable shortening (if adding it) until well blended.
Add your flavouring, and then slowly add your confectioner’s sugar until thickened. Whip for about 2-3 minutes. If it feels too thick, add a teaspoon of milk at a time until it is where you want it. If it is too thin, add more confectioner’s sugar a little at a time.
Frost the cinnamon rolls and enjoy.

Tips/reminders:

These rolls will be denser than typical cinnamon rolls, and they will harden faster.
Store covered and HEAT THEM before serving if they are not being eaten immediately. As I am sure many of you have noticed, GF bread items are better warm. I had one this morning for breakfast and it was great after 30 seconds in the microwave.
You can add in chopped pecans or walnuts if you’d like! Just combine them with your cinnamon and brown sugar filling.

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