These gluten-free cinnamon rolls are out-of-control delicious! They taste like Cinnabon copycats, but with zero gluten. They’re soft and tender with a perfect swirly filling and cream cheese frosting. Perfect for Christmas morning breakfast or anytime!
Why These Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls Are So Good!
- These cinnamon rolls taste just like the ones from Cinnabon, but they are 100% gluten-free.
- They can be made ahead of time and reheated for an easy breakfast or brunch option.
- The cream cheese frosting is so good, this is the only cinnamon roll recipe you will need!
How to Make Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
- Important note: Make sure your warmed milk and melted butter are not too hot; they should feel warm to the touch but not hot. If they’re too hot, they can kill the yeast. Check them with a thermometer before each step in which they come in contact with the yeast for foolproof gluten-free cinnamon rolls!
- Add the white sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer (Or large mixing bowl if you prefer to knead by hand) and pour warm milk over. Stir to combine. Pour the yeast in and set aside until bubbly or frothy; you should see a sort of film on the top of the mixture at least. This will take about 5 minutes.
- Add the melted butter (About 110º F; warm to the touch but not hot) to the yeast mixture. Stir in whisked eggs and apple cider vinegar. Add in gluten-free flour, baking powder, salt, and xantham gum if your gluten-free flour does not contain it (See Note). Attach the bread hook to the mixer and mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes or until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl and is soft. It should not feel dry but a bit sticky. See Note to mix by hand.
- Lightly oil a large mixing bowl and transfer dough to bowl. Cover and place in a warm spot. Let rise for 1 hour. If your spot is cooler, it may take a little longer to rise, but the dough should be a bit puffier and should leave an indentation when poked. It will not double in size.
- Meanwhile, make the cinnamon filling. In a medium bowl, add all ingredients and use a fork to mix very well. Alternately, beat all ingredients together with a stand mixer and paddle attachment.
- Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly coat a 9×13” baking dish with softened butter or cooking spray.
- Lay a 12×16” piece of parchment paper on the counter. Scrape the dough on top. Press the dough to fit the parchment sheet; the dough should be about 12×16” as well. It’s OK if it doesn’t quite fit the entire sheet.
- Evenly spread the cinnamon filling on the rectangle of dough, leaving 1/2” bare at one end (short side, not long side).
- Carefully, use the parchment sheet to begin tightly rolling the dough. Use the parchment to fold over the first 1” or so of the short side with filling all the way to the edge. Continue rolling the dough by folding the parchment over to the other side. It will roll naturally.
- Cut the roll into 12 equal pieces. Place evenly into a baking dish and bake 25-30 minutes. They will not puff up like cinnamon rolls with gluten in them but will become a bit fuller and should be a little golden brown. Do not overbake!
- Meanwhile, make your cream cheese frosting. Add cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl and beat until completely combined. Cream cheese should be totally smooth with no solid lumps. Add in powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt; beat on medium speed until combined.
- When cinnamon rolls are finished baking, remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes before slathering tops with cream cheese frosting (A butter knife or offset spatula work well). Serve with additional cream cheese frosting.
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls Are the Perfect Make-Ahead Breakfast For the Holidays
We love having cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, and these are perfect when you are catering for overnight guests. For a stress-free morning, you can also make these ahead of time.
Keep them in an air-tight container at room temperature up to 3 days; 5 days in the fridge. To reheat, warm in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Microwaving produces moister and more tender reheated cinnamon rolls than the oven.
They Taste Just Like Cinnabon!
Even those these rolls are gluten-free, they taste just like Cinnabon and they are so good! Because they are GF, they won’t rise as much as dough with gluten would, but I promise you they taste exactly the same! The cream cheese frosting is to die for!
Can You Freeze Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls?
You can easily get ahead of the game by freezing these rolls…
You can freeze the rolls, baked but unfrosted. Later, you can thaw them out, warm them for just a few minutes in the oven, and ice them while warm.
You can also freeze the rolls completely iced and finished. Just allow them to cool, cover with plastic wrap and foil and pop in the freezer.
Top Tips To Make These Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
- Make sure your warmed milk and melted butter are not too hot; they should feel warm to the touch but not hot.
- Different gluten-free baking flours are different! You may expect different results based on your gluten-free flour. Use the recommended flour from Bob’s Red Mill for the best results.
- Take care not to over bake the rolls!
For More Gluten-Free Recipes:
- Gluten-free Stuffing
- Gluten-free Cornbread with Honey
- Paleo Blueberry Muffins (GF)
- Perfect Paleo Brownies (GF)
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Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls (Cinnabon Copycat)
These gluten free cinnamon rolls are out-of-control delicious! They taste like Cinnabon copycats, but with zero gluten. They're soft and tender with a perfect swirly filling and cream cheese frosting
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup warm milk or alt-milk like almond, oat, macadamia milk, warmed to 110°-115°F, see Note
- 1 packet active dry yeast 2 1/4 teaspoons
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled until just warm to the touch, about 110°-115°F, see Note
- 2 eggs whisked
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour See Note
- 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 12×16” sheet of parchment paper
Cinnamon Filling
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons butter unsalted softened, or margarine
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
-
Important note: Make sure your warmed milk and melted butter are not too hot; they should feel warm to the touch but not hot. If they’re too hot, they can kill the yeast. Check them with a thermometer before each step in which they come in contact with the yeast for foolproof gluten-free cinnamon rolls!
-
Add the white sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer (Or large mixing bowl if you prefer to knead by hand) and pour warm milk over. Stir to combine. Pour the yeast in and set aside until bubbly or frothy; you should see a sort of film on the top of the mixture at least. This will take about 5 minutes.
-
Add the melted butter (About 110º F; warm to the touch but not hot) to the yeast mixture. Stir in whisked eggs and apple cider vinegar. Add in gluten-free flour, baking powder, salt, and xantham gum if your gluten-free flour does not contain it (See Note). Attach the bread hook to the mixer and mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes or until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl and is soft. It should not feel dry but a bit sticky. See Note to mix by hand.
-
Lightly oil a large mixing bowl and transfer dough to bowl. Cover and place in a warm spot. Let rise 1 hour. If your spot is cooler, it may take a little longer to rise, but the dough should be a bit puffier and should leave an indentation when poked. It will not double in size.
-
Meanwhile, make the cinnamon filling. In a medium bowl, add all ingredients and use a fork to mix very well. Alternately, beat all ingredients together with a stand mixer and paddle attachment.
-
Preheat oven to 350º F. Lightly coat a 9×13” baking dish with softened butter or cooking spray.
-
Lay a 12×16” piece of parchment paper on the counter. Scrape the dough on top. Press the dough to fit the parchment sheet; the dough should be about 12×16” as well. It’s OK if it doesn’t quite fit the entire sheet.
-
Evenly spread the cinnamon filling on the rectangle of dough, leaving 1/2” bare at one end (short side, not long side).
-
Carefully, use the parchment sheet to begin tightly rolling the dough. Use the parchment to fold over the first 1” or so of the short side with filling all the way to the edge. Continue rolling the dough by folding the parchment over to the other side. It will roll naturally.
-
Cut the roll into 12 equal pieces. Place evenly into baking dish and bake 25-30 minutes. They will not puff up like cinnamon rolls with gluten in them but will become a bit fuller and should be a little golden brown. Do not overbake!
-
Meanwhile, make your cream cheese frosting. Add cream cheese and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl and beat until completely combined. Cream cheese should be totally smooth with no solid lumps. Add in powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and salt; beat on medium speed until combined.
-
When cinnamon rolls are finished baking, remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes before slathering tops with cream cheese frosting (A butter knife or offset spatula work well). Serve with additional cream cheese frosting.
Recipe Notes
I recommend Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour.
If your gluten-free all-purpose flour blend does not have xantham gum, add 1 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum to the mixer when adding flour blend and baking soda. The recommended gluten-free flour (Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour) already has xantham gum and does need this ingredient added.
Different gluten free baking flours are different! You may expect different results based on your gluten free flour. Use the recommended flour from Bob’s Red Mill for best results.
If mixing by hand instead of using a stand mixer, add all ingredients as directed in steps #3 and #4 to a large mixing bowl. Stir with a spatula until mixed well. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 1-2 minutes. You are not creating gluten by kneading this dough, but kneading will help incorporate all ingredients as smoothly as if you used a stand mixer.
This recipe makes plenty of cream cheese frosting because I’m pretty sure that’s the best part! You will not need all of the frosting when glazing the cinnamon rolls in the baking dish; keep for serving and reheating!
Keep in an air-tight container at room temperature up to 3 days; 5 days in the fridge. To reheat, warm in the microwave about 30 seconds. Microwaving produces moister and more tender reheated cinnamon rolls than the oven.
I’ve wanted to try making cinnamon rolls for years and felt too intimidated to try. I finally did it – and thanks to your recipe and steps, I had success and overall it was much easier than I anticipated! Thank you! I made 4 batches with 4 different flours to see the difference in texture/taste/whatever. There was another GF cinnamon roll recipe I was looking at that recommended the Pillsbury GF flour. So, I used that for one, Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 Baking Flour for another, King Arthur GF Measure-for-Measure, and Jules GF flour. Bob’s 1:1 and KA measure-for-measure are not recommended for yeast-containing recipes, per the companies. I found that I HAD to add an extra half-cup of flour to each of them or else the dough was way too sticky and I couldn’t work with it. They both came out about the same – a little dryer, but still soft and delicious. The Pillsbury was my least favorite, though the dough was much easier to work with. Jules GF had the best results – soft, pillowy dough that most resembled a “regular” cinnamon roll. However, that flour is insanely expensive and I’d have to charge a ridiculous amount of money per roll if I were to use that flour. So, I’ll stick with my KA flour 😀 THANK YOU again for posting this recipe. They were delicious and everyone loved them! These were much better than the two GF cinnamon rolls I’ve tried from bakeries back in Maryland. I’ll forever make my own. You rock.
You’re so welcome Victoria!
A co-worker gave me the challenge to make a big cinnamon bun for her girls that are gluten free. As a chef, I excepted and won by using this recipe. So thank you very much.
Yesss!!! I love it!!
This is an amazing recipe! Best GF cinnamon rolls I’ve made. I love that they really puff up after baking!! Thank you for sharing this recipe.
I’ve made it twice: the first time with almond milk and coconut sugar (just reduced the amount a bit since it’s sweeter) and the second time I made the recipe as written. Both times they turned out wonderful 🙂 Seriously love these!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
Do you think I could put all the ingredients in a bread maker to mix the dough? That’s how I make the dough for my other non-gluten free cinnamon rolls. My daughter and I are the only ones who eat gluten free in our house, and I know she’d love these.
I would think that could work!! Do let me know if you try it and how she likes them! 🙂
Finally got around to trying them this morning, and oh my gosh they are the best! They weren’t really “rolls” by the time they went into oven, but that’s okay. They rolled beautifully, however they really stuck when I tried to get them off the parchment paper. Next time I’ll flour the parchment. I did make the dough in the bread maker and it worked great. Thanks for the great recipe and I’ll definitely make these again!
So glad you loved these Sandi!
I have tried 4 gluten free cinnamon bun recipes and they were all a disaster! I was ready to give up but saw this and thought I’d give them one more try. They are AMAZING! Everything I wanted them to be! Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you loved them!
My first attempt was not good, my dough was very watery and I had to throw it out. Any idea why this happened?
Thanks
Delicious! Mine didn’t cut the way yours did in the picture. The dough remained very sticky throughout the whole process. Do you have an idea of what I might have done wrong?
I have an egg allergy. I know there are a lot of egg substitutes, but do you know any that would work best in these cinnamon rolls? They look and sound amazing!
I would opt for an “egg replacer” here most likely. You’re already working with lack of gluten to hold it together so I’d go for as much of a binder as possible. Let me know if you try it and how it works out!
These are absolutely amazing! We have made several batches already and they freeze well. We leave a little extra icing to top them off with throughout the week. We thaw them 2 at a time at room temperature, add extra topping from the fridge and then microwave for less than 30 seconds. Our local bakery charges almost 4 dollars for a gluten free cinnamon roll and this recipe blows them out of the water. Thank you so much for sharing!
I’m so glad you love them!! Thanks for the awesome review!
This looks so yummy! Can’t wait to make these! Thanks for the recipe
You are so welcome!
My family LOVED these cinnamon rolls! We have egg allergies at my house so I substituted sour cream for the eggs. I had recently tried another GF recipe and they turned out very dense. I was so impressed with how much your recipe rose and the cinnamon rolls were much lighter and fluffier. I couldn’t even tell they were GF. Thank you!
I’m so happy that you and your family loved them!
Thank you for sharing such an amazing recipe! I’ve been Celiac for 5 years and and never tasted something so delicious being gluten free.
Thanks,
Anna
Aw, thank you so much! I definitely work hard to make my gluten free recipes not taste gluten free, so I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks for sharing such an amazing recipe! I’ve been Celiac for 5 years and and never tasted something so delicious being gluten free.
Thanks,
Anna
I am so glad to help!!!
Can you leave these overnight in the fridge before cooking?
I am interested in doing the night before, but it is my first time making cinnamon rolls and seems intimidating!
I’ve made a very similar recipe for years. I found that you can make them ahead and at the rise stage you can refrigerate them. Pull them out when you’re ready for bed & let them rise overnight at room temperature. Pop in a preheated oven & that’s how I get the best rise for a GF roll. Cheers!
That’s such a great tip!
I literally just made these this morning! And I never ever bake anything GF from scratch because I never have success.
Funny story…
I sent a picture of them baking in the oven to my husband and he literally couldn’t wait to try them. He was riding in a work van with 4 other soldiers, so long story short, I fed these cinnamon rolls to 5 hungry soldiers fresh out of the oven, and they all said they would never know they were GF if I hadn’t told them! And I was so happy to have a warm cinnamon roll for the first time in 7 years. Luckily, they left a few behind for me to freeze for enjoying on Christmas morning.
I made the recipe as directed except that I only had Silk coconut milk on hand (worked perfectly) and I reduced the powdered sugar in the frosting by 1/2-3/4 cup — DELICIOUS.
Oh my goodness, I love this story SO MUCH!!! It makes me so happy. I’m so glad you all loved them <3
Yum! Thank you for this! I can’t wait to make these for my family! We have a cow-dairy sensitivity as well, so we use soft goat cheese as an alternative for cream cheese.
I love that you SLATHER the frosting on. Who eats cinnamon rolls with a dainty drizzle of frosting? NOBODY. LOL
NOBODY!!! And nobody should, ha! Love the idea of using goat cheese here too
Is there anything you can substitute for the yeast? We have a yeast allergy in our house.
Brandi, although we have not tried this recipe sans yeast, we did find this helpful article that mentioned baking soda/ lemon juice as an alternative to yeast.
https://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/healthy-eating/substitute-yeast-for-baking.html