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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!
What Makes This Recipe So Good?
- 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.
- These cinnamon rolls taste just like the ones from Cinnabon, but they are 100% gluten-free. 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! Seriously, it’s so good, this is the only cinnamon roll recipe you will need!
- They can be made ahead of time and reheated for an easy breakfast or brunch option. Keep them in an airtight 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 more moist and more tender reheated cinnamon rolls than the oven.
Can You Freeze This Recipe for Later?
Absolutely! I’m all for getting ahead of the game. I recommend doing this one of two ways:
- 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.
- If you’d rather freeze the cinnamon rolls completely iced and finished, you can do that, too. Just allow them to cool, cover them with plastic wrap and foil, and pop them in the freezer.
Chef’s Tips
- Make sure your warmed milk and melted butter are not too hot; they should feel warm to the touch but not hot.
- Gluten-free flour behaves differently from brand to brand! You may experience different results based on your gluten-free flour. Use the recommended flour from Bob’s Red Mill for the best results.
- If your dough seems overly sticky or unmanageable, gradually add in more flour. Start with just one tablespoon, and add more by the tablespoon as needed.
- Take care not to over-bake the gluten free cinnamon rolls! It’s easy to do and will throw off the taste and texture.
For More Gluten Free Recipes
- Gluten Free Stuffing
- Gluten Free Cornbread with Honey
- Perfectly Crispy Gluten Free Fried Chicken
- Gluten Free Paleo Blueberry Muffins
- Perfect Paleo Brownies (Gluten Free)
- Crispy Gluten Free Onion Rings
- Gluten Free Peanut Butter Cookies
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
cinnamon rolls
Equipment
- Large bowls (2)
- Stand mixer with bread hook (or knead by hand)
- Medium bowl
- Fork
- 9×13 baking dish
- parchment paper
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1 cup warm milk or alt-milk (like almond, oat, macadamia milk), warmed to 110°-115°F, see Notes
- 1 packet active dry yeast 2 ¼ teaspoons
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled until just warm to the touch, about 110°-115°F, see Notes
- 2 eggs whisked
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 ½ cups Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour see Notes
- 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum only if flour doesn't contain it already, see Notes
- 2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the Cinnamon Filling
- 1 packed cup brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter softened, or margarine
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- 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. Sprinkle the yeast over 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.
- Cut a piece of parchment paper to about 12×18” and lay 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 ½” 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.
Video
- IMPORTANT: 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!
- Flour: I recommend using Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour. Gluten-free flour behaves differently from brand-to-brand, so you may experience different results based on the type of flour you use. Use the recommended flour from Bob’s Red Mill for best results.
- Xanthan Gum: If your gluten-free all-purpose flour blend does not have xanthan gum, add 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum to the mixer when adding flour blend and baking powder. The recommended gluten-free flour (Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour) already has xanthan gum and does not need this ingredient added.
- Sticky Dough: If your dough seems overly sticky or unmanageable, gradually increase the amount of flour. Start with one additional tablespoon of flour, adding more as needed to make the dough workable.
- Mixer: 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.
- Frosting: 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!
- Storage & 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.
Approximate Information for One Serving
Serving Size: 1cinnamon rollCalories: 536calProtein: 6gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 15gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 245mgPotassium: 56mgTotal Carbs: 74gFiber: 5gSugar: 47gNet Carbs: 69gVitamin A: 632IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 143mgIron: 2mg
Nutrition Disclaimers
Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.
Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.
To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.
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My wife is gluten free, and lately I have been craving cinnamon rolls so today I tried your recipe. It is a simple yet flavorful and we really enjoyed them. I always make extra cinnamon filling and cream cheese frosting because I just can’t get enough. I let the dough rise on my oven to make sure the yeast stayed warm and did its thing. I suggest this recipe for anyone that wants to brag about their home made cinnamon rolls.
We’re so glad you and your wife enjoyed these gluten-free cinnamon rolls, David! Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂
I did a trial run as cinnamon rolls are a favorite on Christmas Day. I was diagnosed with celiac this summer. The rolls are amazing! I baked 345 for about 27 minutes, but fear I may have overcooked a bit. The texture is a bit grainy, but that seems to hold true for the GF breads I’ve made so far. I saw the comment about substituting a cup of tapioca flour and will try that in hopes of a more doughy texture. Wondering if she still used Bob’s flour for the other 2 1/2 cups. Very good recipe! The frosting is addictive!
Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Can I use a butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, raisin mixture spread on the bottom of the pan and then add the rolls and invert them after baked instead of cream cheese frosting?
Sure! Sounds delicious. We haven’t tested this variation, so let us know how it turns out!
So excited to try this one for Christmas! Question—do I follow the same instructions for Instant yeast? The yeast packet says to just “add to dry ingredients, no need to hydrate in water.” So do I skip that step??
Yes, you should be able to follow the same instructions for Instant yeast. But we do recommend using active dry as mentioned in the recipe card. Hope this works out!
I have hunted & made over 6 different GF cinnamon roll recipes & this was THE BEST by FAR!! Thanks for creating & sharing!
I did have to add an additional 5 T of GF flour because my dough was so sticky. I refrigerated the dough over night. I live at a high altitude & have found that letting the dough rise in the fridge helps.
So glad this recipe worked so well for you! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I have a husband who is gf. I also have a 4 & a 6 yr old who are very picky 🙂 I decided to make this recipe for Thanksgiving morning. (holding my breath!) I am fairly skilled at baking… and I followed the recipe *except that I am pretty sure my milk was lower than 110… so I wasn’t sure my yeast was doing what it was supposed to so I ended up using a second package and adding little more milk & flour to compensate. I used aluminum foil instead of parchement paper (with oil and flour on it) – worked super great. I just didn’t have parchment paper. The dough was sticky but it was manageable / I was careful not to add much extra flour.
I allowed the dough to raise on the oven (turned on and slightly open) for one hour. It did it’s thing 🙂
I baked the rolls for about 27 minutes. We ate them fresh out of the oven and my children said these are the only cinnamon rolls they want to eat from now on!
Hubby was happy too.
THANK YOU for such an easy recipe that is gf!
We’re thrilled that these worked out so well for you, Jenna, and were a hit with the family!
I’m thinking forward to Christmas which is already a bit chaotic, do you think that this recipe could be made in advance (without baking or icing) and kept in the freezer until the day before? Then baked and iced?
Yes, this should work! You can let them come to room temp, or thaw in the fridge overnight before setting out on the counter to completely thaw.
This recipe was amazing! Thank you so much! I read the reviews that stated their dough was sticky, but my dough was fine. Here were the differences when I made my rolls:
– I used “Cup4Cup Multipurpose Flour Gluten Free” (already has xantham gum)
– In step #2: After I sprinkled the yeast, I waited 15-20 minutes (original recipe calls for 5 minutes). I waited until I saw the bubbling before I continued.
– All my milk and butter was at 90 degrees, instead of 110 degrees.
– In step #4: After I made the dough, I placed it in the microwave to sit. It took exactly 1 hour.
– In step #9: I followed another reviewer’s advice and placed another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough when rolling it out.
**I don’t claim have the best approach, but hopefully these slight changes might help someone. They turned out delicious for me. 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for sharing your tweaks. 🙂
Hi!
A few years back I discovered my daughter couldn’t eat gluten and that came as a shock since no one in my family had this issue and everything I knew about cooking came crumbling down since GF baking is completely different. I embarked on a journey to make my food taste as good as regular food and not like wet cardboard (back then that’s how most GF food tasted)
For six years I have searched for a delicious, soft, guey that would remind me of cinnabon ones so my precious daughter could enjoy, until now! These are it! My goodness gracious, we love them.
This is such a wonderful compliment! Thank you for sharing your experience, Francisca. We love hearing stories like this!
I made these a few months back and I thought these were really good and I’m planning on making another batch today, Just a suggestion to avoid possible confusion with the flour. I noticed before the recipe you state to use the recommended BRM flour, then in the recipe you call for all-purpose GF flour with a note comment. The note comment states to use BRM 1 to 1. BRM does make a GF all-purpose flour but it is the one with garbanzo bean and fava bean flours in the ingredients and would taste terrible in this recipe. The actual name for the flour you recommend in this recipe is BRM 1 to 1 GF Baking Flour. I’m simply suggesting you consider altering the recipe to state the correct BRM GF flour blend you are recommending to use and not tuck it away in the notes at the end.
Thanks for the feedback and tips, Jan! We’ll take that into consideration.
Thanks for pointing that out – I bought the all-purpose and was wondering why that was the suggested flour. I have cup4cup and namaste on hand so I will end up using one of those instead of the all-purpose. :). Can’t wait to try these Christmas morning!
Hope you enjoyed them!
This recipe is amazing! I will no longer be purchasing cinnamon rolls at the local gf bakery for $8/tart-size roll.
The only substitute I made was swapping out a cup of flour for tapioca flour for more springyness and dough-like texture.
Also, I learned that eating these cold out of the fridge will make for a pile of crumbs. It needs to be covered with a damp paper towel and warmed for a minute in the microwave to be fresh like freshly baked.
So addicting. Absolutely amazing.
And the title is wrong. These are not Cinnabon copycats. They’re way better.
Thank you for making gf better for all!
Thank you so much, Kate! We’re thrilled that you love these cinnamon rolls as much as we do. 🙂 And good tip re: warming them in the microwave!