Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls (Cinnabon Copycat)

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

Prep: 30

Cook: 30

Rise Time 1

Total: 2

Yield:12 cinnamon rolls

Equipment

Large bowls (2)
Stand mixer with bread hook (or knead by hand)
Medium bowl
Fork
9x13 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 9x13” baking dish with softened butter or cooking spray.
Cut a piece of parchment paper to about 12x18” and lay on the counter. Scrape the dough on top. Press the dough to fit the parchment sheet; the dough should be about 12x16” 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.

Notes

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.

Nutrition

Recipe By:Cheryl Malik