Monday, August 30, 2010

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Cinnamon rolls! What more can I say? These are gluten free, egg free, and dairy free, but if you are able to have egg and/or dairy you can substitute one egg for the egg-replacer and/or 2/3 c. skim milk for the dairy alternative and the water and you will end up with an even lighter and fluffier version. Those of you who are used to going without all three (as are we) are still going to fall in love with these! Plan to make them on a day when you have some free time as they are time consuming and a bit messy to make, but they are worth it. The last batch of 8 that I made in the evening was gone by morning. Two last notes before we get started...1: This dough is sticky and soft, it is not easy to roll, remember that no matter what your "rolls" look like they will still taste great! 2: You can frost these with any icing or frosting that you like. My favorite homemade dairy free butter cream frosting recipe can be found here. We used Pillsbury Creamy Supreme Cream Cheese frosting which, oddly enough, contains no dairy. (I know that's kind of scary, huh? It was good though.)

DOUGH:
1/3 c Warm water
1/3 c Soy milk
1 T Yeast
¼ c Potato starch
¾ c Corn starch (or arrowroot starch)
½ c Millet flour
¼ t Baking soda
2 t Baking powder
½ t Salt
2 ½ t Xanthan gum
2 T Melted palm shortening or dairy free margarine
¼ c Granulated sugar
1 Eggs worth of egg-replacer
¼ c Oil
1 t Vanilla extract

FILLING:
¼ c Softened dairy free margarine
1 T cinnamon
½ c Brown sugar

Pour warm water and milk (about 110 to 115 degrees into a large mixing bowl. If you would like to use a thinner milk alternative such as rice or almond, omit the water and just use 2/3 c. milk. Add the yeast and allow it to foam for about 5 minutes.

While the yeast is proofing, combine in another bowl potato starch, corn (or other) starch, millet flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum. Whisk or sift together.

To the warm water, milk alternative, and yeast mixture add 2 T. melted shortening or margarine, granulated sugar, egg-replacer, oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until they are incorporated, then mix for another minute on medium. Place the dough in an oiled bowl (I use the now empty dry ingredients bowl to save dishes). Cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap and put it in a warm place to rise for about 45 minutes.

Lay out a large piece of parchment paper and sprinkle it with corn starch. Spread out the dough into as much of a square as you can. Sprinkle some more corn starch over the dough and lay another piece of parchment paper on top. Roll the dough into a 13" x 13" square. Remove top sheet of parchment paper. Spread the softened margarine over the dough leaving 1" at the top edge clean to help it stick when rolling. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and sprinkle it evenly over the entire surface of margarine. Begin to roll, from the bottom up, as tightly as you can. The nature of gluten free cinnamon rolls is to roll more loosely than a stiffer standard dough. Lift the bottom layer of parchment paper as you roll to help it along and maintain shape. Your roll may collapse and look more oval than round, it is OK. Pinch the clean 1" edge into the roll to seal.

Grease a medium sized baking pan. Using a sharp knife, slice the rolls into 8 even pieces. If you dip the knife into corn starch between each slice it will prevent sticking. Place the slices into the greased pan. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm place until the sides of the cinnamon rolls are touching.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees while the rolls are rising. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until they are lightly golden on top. Cool slightly then remove from the pan.
If you want a thin icing you can pour it over while they are still warm. If you prefer a thick frosting, wait until they are fully cooled.

7 comments:

  1. Oh thank you! I am in a rut with my sons b-fasts! Keep posting your recipes, we love them!
    We are dairy, egg, wheat and peanut free here!

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  2. You are welcome! I hope you enjoy the cinnamon rolls. I just read the last post on your blog, I know it's old and I do hope that you are feeling better now, but I just wanted to let you know that what you are feeling is very normal for a new mom, especially with the first child. I think this blog is actually what helped me out of my last funk. It helped me feel like I had some special purpose other than "just Mom". Logically we all know that being Mom is one of the most important jobs in the world, but emotionally we also all feel swept under the rug sometimes. My email is on my profile, if you ever just need someone to vent to privately I'm here. :)

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  3. Wow! I think this warrants induction into the food allergy recipe Hall of Fame. You've outdone yourself, sister.

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  4. Thank you Melanie! I'm not cranking out the recipes like I used to, but once in a great while I still have a hit.

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  5. Hello!
    Please keep posting your amazing recipes and trials!
    I have enjoyed reading your past posts!
    My DS (10) was recently diagnosed with food allergies... eggs, dairy, peanuts, beef, lamb, wheat, gluten, spelt, sesame and asparagus.
    OMG - I though I was going to freak out. We are a meat-eating, carb-loving, cheese-freak family!

    So... out goes all my 40 years of cooking knowledge and familiarity. I can hardly standing cooking and baking anymore, which used to be a source of joy for me. Know it brings frustration and heartache.

    Thanks for sharing your knowledge!!

    p.s. I live in Alaska now... where we have a very small "Natural Pantry" grocery store where a loaf of rice bread & almond butter is $17+!!! This is definitely not the state to have food allergies... fresh fruit is so expensive... anything fresh is expensive. Our grocery bill has more than tripled in the last couple months.
    But... I grew up in Albany, OR! I spent most every summer in either Sunriver or Black Butte. Bend has grown so much. I still have good friends who live there.

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  6. Hi Nicole, it's so nice to meet you! Thank you so much for your kind words. I feel for you, 10 is a really hard age to do this because they have strong opinions about taste and texture. My youngest has been eating this way her whole life and loves all of her "special food". My 14 yr old, however, was only recently diagnosed and still cries about her loss of foods about once a week (of course she is also a girl going through puberty-that might have something to do with it).
    Allergen free foods are definitely more expensive, I can't even imagine trying to do this in a remote area. I order a lot of my foods online. I don't know if that would work for you or not, you have to have a physical address (no PO boxes) and of course they charge extra to ship to Alaska. It may still be worth it in the long run though. I would look at http://www.allergygrocer.com . It is a wonderful online store with incredible detailed information about the products.

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  7. I really appreciate you sharing this delicious recipe with the allergen free community. My brother who has celiacs and is allergic to wheat, dairy, eggs, peanuts, treenuts, coconut, and soy really enjoyed these cinnamon rolls. He said "It was the best tasting food that he had had in months."

    -For all those who cannot use rice milk, soy milk, almond etc., I used DariFree Milk Alternative (Vanilla) in its place and it worked beautifully.

    -In addition, I also sub. the xanthan gum with an equal amount of corn starch, and that worked well as well.

    -I also sub. millet flour for sweet rice flour, which was very delicious!

    One things I did notice about the dough was that it was very liquidy. Upon reaching the last step, I added a little bit of cornstarch and flour until the consistency of the dough was to my liking. It made rolling the dough much easier.

    Thanks again for such a delicious treat!

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