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Cinnamon Buns Gluten Free (Flashback Friday)

 I have been reworking some of my recipes to use Julie's Flour Blend.  It is so much easier to have a go-to flour rather than mixing several flours for each recipe.  I find the end product is also more consistent because the flour amount used is more accurate. 
I redid my cinnamon bun recipe recently and am very happy with the results.  My tasters declared them the best I've made.


Here is my new recipe

  • 1/3 cup milk 
  • 1 tsp sugar 
  • 1 tsp unflavoured gelatin  
  • 1 1/2  tbsp traditional yeast 
  •  1 cup of Julie's Flour Blend 
  • 1/4 cup of potato starch 
  • 1/4 cup of tapioca starch
  • 1/3 cup sugar 
  • 1/4 tsp salt 
  • 3/4 tsp xanthan gum 
  • 2 eggs 
  • 1/4 cup soften butter 
  • 1 tsp vanilla 
  • softened/melted butter for spreading on dough
  • cinnamon 
  • 1 cup brown sugar 
  • sweet rice flour for handling 


  1. Heat milk add mixed sugar, gelatin, yeast  and let proof for 10 minutes
  2. In mixer bowl add eggs, butter, sugar,  vanilla - blend 
  3. Add proofed yeast 
  4. Add combined dry ingredients  (flours, salt, xanthan gum) 
  5. Blend, then beat on high for 5 minutes. 
  6. Place parchment paper or plastic wrap on counter and dust with sweet rice flour
  7. Scrape dough onto paper and use as little extra sweet rive flour as possible to enable dough to be handled.  You will need very little -- you want to keep the dough very soft. 
  8. Pat dough out to about 1/2 inch thickness,  spread with softened or melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and cover with the brown sugar, patting down the sugar. 
  9. Starting on the wide end roll up the dough, tucking the edge underneath - using the parchment paper to roll the dough rather than your hands 
  10. Cut into 1 1/2 inch slices and lay in greased baking pan - I prefer glass. 
  11. Let rise until doubled. 
  12. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until nicely browned. 
  13. Ice in pan while still hot. 

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Last week I had the thought that this dough would also make a nice cinnamon swirl bread and I tried it. 
The resulting loaf was very good and enjoyed by those who 'tested it'.  
 It is a lovely not-so-sweet treat with a soft texture and good flavour. 

To make the bread, follow the cinnamon bun instructions to patting out the dough. You are going to be baking this in a reg. size bread pan (I find glass gives best results) so keep that in mind as you pat out your dough - that one edge is the length of your loaf pan. 
Then continue as follows.... 
  • Spread the dough lightly with melted butter. 
  • Sprinkle with white sugar and liberally with cinnamon. 
  • Roll up the dough using the parchment paper to help, tucking  edge underneath. 
  • Cut away the parchment paper, leaving only what the roll is sitting on. 
  • Lifting carefully place in loaf pan. 
  • Let rise in warm place - on top of stove with a steaming pot of water  is good) 
  • When loaf is risen to top of pan... bake at 350 degrees for 30 or until nicely browned. 
  • Let sit for a few minutes, then remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely before slicing. 
  • Keeps well on counter for couple of days .. freezes well  but best used within a couple of weeks. 
  • Enjoy with butter or a spread of your choice -- such as nutella or peanut butter.  
 ****************************************************************
Here is my original recipe post .. 
I adapted this recipe from a recipe I found online. You can find the original here.
These cinnamon buns are delicious and I have non-Celiac people ask for them.

Cinnamon Buns
Proof....until foamy
1 cup luke-warm milk
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 tbsp regular yeast

In heavy duty mixer bowl beat....
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp. vanilla

Add proofed yeast liquid .... mix then add all at once the following dry ingredients....

1/4 cup white bean flour (you can use a coffee grinder to grind your own small white bean flour..use a fine sieve .... you will have to grind several times to get nice fine flour, but it is very doable) 
1/4 potato starch
1/2 cup millet flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
 1/2 tsp salt

Mix on low speed until dry ingredients are moistened then beat on high for a couple of minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.

Tape plastic wrap onto your counter or cutting board..... Sprinkle with Sweet Rice Flour...
Turn dough onto the plastic wrap.
Cover with plastic wrap and roll dough into a rectangle about 15" by 10"
Remove top plastic wrap and sprinkle dough with cinnamon ... and about 1 cup of brown sugar. (optional - add raisins and/or nuts)

Using the bottom wrap to help, roll up the dough lengthwise, sealing edges.
Cut roll into 10 - 1 1/2" slices and place them in a large round pie plate.

Cover with cloth or towelling and let rise for about 40 minutes.

Bake at 375' for 30 minutes or until tops are nicely browned.

Remove from oven and cover the rolls with icing.
I cup icing sugar,
1 tsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
milk to make thick consistency
Enjoy warm... or cool.

37 comments:

  1. Oh these look so gooood Julie. The only thing missing is my teeth marks in that first photo.

    Next we need gluten free yeast doughnuts. They are Mennonite, no?

    anon1

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  2. Cinnamon rolls are the best! They're not too challenging to make and they always look so impressive.

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  3. I was just thinking about the list of special ingredients what a nice gift a little package of the items along with this recipe would make.. .I think your Cinnamon buns look just fantastic.

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  4. These buns look so good! Julie, you do such a great job of making gluten-free baking look normal. I'm sure it tastes wonderful and is so appreciated by your loved ones.
    I was wondering why the plastic wrap for rolling out?

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  5. re Anneliese's question... gluten-free dough is much stickier than regular dough and the plastic wrap just allows for an easy workability that would otherwise be impossible.
    If enough flour were added to make the dough non-sticky the dough would be too heavy to rise.

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  6. Wow Julie, that cinnamon bun mkaes me hungry! Kathy (MGCC)

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  7. Those look wonderful!

    Another website that has great gluten-free recipes (in amongst her writing) is here: http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/

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  8. Dear Julie,

    Thanks for sharing this recipe. I also like the technique you used for your rolls, the plastic wrap that is.

    Seems it'd be useful for other types of dough recipes as well.

    Kind regards.

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  9. I'm so glad you include gluten free recipes Julie! There seem to be more and more people who have to eat a Gluten Free diet...

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  10. This site makes me feel good about life. Today many things can intrude on us to put us down but I always feel refreshed and know that God is in control. The recipes are some of the best I have eaten. I like to give this site to my friends so they can benefit from its lovely pics and great recipes. Thanks for taking the time to do this

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  11. Hello Julie! I made these last night and they're delicious! One quick comment though. I had to add 1 1/2 cups of rice flour to make it "smooth and elastic". Was this ingredient omitted by accident? Without it, it was too sticky to the point where the plastic wrap covering it wouldn't have plied off :-). They're wonderful and next time, I'm adding finely diced apples inside :-) Thanks!! Ruth

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  12. Hi Ruth...I'm happy you enjoyed the buns ... but no, the rice flour was not omitted from the recipe. I don't like the taste and texture of rice flour. Adding 1 1/2 cups rice flour would have made them quite heavy, didn't it?
    The dough to rise well needs to be quite sticky...but that is why the sweet rice flour is sprinkled on the plastic wrap and also on the top of the dough before the top wrap is laid down. It takes an amazingly small amount of the sweet rice flour to make the dough easily handled. I have never had the dough stick to the plastic at all.

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    Replies
    1. I had the same problem with the dough really sticking to the plastic wrap... wasting a lot of it. My "buns" are more like mush, and this was the second time trying this recipe, following the recipe meticulously. Then I saw this... "sweet rice flour is sprinkled on the top of the dough before the top wrap is laid down." and realized what was wrong... this step isn't in the instructions above. I will try this next time and hopefully I won't waste $10 in flour a third time!

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    2. Is there a difference between rice flour and "sweet" rice flour?

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    3. yes, there is a big difference between rice flour and sweet rice flour. Sweet rice flour is starch ... like cornstarch is different from corn flour.

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  13. I just recently found your site and can't wait to try this recipe. I do not have guar gum on hand - do you think I could just substitute more xanthan gum in its place? Also, you talk about using fresh white beans - do you have any tips on how to know if the beans in the grocery store are fresh? Any particular brand and type of bean that are your favorite? I have tried bean flour and really don't like the taste of things made with it!

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  14. Dear Anonymous ... yes xanthan gum is fine.. actually I prefer .. I posted this recipe some time ago - maybe when I was trying guar gum.
    I would think if you are buying the small white beans (navy beans) in your grocery store they would be fresh. But it is very easy to tell if white bean flour is fresh - if you taste a bit of it there should be only be a very faint after taste of 'bean'.
    I don't like any of the commercial bean flours or mixes with bean flour in them either -- WAAAAAYYYY too beany tasting, but grinding your own white bean flour has no beany taste at all in baked products and in fact mimics a 'wheat' flavour.

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  15. Hi there,

    I have made these before for my aunt who is celiac, and I must say, I like them as much, if not more, than regular cinnamon rolls. I want to make more next time (one batch was not enough!!!!)and was wondering if these would freeze well. And if so, would I freeze them before or after I bake them? Thanks for your help!

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  16. hi Heather... I have frozen them and they do freeze fairly well...(of course fresh out of oven is best! smile) You freeze after baking ... and don't freeze for too long a time - not more than a week or two.

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  17. Hi there,
    I think my son & I will try these tomorrow. I have all of the gluten free ingredients on hand but don't have any icing sugar (we're living in Vietnam so I can't buy it locally). I know that we can do without the icing but wonder if you know of any substitutions for that. Thanks so much! We love the blog!

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  18. Ohh.. no icing sugar? What about boiling some sugar with a bit of water to make like a glaze ... to drizzle over the buns maybe just before you eat them? would that work ?

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  19. I made these today for my son for Christmas morning. My dough was very sticky and didn't form buns BUT...I made a glaze from: 2 Tbs. butter, 1/3 cup of brown sugar and 1 1/2 Tbs. water melted together then put in bottom of the pan before placing the buns in to rise and bake. They smell yummy. They aren't individual buns by any means but he can have a slice of it. I'll add more of one of the flours next time. Thanks!

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  20. I don't care for bean flours. This recipe sounds great - has any one tried it without bean flour?

    SunCatcher

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  21. Dear 'Suncatcher'
    If you are judging bean flours from the commecially prepared ones .. I couldn't agree with you more !! I never use them because the raw bean smell and flavor is not something I can handle.
    BUT .. if you grind your own small white beans (navy beans) that you buy in your grocery store you will find that there is no beany flavor at all but rather a 'wheat' flavor... tasting the ground flour you will have only a very faint after taste of 'bean' and none in the finished baked goods.
    A coffee grinder and several siftings and grinding of the beans works well... just make sure the final ground flour is not gritty between your fingers.

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  22. These rolls are awesome! At our church there are about 5 of us who are gluten free. I made these rolls for a bake sale the youth group had and they were wonderful. I also made these for Christmas morning. I successfully made the rolls the night before and let them proof in the fridge overnight. The dough may seem too soft but it seems to firm up as you beat it. I spread it out on my silpat mat. One other tip is to make sure you bake long enough! My husband baked my rolls on Christmas and he took them out when they looked done, but they shrank as they cooled. Use your instant read thermometer and keep them in until 200-205 degrees. Cover with foil if getting too dark.

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  23. I know when I make beans I typically wash them - there is a fair amount of dirt that comes off them...

    If you do wash/rinse the beans - do you dehydrate the beans first before grinding?

    Is there a better kind of bean to buy for grinding? Thanks so much for your time ^..^

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  24. Hi Lori, I do not wash the beans first... the beans have to be really dry to grind - any moisture would gum the grinder and also cause mould to form in the flour.
    I think there is probably a fair amount of 'dirt' in any flour - if only we knew, right? smile..
    What about rubbing the beans between two towels to wipe them ?

    I buy the small white beans (navy beans) They are the only beans that have only a very faint 'beany' smell and no bean taste when used in baking.

    I hope that helps !!

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  25. For those of you that don't like bean flour, I find that sorghum flour has quite a lot of fibre and is a good substitute. I am very much looking forward to trying these out!

    I also agree, Julie, that a little sweet rice flour goes a long way. It has very little taste and is perfect for dusting sticky dough before rolling.

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  26. Made these tonight - WOW! Thank you so much for a wonderful light tasty bun. Kids are very happy tonight.

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  27. So yesterday I cried while I was rolling up these buns! My daughter came home from work and SHE started crying too!
    I can't believe how yummy this recipe is! I read the comments beforehand and I was totally prepared to just pop the buns into muffin cups if they were too sticky. However, just using a little more sweet rice flour than I normally would use was enough to make the dough come away from the cling wrap. They didn't rise as much as I would have liked....I read in one of your other recipes that xanthan gum affects the yeast. Would you suggest adding some certo crystals to this recipe?
    I can hardly wait to try the wareneki recipe!!
    -Teri-Lynn

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    1. aww... Teri-Lynn, I'm not usually happy when people cry .. but your tears did make me smile!! Your comment made my day !
      I made this recipe before I learned the trick of adding unflavoured gelatin to the yeast and regular yeast works better than instant... also I removed the guar gum. The 1 tsp of xanthan gum is plenty.
      (I made the changes in the recipe post, so if you have it printed out you may want to note the changes.) Those adjustments should help in the rising - and also keeping the dough as soft as you can allows it to rise more.
      I hope you enjoy the wareneki ! My husband (who eats wheat) likes my gluten-free wareneki better than my wheat ones !

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  28. Julie - I just made these. They are in the oven as I type this. My dough was SOOO sticky. In order to keep it from clinging to the plastic wrap, I would have had to use my whole box of sweet rice flour (or it felt like it - I wasted so much dough). Where did I go wrong? I did however get them rolled up, but when I cut them and attempted to move them, they just fell apart. Clearly I didn't get those edges sealed.

    Any suggestions are appreciated!

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    1. Rachel, I'm sorry your buns were soo sticky --- sticky is what ensures the baked product will be light and fluffy -- but, of course the dough does need to be able to be handled. Try adding 1/2 cup of millet flour with the other flours when you are mixing the dough -- I added it to the recipe - since I found I also needed it last time I made these -- and yet I have also had the recipe turn out great the way it was. Only thing I can blame is humidity -- it plays a much greater role in gf baking than in wheat flour baking.

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  29. I am new to this gluten free, my daughter can't have gluten and I would love to make things when she comes for a visit but how do you store all the different flours and how long do they stay good? Can I freeze them? Since they are costly to buy don't want to waste them. Thanks , would love to make these rolls for her since I know how much she misses mine.

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    1. I use a lot of gluten free flour so I just store mine in tupperware containers in my cupboard ... and they keep well for a couple of months .. If you only use them once in a while then yes, they do freeze well for up two years !

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  30. I made the revised recipe a couple of days ago and my husband said they were great! I used parchment paper to roll up the dough (along with sweet rice flour). It worked well. I have often wondered why yeasted gf recipes will work well one time and not turn out as great another time------your comment about humidity is a good explanation. Is there a reason that your revised recipe called for 1/3 cup milk / 2 eggs & 1 1/2 cup flours compared to original recipe with 1 cup milk / 1 egg and 2 cups flour? The liquid and dry ingredient proportions seemed a fair bit different for a gf recipe.
    Thanks.

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