Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Photo: Cooking Gluten Free

Ingredients

---Dough---

1/4 cup coconut flour + 2 Tbsp

3/4 cup gluten free oat flour

1 cup cornstarch or arrowroot flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon xanthan gum

1 cup milk alternative

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon package or 2 ¼ of active dry yeast

2 eggs

---Filling---

3 tablespoons melted Earth Balance (vegan) butter

2 handfuls brown sugar, really can you have too much?

1 tablespoon cinnamon

handful raisins (optional)

handful chopped walnuts (optional)

---The Pioneer Womans Icing---

1/2 pound powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk alternative

1 1/2 tablespoons melted Earth Balance butter

1 tablespoon brewed coffee

Dash of salt

1 teaspoon maple syrup

Preparation

To make the dough: Heat the milk, canola oil, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and set aside to cool to room temperature. Do not boil. This will not take very long. Your milk needs to be between 100-115 degrees to activate the yeast. If you turn on the tap water and let it run over your wrist, when the water feels the same temperature as your skin, this is the temperature you want your milk to be if you do not have a thermometer.

Once your milk is the right temperature, stir in the yeast and set aside until it foams up and looks like the above picture.

In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, cornstarch, oat flour (I used my son's gluten free breakfast oats and put them in the coffee grinder), xanthan gum, and salt until they become one beautiful flour with no lumps.

Stir the yeast mixture, eggs, and vanilla into the flour . When you are finished it should look like the above picture. A little bit giggly but not wet. It needs to be pliable but will not hold together as much as glutenous dough. If it seems too wet add in about 1 tsp of cornstarch at a time until you get the right consistency.

Cover with a clean dish towel and rise for 1 hour in a warm place.

Grease a large piece of parchment paper and sprinkle with cornstarch.

Gently roll your dough into a large rectangle.

Lets make the filling: Melt the butter and spread evenly onto the dough. Next, sprinkle on the brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and walnuts.

Lets roll it up: Starting with side farthest away from you, pick up the parchment paper (just to help roll up the log) and start rolling the dough up tightly to make one long, gooey, cinnamony log.

When you get to the end pinch the seam together.

Melt another 4-5 Tbsp of butter and pour into 2 pie pans or a large baking sheet.

Now this is a little trick I learned from gluten free girl. Slice your cinnamon rolls with dental floss! Yes, dental floss. Cut 1 to 1 1/2 in. cinnamon rolls and place on your baking sheet. An easy way to do this is to cut the log in half, then half both of those and so on...

Cover again and let rise another 45 minutes to an hour. If you're in a hurry the recipe would still work o.k. without letting it rise the 2nd time.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until they just start turning b rown. I barely overcooked mine, so keep an eye on them.

Let's ice those babies: Just whisk all the ingredients together and pour the icing over them while they are hot. The icing will be thick but pour-able.

Just a note, in the picture I used a dairy-free store bought icing, but I would definitely recommend the pioneer womans icing.