Tag: delicious

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

On By melkatborthwickIn Allergies, Recipes1 Comment

As with many things gluten free, so many say “This is the best recipe I have tried!” or “tastes just like the original”. It is frustrating to say the least. I have tried close to a dozen different cinnamon bun recipes and this is the best one I have tried by far.

I then made this recipe a good 5+ times. I have altered it a little each time. I think that it is the best it is going to get at this point.

Several tips I have, do not lament if you think, there is no way this recipe is going to work, it is so loose. The first time I actually made it I actually made a different batch after because I thought there is no way this is turning out. However when it came out of the oven I was pleasantly surprised! It is quite soft and as you can see in the photo below, the sides collapse down a bit as it is so soft. This moisture helps the cinnamon buns stay fluffy after they are baked. Most gluten free cinnamon rolls are quite dry, so this is pleasant change of pace.

Use the plastic wrap to help roll it, otherwise it won’t turn out as nice spirals. In addition, don’t roll the dough too thin. I did this once and found it was more like a cinnamon spiral cake. It baked together rather than having distinct layers that you can pull apart, which is the best part of cinnamon buns! Lastly, enjoy!

  • After they are risen, about to go in the oven.
  • Baked to perfection
  • Iced and enjoyed for breakfast

Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

  • Servings: 8
  • Print

These light, fluffy gluten free cinnamon rolls, can be prepared the night before.

Ingredients:
Dough:
2/3 C milk/milk alternative (I use coconut milk)
1 Tbsp butter/vegan butter (I use miyokos) (1)
1 packet (7g) yeast (2)
1/4 C granulated cane sugar
1/2 C potato starch
1/2 C brown rice flour
1/4 C fine ground almond flour
1/4 C tapioca starch plus more for flouring surface
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 T psyllium husk fibre (or 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum) (3)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder (or 3/4 tsp baking soda + 1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar) (4)
1/2 tsp salt (5)
1 egg/flax egg – 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal, 2 Tbsp warm water (6)
1/4 C oil (olive oil, coconut oil etc)
1/2 tsp vanilla (7)

Filling:
1/3 C butter/vegan butter softened (1)
1/2 C brown sugar/coconut palm sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon

Frosting:
2 T butter/vegan butter (1)
1 C powdered sugar (8)
1/2 tsp vanilla (7)
1 1/2 Tbsp hot water

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease & lightly flour a pie plate (9)

Dough:

  1. Make flax egg, if using. Mix 1 Tbsp flax seed meal with 2 Tbsp warm water, sit for 5 min.
  2. Combine yeast & sugar in a mixer bowl.
  3. Microwave/heat milk and 1 Tbsp butter to approximately 110-115 degrees. Whisk into yeast mixture and set aside to proof.
  4. In a small bowl whisk together potato starch, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, almond flour, baking soda, psyllium husk fibre (or xanthan gum), baking powder (or baking soda if using) and salt.
  5. Once yeast is proofed add in egg, oil, and vanilla (and apple cider vinegar if using). Mix for a moment, begin slowly adding in the flour mixture. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Beating long enough is essential, GF flours are “thirsty”, the dough will thicken & lose it’s stickiness as you beat it. Note, it will still be quite wet and loose.
  6. Cover your surface with plastic wrap, coating lightly with tapioca starch. Place dough in center, sprinkling with more tapioca starch and another sheet of plastic wrap. Roll out to approximately 13″ x 10″. Carefully peel off the top layer of plastic wrap.

Filling:

  1. Use a knife or spatula to gently spread the softened butter over the dough evenly, leaving 1/2″ space around the edges.
  2. In a small bowl combine brown sugar & cinnamon. Sprinkle evenly over the dough.
  3. Roll the dough: start on the shorter sides, gently roll your dough into a log form using the plastic to “lift & roll” the dough. Try to make it as tight as possible, however don’t try to unroll it and retry, it is too sticky for that.
  4. Sprinkle lightly with tapioca starch again. Dip a sharp knife into tapioca starch & cut into 8 pieces.
  5. Place the rolls, cut side down, in a prepared pie plate. Cover with plastic wrap and tea towel, placing in a warm spot, rising for 15 minutes. (10)
  6. Bake 22-27 minutes until tops are golden brown

Icing:

  1. In a mixing bowl beat ingredients in a bowl. I use a hand crank whisk.
  2. Spread on top of cinnamon rolls 15-30 minutes after they are out of the oven. Enjoy

Notes:

(1) Butter: Dairy & Corn Allergy – Depending on allergies use whatever butter you need. There are several options: MELT, Earth Balance, Miyoko’s, coconut oil, goat butter). Beware of salt in butter if corn allergic (look for sea salt/unsalted). Many of vegan butter have corn derivatives.
(2) Yeast: Corn allergy – avoid all yeast that contains any additives, most contain ascorbic acid, which is derived from corn. Red Star Active Dry Yeast is the only one that is free of any additives, it has to be the pack of 3 single packages.
(3) Xanthan Gum: Corn Allergy  – xanthan gum is iffy with corn allergies due to how they make it. We made the switch to psyllium husk fibre in our house.
(4) Baking Powder: Corn & Grape Allergy – Baking powder is not corn free. Find corn-free if need be. Cream of tartar is made from grapes, if you have a grape allergy; you just need 1/4 of powder for baking soda and remainder in apple cider vinegar
(5) Salt: Corn Allergy – Many that are allergic to corn are sensitive to iodized salt as corn is used in the processing. Sea salt is better, but some are still quite sensitive.
(6) Egg Replacer: Corn allergy – I have found that many of the egg replacers out there use corn starch, so beware which one you buy. Bob’s Red Mill works as a great replacer, however it has a lot of cross contamination and isn’t recommended at all with corn allergies. You could also use a flax egg as an alternative.
(7) Vanilla: Corn Allergy – Vanilla is made with alcohol, often corn, you may need to make your own
(8) Powdered sugar: Corn Allergy – Powdered sugar/icing sugar contains cornstarch to prevent clumping. Wholesome Organic Icing Sugar uses tapioca starch instead. This is an ok option for corn lite, but trial carefully as there is a lot of cross contamination. It is possible to make your own. This is what we do, it is just time consuming.
(9) Grease: Corn & Soy Allergy – PAM is full of contaminated corn oils and soy oil. I use safe oil & grease with my hands or silicone brush. You can buy oil mister bottles and fill with your own safe oil as well.
(10) Night before preparation: Once the rolls are in the pie plate, cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. In the morning set out at least 25 minutes before baking.

Gluten Free Frosted Sugar Cookies

On By melkatborthwickIn Allergies, Parent Life, RecipesLeave a comment

Somehow, even though we had no company or travel, we were more busy than ever coming up to Christmas this year. This might have to do with a newborn in the house… This meant I didn’t get to Christmas baking before Christmas day. Instead, V and I made cookies on Boxing day, by that I mean I made the cookies, she helped pour some ingredients into the bowl and she selected the cookie cutters. Strangely our toddler didn’t want to cut the cookies out herself.

This cookie recipe I used to make years ago with the shortening that the recipe calls for. Since at this moment in time we don’t have a safe shortening I decided to tweak the recipe, and they turned out fantastic. So great, that I made a second batch yesterday because we ate all of them already.

You will notice one photo has decorated cookies while the rest are just white icing. The decorated cookies were from before our corn allergy diagnosis. I didn’t bother trying to add some natural food coloring to my icing this time around, however there are many ways to do this safely for different allergies. I may have to experiment.

Gluten Free Frosted Sugar Cookies

  • Servings: 2 dozen cookies
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This easy and delicious recipe is great for the holidays, birthdays or just any ordinary day. Enjoy!

Ingredients
For the Cookies:
1 C shortening/vegan butter (I use miyokos butter) (1)
1 C granulated cane sugar
1 large egg, cold/flax egg (allow to thicken for 5 min) (2)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract (3)
3 C Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix
1 tsp sea salt (4)
Tapioca starch for rolling out the dough

For the Frosting:
1/2 C vegan butter (1)
1/2 C shortening/vegan butter (1)
3 C icing sugar (5)
1 tsp vanilla extract (3)
1 Tbsp unsweetened coconut milk beverage
food coloring (optional) (6)
sprinkles (optional) (7)

Directions:
To make the Cookies:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the shortening/vegan butter and sugar until light & creamy (approximately 2 minutes). Mix in the egg & vanilla extract.
  3. Add the flour and salt, mix low speed until completely incorporated. The dough should be slightly firm but still pliable, not sticky.
  4. Separate into 2 balls. Flour working surface with tapioca starch. Roll out half the dough on floured surface. Cover with plastic wrap and roll out until it’s about 1/4 inch thick or less. Using desired shapes/cookie cutters, cut out cookies. Transfer carefully to cookie sheets, repeat with remaining dough. Dough scraps can be re-rolled. Use additional flour only as needed.
  5. If using vegan butter, refrigerate for 5 minutes before baking. Bake 8-14 minutes (all depends on size of cookie cutters & thickness of dough). Cool cookies on the baking sheet for a few minutes before cooling completely on a wire rack. Cool completely before frosting.

To make the Frosting:

  1. Mix the shortening, vegan butter & powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated.
  2. Beat on medium-high for 1 minute.
  3. Mix in vanilla and milk until the frosting is light & fluffy, about 1 minute or less.
  4. Incorporate food coloring (optional)
  5. Frost the cookies, top with sprinkles (optional). Serve immediately or store in an airtight container until ready to serve

Notes:

(1) If using shortening in the dough it doesn’t need to be refrigerated, however if using vegan butter it bakes much better if chilled.
(2) Egg Replacer: Corn allergy – I have found that many of the egg replacers out there use corn starch, so beware which one you buy. Bob’s Red Mill works as a great replacer, however it has a lot of cross contamination and isn’t recommended at all with corn allergies. You could also use a flax egg as an alternative.
(3) Vanilla: Corn Allergy – Vanilla is made with alcohol, often corn, you may need to make your own
(4) Salt: Corn Allergy – Many that are allergic to corn are sensitive to iodized salt as corn is used in the processing. Sea salt is better, but some are still quite sensitive.
(5) Powdered sugar: Corn Allergy – Powdered sugar/icing sugar contains cornstarch to prevent clumping. Wholesome Organic Icing Sugar uses tapioca starch instead. This is an ok option for corn lite, but trial carefully as there is a lot of cross contamination. It is possible to make your own. This is what we do, it is just time consuming.
(6) Food coloring: Corn Allergy – coloring often in an alcohol base, usually corn. One can use natural coloring if desired. Beet root powder, matcha tea powder, etc.
(7) Sprinkles: Corn Allergy – made with corn starch and corn syrup, avoid if needed