These Almond Flour Paleo Cinnamon Rolls are a simple, wholesome remake of the classic baked good that is healthy, and gluten/dairy free! SO soft and yummy!
PIN Almond Flour Paleo Cinnamon Rolls
Can’t stop won’t stop with making healthier cinnamon rolls.
After the success of last month’s gluten free dairy free vegan cinnamon rolls, and gluten free vegan PUMPKIN cinnamon rolls my food-blogger-brain was all “CAN YOU MAKE THESE GRAIN FREE DO YOU THINK?”
Naturally, I took on my own challenge and GOT TO WORK.
OhBoyOhBoyOhBOYYYY, you guys are in for a TREAT.
These REFINED SUGAR FREE cinnamon rolls are everything that your food-eating dreams are made of. They’re:
- Soft and FLUFFY.
- Swirled with a THICK layer of SUPER luxuriously creamy ghee and the perfect spicy-sweet blend of coconut sugar and cinnamon
- Have these GLORIOUS chewy flecks of almonds in every bite that adds this underlying nutty flavor that is pairing with the cinnamon in a MAGIC kinda way.
- DOUSED in dairy free cream cheese frosting that’s gonna make you do a little “WHOA. HOLD UP. HOW CAN CASHEWS TASTE LIKE FROSTING?”
Then you remember the paleo cookies pizza where we learned that coconut vegan cashew cream sauce can, in fact, taste like frosting, and you’re gonna wanna just SLURP UP THE WHOLE BOWL OF IT.
No judgement. You do you girlfriend.
This gluten free cinnamon rolls recipe is gonna get you RIGHT in the very SOUL, tugging at your heart strings and makin’ you feel like you’re back in Grandma’s kitchen, chugging down a glass of milk and pulling apart each and every FLUFFY layer of goodness until you get to the MIDDLE of the cinnamon roll and your life just feels compl-EAT.
Except it might be a glass of almond milk these days. Minor details.
Have you ever had a cinnamon roll where the outside is just kinda “meh” and really you just wanna bypass all of that dough and get to the middle because – HELLO – that is where all the cinnamon and sugar comes together in the most ooey-gooiest of WAYS in your food-munching mouth?
These cinnamon rolls with almond flour are actually gonna make you LIKE eating E’RYTHANG that some almond flour paleo cinnamon rolls could offer.
Real talk though: the middle will forever and ALWAYS be the best part though. #SPEAKTRUTH.
How do you make paleo cinnamon rolls?
Making paleo cinnamon rolls is a lot like making regular yeasted cinnamon rolls, we’re just using some different flours and some extra binders.
- First you need to create a warm space for your buns to rise. Turn on your oven to 200 degrees. Once it’s heated. TURN IT OFF! It’s the perfect warm spot for your buns to do their THANG.
- Mix together your dry ingredients in a large bowl, and your wet ingredients in a liquid measure.
- Microwave the wet ingredients until JUST 110-120 degrees F. DO NOT go hotter or you will kill the yeast!
- Mix the wet ingredients in, and add the apple sauce and egg. Once the dough comes together knead for ONLY 30 seconds to 1 minute. Unlike cinnamon rolls with gluten, you want to handle the dough the least amount possible or it’s tough! Let it rest for a few minutes.
- Roll it out on a well-floured counter, spread it with ghee and cinnamon and then roll it up tightly! Roll it slowly, patching up any areas the develop small holes.
- Slice and place into a pie plate, then lightly cover and let rise in the oven!
- Once they’ve risen slightly (don’t expect a lot!) it’s time to bake and EAT.
I will note that I haven’t tried any other flours in these almond flour paleo cinnamon rolls, so I don’t have any advice on how to sub, before you ask ? However, this combo of almond flour, tapioca and flax seed made some DELISH results!
But, don’t take my word for it.
Internet friends, I mean this in the most loving and not-bossy way possible:
Get off the SCREEN and get into the KITCHEN!
Other recipes you might like:
Healthy Chocolate Paleo Zucchini Bread
Paleo Magic Cookie Bars
Paleo Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
For the rolls:
- 1 1/2 Cups Almond flour (150g) *
- 1 Cup Tapioca starch (132g)
- 1/4 Cup Flax meal
- 1 tsp Sea salt
- 1 Package Red Star Platinum Yeast
- 3/4 tsp Baking soda
- 3 Tbsp Honey
- 2 Tbsp Water
- 1 Tbsp Ghee
- 2 Tbsp Unsweetened applesauce, at room temperature
- 1 Egg, at room temperature
For the filling:
- 3 Tbsp Ghee, at room temperature
- 5 Tbsp Coconut sugar
- 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
For the frosting:
- 1/2 Cup Raw cashews, soaked in water overnight (75g)
- 3 Tbsp Unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
- Pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Turn your oven to 200 degrees. Once pre-heated, turn it off. This is going to be where you let your cinnamon rolls rise.
- In a large bowl, stir together the almond flour, tapioca, flax meal, salt, yeast and baking soda until well mixed.
- In a microwave-safe measuring cup, add the honey, water and ghee. Microwave SLOWLY (10-15 seconds at a time) until the ghee is melted and the mixture is 110-120 degrees Fahrenheit. You do not want it warmer than that or it will kill the yeast. If you get it warmer, just let it sit until it gets down to that temperature.
- Add the honey mixture, along with the applesauce and egg into the flour mixture and stir until a sticky dough forms.
- Lightly flour your counter with tapioca starch and turn your dough onto it. Knead until the dough just comes together, only 30 seconds to a minute. Don't over-knead it or you'll kill the fluffiness of the rolls. Rub the bowl the dough was in with ghee and place the dough back into it to rest for 5 minutes.
- Once the dough has rested, roll it on a lightly tapioca-starched surface to a 14x8 inch rectangle. Spread the ghee from the filling all over it.
- In a small bowl, mix together the coconut sugar and cinnamon. Spread all over the dough, leaving a small strip at one long end free from sugar so you can seal the rolls. Use your fingers to really rub the sugar mixture into the ghee.
- TIGHTLY roll the dough up and cut into 13 small buns. You can use a very sharp knife or, my favorite, dental floss. Just slide the floss under the dough, and then cross each side over top of each other at the top of the roll and pull down to make a smooth slice.
- Rub a 9 inch circular baking dish (I used a pie dish) with ghee and place the rolls inside. Cover lightly with tinfoil and let the buns rise in the heated oven for 3 hours.
- Once risen (they won't rise much, but they will rise a little and be softer) remove the buns from the oven and heat the oven to 375°. Bake the rolls for 15 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Then, lightly cover with tinfoil to prevent too much browning, and bake for an additional 3-4 minutes.
- While the buns bake, drain the cashews and place them in a SMALL food processor (mine is 3 cups.) Add in the milk, honey, vanilla and a pinch of salt and process until smooth and creamy. You will need to stop your food processor a lot and scrape down the sides. It will take a good 5-6 minutes to make the mixture creamy, so be patient!
- Spread the frosting over the buns and DEVOUR!
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Info:
Recipes written and produced on Food Faith Fitness are for informational purposes only.
FOR THIS RECIPE, I RECOMMEND:
WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PER SERVING: FREESTYLE POINTS: 8 POINTS+: 6 . OLD POINTS: 5
(per 1 roll, based on recipe making 13)
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Is there a substitute for the flax meal? Flax makes me feel ill:/. Thanks
in advance:)
Hi Jennifer, you can try chia seeds or hemp seeds. Let me know how it goes.