These Gluten Free Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls with brown butter throughout are the softest, fluffiest, most pillowy cinnamon rolls you'll ever have!
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OH.MY.GOSH y'all! If you make no other recipe of mine, just make this recipe. You will feel like you've died and gone to pastry heaven. Because I'm here to tell you that these cinnamon rolls are not just the best gluten free cinnamon rolls I've ever had, they're the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had PERIOD!
why you'll love this recipe
- The sourdough starter and tangzhong both make the dough incredibly soft, like you've never had before in gluten free breads.
- There is browned butter in not only the filling and the frosting, but the DOUGH as well!
- It's easier than you'd think.
- Because of the sourdough and tangzhong, the rolls last much longer than normal rolls.
- They're the perfect make-ahead breakfast or brunch option.
the ingredients
- Kim's gluten free bread flour blend - as I always advise, please use my bread flour blend to make any of my bread recipes. If you don't, I can't help you with anything that may go wrong (as most likely it will be related to the flour blend).
- Browned butter - this is what I thought of when I wanted to add the "wow" factor to my regular cinnamon rolls recipe. Nothing amps up the flavor like browned butter does.
- Easy gluten-free sourdough starter - the sourdough does not make the cinnamon rolls sour tasting. It is used mainly for the really soft texture it gives. It is a replacement for commercial yeast.
- Tangzhong - this is a little bit of the flour from the recipe mixed with boiling water. More on this below.
What is Tangzhong?
Tangzhong is an old Asian bread baking technique in which a partial amount of the flour from the recipe is cooked with a partial amount of the liquid in the recipe. Why do this? Because it pre-gelatinizes the starches in the flour, meaning they can absorb more water or liquid. What does all of this mean?
- The bread or rolls that are baked with tangzhong will be more moist and will stay fresh much longer, staving off staling.
- The dough is less sticky when kneading.
- The bread or rolls may rise higher, due to the extra water in the dough creating more steam.
how to make sourdough cinnamon rolls
Feed your gf sourdough starter so that you have 100 grams.
Make the tangzhong by pouring the boiling water over the flour in a small bowl and quickly mixing until all of the flour has been well hydrated. Cover and cool to room temperature.
Brown the butter and cool to room temperature.
Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer and knead on medium high for 5 minutes using the dough hook.
Cover and let rise until doubled in size. This may take 6 hours or longer. Refrigerate overnight.
Brown the butter for the filling and mix it with the sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
Knead dough on floured surface until smooth. Roll out into a large rectangle.
Spread filling on the dough and roll up as tightly as possible, jelly-roll style.
Cut into 2-inch thick rolls and place in greased baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled in size.
Right before baking, pour cream over rolls and bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown.
Brown butter and mix with cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
Using half of the frosting, spread it over the hot rolls as soon as they come out of the oven. It will melt into the rolls and keep them extra squishy.
Spread the rest of the frosting over the rolls once they've cooled to lukewarm. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls FAQs
Sourdough is NOT gluten free if it is not made with gluten free flours. This sourdough recipe IS gluten free because the starter is made with brown rice flour and the dough is made with a gluten free flour blend.
There are a few factors that affect how long gluten free sourdough recipes rise. First, recipes made with sourdough always take longer to ferment. If they're sourdough AND gluten free, they take even longer. But in my opinion the most important factor is rising temperature. If it is cold when you are making it, it will always take longer to rise. Try to pay attention more to the visual clues than the clock. It is not uncommon, for instance, in the winter months for gluten free sourdough recipes to take upwards of 8 hours OR MORE to rise. If you don't see much change in your dough after the initial 4-6 hours, you can put it in a warm, draft-free area to help it along. Or you can wait longer.
With the addition of sourdough AND tangzhong in the dough, these rolls will still be soft days later, up to 5 days! They can also be frozen after baking (or before).
Why is this recipe in grams only and not cups?
I am American. And in America we have been taught in baking to measure by volume and not by weight. In the past 10-15 years, I've found, like the rest of the world already knew, that measuring by weight is the ONLY way to bake. It is the most accurate and leads to the most consistent results across the board.
When baking sourdough, especially gluten free sourdough, accuracy is key to success. That's why I will only offer my sourdough recipes in gram (weight) measurements and not cups. I'd like to eventually switch all of my recipes to grams because of the above reasons, but also because if you're making my flour blends you should already have a scale and already know how to use it.
More Gluten Free Breakfast Recipes
- gluten free orange rolls
- gluten free brioche au chocolat (chocolate custard rolls)
- fluffy gluten free buttermilk pancakes
- gluten free quiche lorraine
- fluffy gluten free yeast donuts
- gluten free Mexican conchas
- gluten free buttermilk biscuits
Gluten Free Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 60 grams boiling water
- 40 grams Kim's gluten free bread flour blend
Dough
- entire tangzhong, cooled
- 100 grams gluten free sourdough starter active
- 405 grams Kim's gluten free bread flour blend
- 200 grams granulated sugar
- 1¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 10 grams whole psyllium husks* (or 7 grams psyllium husk powder)
- 6 grams kosher salt
- 320 grams whole milk
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 183 grams butter, browned and cooled to room temperature (weighed before browning)
Filling
- 141 grams butter, browned and cooled to room temperature (weighed before browning)
- 200 grams dark brown sugar
- 2 tbsp (8 grams) ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp (30 grams) heavy cream
Add before baking
- 80 grams heavy cream, warm
Brown butter cream cheese frosting
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 141 grams butter, browned and cooled to warm or room temperature (weighed before browning)
- 250 grams powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Feed your Sourdough Starter
- Remove your sourdough starter from the fridge and feed it with 50 grams of a wholegrain flour of choice (see sourdough starter post for those options) and 50 grams of water. Replace cover and allow to ferment (rise/proof) until doubled in volume, at room temperature or in a warm location. If your house is cold, this could take several hours.
Brown the Butter
- Begin melting the butter over medium heat in a skillet or saucepan (I prefer skillet because you can see what's going on a little easier--light colored skillet at that). As butter melts, it will start to foam and sizzle. Stir continuously until the milk solids turn brown. Immediately remove it from the heat, pour into a bowl (making sure to get those browned bits as well), and allow it to cool to room temperature.
Make the Tangzhong
- Pour boiling water over flour blend in a small bowl and quickly mix so that all of the flour is well hydrated by the water. Cover and set aside to cool to room temperature. (This can be made a day in advance and stored in the fridge).
Make the Dough
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add all of the ingredients in the dough (including the active sourdough starter and the cooled tangzhong). Mix on low until fully combined and then increase the speed to medium to medium-high and knead dough for 5 minutes. Scrape into the center of the bowl, cover the bowl, and let the dough rise until doubled in size. THIS MAY TAKE UP TO 8-10 HOURS!!! In the winter months, I leave my dough on the counter overnight. Pay attention to the visual cues more so than the clock.
- Once dough has doubled, place it in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours, or until cold enough to knead.
Make Filling
- Brown the butter (as above) and allow to cool to warm. Add the butter to the brown sugar, followed by the cinnamon. Stir until a smooth paste forms. The paste will thicken slightly when the butter cools.
Knead Dough and Shape Rolls
- Remove dough from refrigerator and knead briefly on lightly floured surface until smooth. Roll out to roughly ¼-inch thickness into a large rectangle. Spread filling all over the top, leaving a ½-inch border at one short end. Roll up dough as tightly as possible, starting with one of the shorter sides.
Cut Rolls and Proof
- Use a bench scraper to mark where to cut out 12 equal-sized rolls. Using a long piece of dental floss (or a very sharp knife), cut rolls and place in two greased baking dishes (about 7 by 11-inches). Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until nearly doubled in size. AGAIN, THIS MAY TAKE SEVERAL HOURS (8 OR MORE).
Bake Rolls
- About 10-20 minutes before rolls are close to being done proofing, preheat oven to 350° F. Pour warm heavy cream over and around rolls and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown, puffy, and bubbly.
Make Frosting
- While rolls are baking, brown butter for frosting and cool slightly. Add cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla and whisk until smooth. As soon as rolls come out of the oven, spread half of the frosting on the rolls, which will melt into them, making them even gooier. While still warm, spread the rest of the frosting over the rolls. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Shannon says
Hi Kim
Can you tell me the nutritional information for this recipe- carbs/sugar?
Thank you
Rachelle Bonner says
I’m wondering if I can use king Arthur’s measure to measure flour? Thanks!
Melissa says
I have made these twice now. This recipe is, hands down, the best-tasting and fluffiest cinnamon roll I have had. Thank you so much for creating it. The second time I proofed the dough in the fridge overnight. It was a lot less sticky than when I proofed for a few hours. I still had a stickier dough than your video showed, but I'd say it was worth it!!!
Aaron says
Is it salted or unsalted butter? I'm making these right now but I don't want to waste all my time and have them be too salty.
Kim says
I always use salted butter in nearly everything I bake.
Christi Hartley says
Kim,
I made these yesterday/today as a practice for Christmas morning. They were really good. The mix of brown butter and sour dough gave them a really great flavor. The texture was perfect. Everyone who tasted them did not know they were gluten free until I told them. Thanks so much for all of the work that goes into creating these recipes. I really appreciate it and so does my family.
Kim says
Awe, so glad y'all loved them!! It makes me so happy to hear my recipes are enjoyed by so many 🥰
Lisa says
The recipe says that if your leave out the psyllum husks, to reduce the milk to 260 ml. Was this supposed to be 260 grams or is it 260 ml?
Kim says
It's technically 260g, but if I put a bowl on my scale and tare it out, the milk will weigh the exact same in both the grams and the milliliters setting. I honestly don't know why they even have milliliters on scales. But yes, it should be grams.
Jenn says
Haven't baked them yet (they're parked in the fridge overnight) but have to give this one five stars, just for the heavenly aroma the browned butter provides! I know they're going to be great. My dough was soft and easy to roll out, but it seemed too slack after rolling. I'm thinking I should have overcome my hesitance and added more flour. Is it possible to add too much GF flour?
Jenn says
Lordy, lordy these are excellent!! Overnighted rolls in fridge, and then 3 hours to double. Thirty five minutes in my oven, perfect texture and wonderful unique tang of sourdough and browned butter. Thanks for the recipe Kim!
Kim says
Yay!! So glad you liked them!
Kim says
It is possible, but I find that most people never reach adding TOO much. Gluten free dough is much more forgiving when it comes to adding more flour (at least my gluten free doughs).
Kim says
I followed the recipe to the letter. The dough was very sticky and hard to work with—even though I refrigerated it overnight. Any suggestions for making it easier to handle?
Kim says
Something went wrong when you were making the dough and my guess is in the flour blend. Did you use my flour blend? Or did you substitute anything within my flour blend? How about the rice flour--was it superfine or something like Bob's Red Mill? This dough is typically a dream to work with, so the only factor that could change person to person is the flour blend or its components, and almost ALWAYS it's the flour blend that causes this problem.
Kim says
I used your flour blend. No substitutions.
Courtney says
I made these last year for Christmas and am making them again this year!I also always make your sourdough bread. Thank you for the great recipes!! Gf sourdough has really changed the game
Lydia Dugger says
I often have this problem with sticky dough - I add a lot of flour during the last kneading and then rolling out phase. Even so, sometimes I still find the dough quite sticky. I assume this could be anything from my house humidity to the brands of the flours/starches that I used.
To help with this, here is what I do. After I roll out and prep my dough, I cut the dough into strips BEFORE rolling. And I then roll each cinnamon roll individually, using a bench scraper and extra flour when I encounter sticky spots. This has been working really well for me so far.
Kim, thanks for a fantastic recipe!
Abi Cook says
I made a lot of substitutions to this recipe, so the fact that the texture didn't really work is totally on me. My one complaint about this recipe is how sweet it is. The main substitution I made dramatically increased the volume, but I didn't add any sugar, and the rolls were much, much too sweet, even without the frosting. I think I would have to add a more creamy/almost savory topping to balance it out.
To be fair, I don't usually eat a lot of sugar, because I don't have a very big sweet tooth. That said, I made so much of the dough because I kept having to add flour (I substituted sorghum flour for the sweet rice flour in the blend because it's what I had), I made ham and cheese rolls with half of the dough, and they were much too sweet.
What would need to change in the recipe if I wanted to cut the sugar significantly?