Cinnabon, who? These Ultimate Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls will put Cinnabon to shame! Warm, gooey, and SOFT, you won't believe they're gluten free.
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There are some recipes floating around on the world wide web for gluten free cinnamon rolls that aren't bad tasting. Believe me, I've tried almost all of them. But what they always lack is not in flavor, but texture! Am I right, fellow gluten free people??? Isn't that usually the case with all gluten free foods, or at least breads? The texture is just beyond intolerable. It's what we've all settled for over the years. "It's good, for gluten free." Blah, blah, blah.
Well, I refuse to settle for rock hard rolls that don't have that feathery-like texture that you can unroll and tear apart, if that's the way you eat your cinnamon rolls (like I do 😋 ). I can't even begin to tell you how many hockey pucks I threw right in the trash over the years. Way too many to count! But I rarely give up when it comes to baking, so I just kept trying. And trying. And trying. Gluten free hockey pucks, 100. Soft and fluffy ones, zero! Until now...
The picture below is not an illusion. It's not a trickery of a gluten-filled cinnamon roll pretending to be gluten free. This is the actual gluten free cinnamon roll in all its glory, and it is UNBELIEVABLE!!
What You'll Need to Make These Cinnamon Rolls
Dough
- Kim's Gluten Free Bread Flour Blend
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Instant yeast
- Psyllium husks, optional--I use these (affiliate link) whole psyllium husks because I like the little bit of a "wheaty" taste they give. You can also use psyllium husk powder and this (affiliate link) is the one I would recommend. You'll need to adjust the amount, which is given in the recipe card below.
- Salt
- Milk
- Butter
- Eggs
Filling
- Butter
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
Frosting
There are two options for frosting your cinnamon rolls, one a cream cheese Cinnabon-style frosting and the other a powdered sugar glaze. Choose what you like best!
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream cheese
- Butter
- Powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Powdered Sugar Glaze
- Powdered sugar
- Milk
- Vanilla extract
HOW TO MAKE CINNAMON ROLLS
The Morning Before
- Make the dough--once you have all your ingredients measured out, it takes about 7 minutes to make this dough.
- Bulk ferment--this just means to proof the dough as a whole for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Refrigerate the dough--allow the dough to chill for at least 4 hours, preferably 6.
The Evening/Night Before
- Make filling--beat the filling together with a stand or handheld electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Beating it this long actually helps the filling stay in the rolls and not leak out to the bottom of the rolls when baking.
- Knead and roll out the dough--briefly knead the dough just until smooth and roll it out on a well-floured surface into a rectangle that's roughly ¼ inch thick.
- Spread with filling--spread the filling evenly over the dough and leave a ½-inch at the one border (to seal it).
- Roll--roll up the dough as tightly as possible.
- Cut--using a piece of dental floss is so easy. Just position it underneath the roll of dough, cross it on top and pull. You can also use a serrated knife to cut the rolls.
- Place rolls in baking pan and cover with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate overnight.
The Morning Of
- Take the rolls out--remove them from the refrigerator at least one hour prior to baking. This will allow them to come to room temperature and also allow for any extra rising that didn't happen overnight in the cold of the fridge.
- Make the frosting--beat together the frosting ingredients until smooth; cover and set aside.
- Bake the rolls at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes. If you made larger rolls, they may require 5 more minutes in the oven.
- Frost--frost the rolls while they're still warm. Enjoy!
Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls FAQs
They can be made dairy free with the use of a dairy free alternative in the bread flour blend as well as for the butter and milk. I've had one reader state that she made them with JUST egg as an egg substitute and they were amazing!
In order to work with most of my gluten free doughs, a lengthy time in the fridge is very helpful in shaping and rolling. Properly chilled dough will be very easy to knead and shape.
Absolutely! I have a recipe for not only the cream cheese frosting, but also a powdered sugar glaze in the recipe card.
These cinnamon rolls can be made without psyllium husks and will still be delicious and whomever eats them won't know the difference. The only person that may know the difference is the one making them. Psyllium husks make the dough a little more extensible and easier to handle and, therefore, roll out.
Now--go and eat an ultimate gluten free cinnamon roll, the best you will ever have!!!!
The Ultimate Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 3½ cups (490 g) Kim's gluten free bread flour blend
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tbsp plus 1½ teaspoon (24 g) instant yeast
- 2 tablespoon whole psyllium husks (or 1½ tablespoon psyllium husk powder), optional (see notes below)*
- 1 tsp salt
- 1½ cups (360 ml) milk (or dairy-free alternative) (see notes below)*
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks or 169 g) butter, very soft or melted (or dairy-free butter alternative)
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
CINNAMON SUGAR FILLING:
- ½ cup (1 stick, 8 tbsp, or 113 g) butter, softened
- 1 cup (220 g) brown sugar
- 4 teaspoon cinnamon
CREAM CHEESE FROSTING:
- 4 oz (113 g) cream cheese, softened
- 4 tbsp (½ a stick or 57 g) butter, softened
- 2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
OR GLAZE:
- 2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoon milk, or more as needed for desired consistency
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
MIX THE DOUGH AND PROOF
- Blend the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer*** using the paddle or dough hook attachment. With the mixer running on low, slowly add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Once completely combined, turn the mixer up to about medium or medium high and beat for 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and somewhat stretchy, but still pretty fluid and not at all like bread dough should be.
- Remove the dough hook or paddle attachment. Scrape the dough together into a rough ball or mound using a bowl scraper or spatula. Cover the bowl and place it in a warm, draft-free area for about 2 hours, or until at least doubled in volume (see the pics above). Turning your oven on to the warm function (about 160-170° F) and then turning it off before placing the dough inside is a great area for dough proofing. It should be fluffy looking and almost look like buttercream frosting. Chill for at least 4-6 hours. See within the post for my timeline to make overnight cinnamon rolls.
MAKE THE FILLING
- Mix together the filling ingredients with a stand mixer or handheld mixer until fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Cover and set aside.
KNEAD THE DOUGH, FILL, ROLL, AND CUT
- On baking day (or the night before baking), remove the dough from fridge. On a well-floured surface (using extra gf bread flour blend) knead dough into a smooth ball, adding extra flour as needed until dough is smooth. Roll out to a rectangle that's about ¼-inch thick.
- Spread the filling over the surface of the dough, leaving a ½-inch border at the far edge to seal. Roll up jelly roll style and place seam side down. Using a piece of dental floss, position it underneath the roll and pull it up on both sides. Crisscross it and pull down to cut each roll. You can also use a serrated knife if you don't have dental floss, but first place the entire roll in the freezer for 15 minutes. This will allow you to cut it cleanly.
- Place rolls into a greased baking dish (depending on the size of your rolls, you'll need either a square 8 by 8 inch or a rectangular 9 by 13-inch pan or similar). Cover with plastic wrap and proof again until noticeably larger, but not quite doubled in size. (If baking the rolls the next morning, place them in the refrigerator overnight at this point).
- If rolls have been refrigerated overnight, remove from the fridge about an hour before you plan to bake them (to allow them to come to room temperature and finish their second rise). They should rise until puffed and noticeably larger, but not quite double in size.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. When the rolls have risen sufficiently (they will rise more in the oven), remove the plastic wrap and bake for 20-25 minutes (larger rolls may take 5 minutes longer), or until golden brown. Frost as desired.
MAKE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
- Beat together frosting ingredients until smooth.
...OR GLAZE
- Use this glaze instead of the cream cheese frosting for an easy, quick and pourable topping. Whisk all glaze ingredients in a small bowl and drizzle over warm rolls.
Notes
These cinnamon rolls were originally posted on September 11, 2019 and have been updated with new pictures, new tips and tricks, and a new, more detailed video.
Grace
How long can I let them sit in the refrigerator? I won't have time to bake them the evening before, would they be fine to sit for 24hrs before baking?
Kim
Absolutely! I wouldn't go past 3 days, but 24 hours is fine.
Cassie
These are divine. I made a batch of the sweet dough and used half for donuts and half for these rolls for a friend gathering...oh boy were these the talk of the town. I'm a donut fiend, and these cinnamon rolls still won out over the donuts, which is no small feat! These are about as close as you can get to Cinnabon without using pounds of butter lol
Kim
So glad you liked them!!! They are a favorite here in our house as well 😋
LJean
I made these the other day. The dough was really really sticky and so I had to keep adding more flour. I ended up using one whole batch of your flour plus some more for this one recipie. I had to kneed it alot so it turned out not as fluffy as I would have liked, but still delicious. Any tips for getting the dough to act more like yours in the video?
Kim
It's something you substituted within the flour blend. I've made this recipe more times than I can count and it's never that sticky and any time someone tells me theirs was sticky, it's always because they either used the wrong rice flour in the blend or substituted something within the blend itself. If you don't use a superfine or ultrafine white rice flour, you will get very sticky dough because the grittier rice flours can't absorb the amount of liquid in the dough as well.
Stacie
These gluten-free cinnamon rolls are AMAZING!!! So unbelievably good!! Thank you for this recipe! Your bread flour blend is the best!
Kim
So glad you liked them!!!
Kim
I have made your first recipe of the gluten-free cinnamon rolls for years. And have had luck, using a different gluten-free flour. I’ve always wanted to use your flour and I have recently accumulated and bought all of the ingredients. I have made the dough and it has risen for two hours and I’m putting it in the refrigerator. I really don’t need these cinnamon rolls till Tuesday morning. Can this dough be in the refrigerator until Tuesday morning when I need to make them. I’m hoping that’s not too long.?
Kim
Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I have so many comments to respond to, it's almost impossible to respond in such a short time.
I would have told you that it could have waited until Tuesday morning no problem. Hope you found that out.
Ljean
I would be interested in what you found to work for other GF Flour- was it a packaged one that can be purchased?
Joanne
I hope people see this review. My kids are I have been gluten free ( celiac) for years and my kids and I gave up on buying GF cinnamon rolls anywhere or trying to make them. We decided GF cinnamon rolls were not a thing until my son made your recipe this Christmas. EVERY PERSON IN THE HOUSE GLUTEN FREE OR NOT LOVED THESE ROLLS!! No one believed they were even Gluten Free! We were all oohing and aaahing as we were eating them. I recommend a royal icing on top over the cream cheese frosting- we all voted on that. I cannot wait to make these again. I now have total faith in anything on this site after making the artisan bread too. THANKS KIM!!!!!!!! These are truly unbelievable.
Kim
Thank you so much, Joanne! I'm thrilled you're having wonderful success with my recipes so far 🥰🥰🥰
Luella
My husband really missed cinnamon rolls, and this recipe satisfies that longing! I want to share with you an old type of sweet roll my mom used to make. I tried it with this dough and they are just great! Heavily butter a deep straight sided baking dish. I use an oval splatterware roaster. Make 12 1 1/2” balls of dough and place in the roaster. Let rise. They should be touching. Boil 1 cup heavy cream and 1 cup sugar, pour over the buns. They will be swimming in sauce. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. Let cool a few minutes, then turn out on a large oval platter.
Mom made Mennonite twabach (or zwiebach) every week using 20-24 cups of flour! She made these for Sunday morning with some of the dough. You really need to try this!
elizabeth a fraccaro
Love, love, love this dough. It mixes up so nicely and quickly, and the results are unparalleled. My mother had an old coffee cake recipe that we can't make any more because of being gf, but I used your dough and it came out beautifully. Thank you for sharing your efforts with all of us who don't have the time/talent to develop recipes. You are a blessing!!!
Vicki
I have my third-ever batch of these in progress right now, this recipe is amazing! thinking of adding some chai spice this time 🥰 question for you though - can these be frozen once they’re baked? i assume not after icing. I *could* experiment, but I’d rather check with the source first 😊
elizabeth a fraccaro
I have frozen them and they reheat beautifully after thawing. I wrap them in aluminum foil and reheat in a 325 oven until hot. Or I sometimes wrap them individually in plastic wrap so I can grab one at a time.
Siena Van Brabant
I just ate one while still warm from the oven. The texture reminds me of the "real" cinnamon buns fresh out of the oven. Very soft, with a little bit of texture/mouth feel. Just lovely. I didn't glaze them because I feel they don't need it. They are delicious without. The dough was quite sticky even though I was careful with measuring by weight in grams. I needed about 3/4 cup of extra flour on the counter to knead and then roll them out. I still had to use the bench scraper in a couple of places to help with rolling them into a log . I made the dough in the afternoon and had it in the fridge overnight. Shaped and baked the next morning. This made a nice sized bun - 12 pieces in a 9x13-inch pan. Will definitely make again. This was a test for me before whipping up a large batch of the flour blend. I will try other recipes now after this batch. Thank you for the recipe.
Kelsey
Just wow! Yes, the dough is sticky. Add flour as needed and be patient when rolling. I made these cinnamon rolls last weekend using the overnight recipe. They were amazing! I used the second half of the dough today to make rolls using a cardamom and nectarine filling. Yum!!!! They did not last long in my house. I’m very impressed with the texture and taste of these. Thank you so much! I missed a fluffy cinnamon roll!
Kim
So glad you liked them 😊
Tim Curry
I am not a baker, but after diagnosed with celiac over a year ago, I have searched for food that is good, particularly sweets! I tried these about a year ago and although very good, I couldn't get the dough to rise the way it should. Despite that, they were very good. Yesterday I tried again with success this time! These buns are so fantastic ! Even my wife said that these are better than any gluten containing ones that we have had before the celiac! You are a wizard! Thank you so much! Now, I can't wait to try your bread recipe.
Kim
Awe, that is so awesome, Tim! Thank you so much for your kind words and I'm absolutely thrilled you are enjoying them!!
Myami
Tim, I was today years old when I discovered why my baking was unpredictable. This recipe calls for 'instant' yeast. The package looks identical to 'active' yeast. Sheese. Instant yeast is for one rise like this. Active is for two rise like bread. Go figure. I hope this helps you in the future.
Brian
Hi Kim. My wife is gluten sensitive so I tried to make this last year. They were good, but I could not get them to rise. Tried making these again for the second time today, and again after mixing the dry and wet ingredients ( including the yeast) it still did not rise. I warmed the oven up like you suggested but after two hours, still no doubling in size. I any suggestions?
Kim
Maybe your yeast has died? You could always test it by proofing it first in some of the milk from the recipe and a tsp or so of the sugar (make sure the milk is at a temp of about 95-110). Let that sit for 5-10 minutes and if it's foamy, it's still good. If there's no activity, toss it and get some new yeast.
Lauren
This was a great recipe! I’ve tried a few different cinnamon roll recipes and they never turn out right. This had the best texture and my family said the couldn’t tell the difference. I used brown rice flour instead of white rice flour since that’s what I had, and it still worked great. There wasn’t enough filling for how large I rolled the dough out so I’ll just double it next time, but still an A++ recipe.
Samantha pratt
Is it possible to add orange zest and cinnamon to this recipe with out effecting the cinnamon rolls
Kim
Yes, I think you could! I also have an orange roll recipe that uses the same dough if you want to check that one out. It's here on the blog, just search for it or go to the breakfast category and you'll find it 🙂
Sanja Nedimovic
Greetings from Norway,
I made the cinnamon rolls today and I just had to write to you to thank you because they are SO GOOD!! 😁 Finally, I can have amazing cinnamon rolls too!
Kind regards,
Sanja
Kim
Awe, that's awesome, Sanja! Thanks so much for your wonderful and kind comment 🙂
Margaret Krug
I'm sorry but I wrote asking about using this recipe for kolaches and you responded but before I could read all that you said the message went away and I can not find it again. Could you possible respond to my question again. You said something about you had a kolache recipe. I was also wondering if the Dried Egg White can be used instead of protein powder? I don't like the protein powder. Psyillum husk is hard for me to find so would the powder work as well?
Kim
I remember responding. Yes, I do have a kolache recipe on the blog--just use the search function and you'll find it.
You may be able to use the egg white protein powder in place of the regular whey protein powder, but I haven't tried it so I don't know if it will work. The protein powder is really what makes my blend above the others.
Using psyllium husk powder is fine as a substitute for the whole psyllium husks, and these amounts and instructions are given within the recipe.
Margot Wilson
Love, love, love these cinnamon rolls! They are absolutely the best EVER! I am making these as gifts for all of my gluten-free and celiac friends and family for Christmas this year. I will be delivering them on Christmas Eve so that they can all enjoy the magic of having absolutely delicious cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning just like the old days. Thank you so much Kim for your commitment to excellence and sharing all of your recipes with us. You have made so many of us incredibly happy to have delicious gluten-free baked goods in our lives again. Wishing you all the best this holiday season.
Kim
Awe, thank you so much, Margot! I'm so glad you are enjoying my recipes 🥰
Camilla Raines
Kim!! You are amazing! Not only to come up with an amazing recipe but to share it with the public. Thank you thank you thank you. I must say the protein powder through me for a loop and your insight to use that rather than a different type of flour or starch leaves me scratching my head. LOL. But anyway, unfortunately I didn’t watch the video before I made these and had a more difficult time then I should have. Following the written recipe I only chilled for 4 hours rather than 6 (the recipe says 4-6). It was very sticky but you said add flour until it was easy to knead. I had to use quite a bit more flour to get it even half way manageable. It was so tender I couldn’t get a tight roll so they look really funky but I can tell the taste is still going to be amazing when I do it next time. Thanks again for your genius recipe and for sharing it with the world!!
Kim
Awe, it is my pleasure! Thank you so much!!!
Stacey kominar
Do you have to use a stand mixer?
Kim
You can try it with a handheld mixer that has dough hooks or attempt to hand mix it, although it's a pretty thick dough but is also very sticky at first so you won't be able to get your hands in there and knead it.
Destiny
I am new to GF baking. I made these rolls but with difficulty. As others have said, my dough was so sticky it was almost unworkable. I added more and more of the flour blend to help but it was still very sticky even after chilling for almost 24 hrs. I managed to make the rolls and they taste alright except they are very dry, dense, and kind of gritty - assume because of all the extra flour. I used your flour blend and followed the directions exactly but the dough is like glue. This also happened when I made the dinner rolls.
Kim
If you made my flour blend the way it is supposed to be, you would not have super sticky dough and they definitely wouldn't be gritty at all. None of the flours I use are gritty so either the wrong type of rice flour (that is gritty) or substituting something within the flour blend is why your rolls didn't come out right.