Gluten Free Cinnamon Buns with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

When I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease many years ago it definitely made my relationship with food more complicated. It also made social situations more difficult and somewhat isolating for so many reasons — if you’re Celiac like me you know what I’m talking about. I am a foodie and really missed so many of the traditional family recipes I used to enjoy. Making them gluten free isn’t as easy to do as you would think. Whether you’re Celiac, or you know someone who is gluten free, the cinnamon bun recipe I’m about to share with you is a game changer!

Since moving to the island I’ve been searching for the perfect Gluten Free “Celiac Friendly” Cinnamon Buns. They’re difficult to find even on the mainland. I love to bake and don’t mind making my own; but, I’ve tried various recipes (and store bought) unsuccessfully…… until now. I finally found the perfect recipe! There are many people who claim to have the best gluten free recipes so I wanted to share my experience with this recipe.

You should know it’s been a while since I did any baking and I’m not a professional baker. Anyone can make these — just follow Kim’s recipe and recommendations. I’ve provided the recipe in this blog and will also provide a link to the source. She shares different parts of the recipe on different web pages and I felt it was easier to put it all in one spot along with my personal notes (and without all of the annoying Ads). Kim recommends some brands not readily available here and I wanted to avoid online shipping costs, so I bought what I could locally and readily available in Canada and only purchased what I couldn’t get from Amazon. Also, when you are following recipes by Americans they may reference powdered sugar — they are talking about icing sugar (icing sugar is not required for this recipe).

I’m not gonna’ lie, making these cinnamon buns from scratch was time consuming and an overnight process; but, they were worth it. Even my husband says they’re better than Cinnabon and that’s what the original creator of this recipe claims. The day I baked these we had one of our builder’s crew here and I gave her one of the cinnamon buns straight out of the oven — she said they were unbelievably good. So don’t just take our word for it.

Recipe Credit: Kim from Let Them Eat Gluten Free Cake (link at the bottom)

STEP 1

You have to make Kim’s special blend of gluten free bread flour (she has more than one type of flour depending on the application). She says you won’t get the same results if you don’t and I believe her. I followed the recipe very carefully. IMPORTANT: You will need a kitchen scale to follow her recipes accurately.

Ingredients: 5 cups is enough to start making some delicious cinnamon buns.

Kim’s Gluten Free Bread Flour Blend	5 cups 700g	10 cups 1.4kg	15 cups 2.1kg	20 cups 2.8kg
POTATO STARCH. I used Bob’s Red Mill Potato Starch	285 grams	570 grams	855 grams	1140 grams
SUPERFINE WHITE RICE FLOUR. I used Ultra Premium White Rice Flour Superfine from Authentic Foods and I ordered it from Amazon. None of the shops here had Superfine White Rice Flour and Kim does NOT recommend using Bob’s Red Mill — she says it is too gritty.	250 grams	500 grams	750 grams	1000 grams
TAPIOCA STARCH/FLOUR. I used Bob’s Red Mill Tapioca Flour.	75 grams	150 grams	225 grams	300 grams
WHEY PROTEIN ISOLATE. I used Now Sports Whey Protein Isolate. It’s also lactose free.	75 grams	150 grams	225 grams	300 grams
XANTHAN GUM. I used Bob’s Red Mill Xanthan Gum.	15 grams	30 grams	45 grams	60 gram

STEP 2

Start making the cinnamon bun dough.

Cinnamon Bun Dough:

• 3/4 Cups Kim’s Gluten Free Bread Flour Blend (Recipe above in the table)
• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 3/4 Tsp Baking Powder
• 2 Tbsp Plus 1 1/2 Tsp Instant Yeast
• 2 Tbsp Whole Psyllium Husks for the “wheaty” taste they give. (I did not use these)
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 Cups Milk
• 3/4 Cup Butter, very soft or melted (I melted mine in the microwave)
• 2 Large Eggs, lightly beaten

MIX THE DOUGH AND PROOF

1. Blend the dry ingredients on low in a bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle or dough hook attachment.
2. Add wet ingredients slowly. Once combined, turn the mixer to medium and beat for 5 minutes (I timed it for exactly 5 minutes and I used the dough hook so more air would get into the dough. NOTE: The first time I tried this recipe I mixed the dough by hand and they didn’t come out as well). The dough should be smooth and somewhat stretchy.
3. Remove the blender attachment. Scrape the dough together into a rough ball using a spatula. Cover the bowl and place it in a warm oven for about 2 hours, or until it’s doubled in size. NOTE: I turned the oven up to 170 degrees and then turned it off before placing my covered bowl inside. It looked really fluffy (Fig 1) when it came out.
4. Chill the dough for 4 to 6 hours. I chilled mine overnight.

STEP 3

Make the filling. I made mine the next morning so it would be fresh to spread onto the dough.

Cinnamon Bun Filling

• 1/2 Cup Butter, softened (I melted mine in the microwave)
• 1 Cup Brown sugar
• 4 Tsp Cinnamon

You can blend or hand mix together ingredients until smooth. NOTE: I found mine to be quite thick and hard to spread so I added a bit more butter.

KNEAD THE DOUGH, FILL, ROLL, AND CUT

1. On baking day, (or the night before baking), remove the dough from fridge.
2. Clean and flour your counter surface and knead dough into a small ball. Add extra flour if you need to until it’s smooth. Roll out to a rectangle that’s about 1/4″ thick.
3. Spread the filling over the surface of the dough, leaving 1/2″ border at the far edge to seal.
4. Roll up and place seam side down. Use unflavoured dental floss to cut each roll, or a serrated knife (putting the roll in the freezer for 15 minutes will allow the knife to cut more cleanly)
5. Place rolls into a baking dish. I put parchment paper at the bottom first to keep them from sticking.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and proof again until they are larger.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
8. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (they will rise more in the oven) if they are small to medium sized rolls. 5 minutes more for larger rolls. NOTE: I make mine small (Fig 2) so that I can have a little treat every now and again and I freeze the rest; ya know, for cinnamon bun emergencies.

STEP 4

Make the frosting. I made mine the morning that I baked the cinnamon buns so it would be fresh to spread over top. I waited for my cinnamon buns to cool a bit before I put the frosting on them because I didn’t want it to melt down the sides.

Cinnamon Bun Frosting

I deviated from Kim’s recipe and made my own frosting recipe. It’s pretty awesome. I know, I’m shameless.

• 4 oz Cream cheese
• 4 oz Mascarpone
• 1 Tbsp Softened Butter (I use unsalted butter)
• 2 to 3 Tbsp Maple Syrup (Yep, here in Canada you gotta’ have Maple Syrup in the pantry and Costco’s Kirkland brand is both tasty and affordable!)
• Splash of Pure Vanilla Extract (This stuff is expensive)
• Milk to thin as desired (I like my frosting to be thicker so I didn’t use any but if you are a lactose intolerant Celiac you can get Lactose Free milk at most grocery stores)

Blend together ingredients until smooth. NOTE: I let Poppy lick the beaters when I was done mixing. She got it all over her nose.

I’m leaving a link to the original recipe at Kim’s Let Them Eat Gluten Free Cake. She has a YouTube channel where she demonstrates many other gluten free “Celiac Friendly” recipes. I’ll be trying a few of those and blogging about it.