Bake

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Buns

by:
December 21, 2020
5
4 Ratings
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Buns
Photo by Aran Goyoaga
  • Prep time 1 hour 30 minutes
  • Cook time 25 minutes
  • makes 8
Author Notes

This cinnamon bun recipe yields buns that are pillowy and soft. If dairy is not an issue for you, by all means use whole milk in place of the nut and hemp milks, and unsalted butter instead of the dairy-free kind. If you wanted to proof the dough overnight, you could slow down the fermentation in the refrigerator and then bake it in the morning.

©2019 by Aran Goyoaga. All rights reserved. Excerpted from Cannelle et Vanille by permission of Sasquatch Books. —Aran Goyoaga

What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Buns
Ingredients
  • Cinnamon Buns:
  • 4 tablespoons (55 grams) very soft dairy-free butter, plus more for greasing
  • 2 1⁄4 cups (505 grams) hemp milk or nut milk, heated to 105°F
  • 2 tablespoons (50 grams) honey
  • 1 tablespoon (12 grams) active dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons (20 grams) psyllium husk powder
  • 2 tablespoons (15 grams) flaxseed meal
  • 1 cup (120 grams) tapioca starch
  • 3⁄4 cups plus 1 tablespoon (120 grams) superfine brown rice flour, plus more for dusting
  • 3⁄4 cups plus 1 tablespoon (120 grams) sorghum flour
  • 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
  • 1 1⁄2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup (70 grams) granulated sugar
  • Glaze:
  • 1 cup (120 g) confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons hemp milk or almond milk, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
  1. For the cinnamon buns: Grease the inside of a 10-inch cake pan with some butter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the heated hemp milk, honey, and yeast until dissolved. Let the mixture proof for 10 minutes, until foamy.
  2. Whisk the psyllium powder and flaxseed meal into the yeast mixture and let it gel for 5 minutes.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the tapioca starch, brown rice flour, sorghum flour, 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and the salt. Add the yeast gel and mix with the dough hook on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until the dough comes together. The dough will be sticky.
  4. Dust a work surface with some brown rice flour and scrape the dough onto it. Dust the top with more flour and roll it to 1/8 to 1⁄4 inch thick and about 15 by 13 inches.
  5. In a bowl, mix together the butter, granulated sugar, and remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Spread the mixture evenly on top of the dough. Roll the dough tightly into a log. Cut the log in half crosswise and then slice each half into four equal pieces. Place the buns in the greased cake pan, leaving space between. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and proof for 45 to 60 minutes, or until doubled.
  6. Heat the oven to 400°F and bake the buns for about 50 minutes, until golden brown. Don’t skimp on the time, even if they look done on top, as they take longer than normal cinnamon buns to really cook all the way through. Let them cool in the pan while you prepare the glaze.
  7. For the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, hemp milk, and vanilla until smooth. Pour the glaze over the warm cinnamon buns and serve immediately.
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  • plotto
    plotto
  • Tessa Tomlinson
    Tessa Tomlinson
  • Aran Goyoaga
    Aran Goyoaga
  • Erika
    Erika
Aran Goyoaga
3-time James Beard finalist cookbook author, food stylist and photographer. Author of Cannelle et Vanille named best of by NY Times, Food 52, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and more.

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11 Reviews

Erika
Erika January 18, 2023
These turned out very well. I did use a stand mixer, and the dough came together beautifully. It had an almost bread dough consistency, very elastic for GF dough. I was worried my psyllium might be the wrong texture, so I blasted it in a spice grinder first. I baked them the full 50 min and I think they were overly dark/crisped corners. My oven may run hot, so I’ll check them earlier on my next bake.
 
plotto
plotto February 6, 2022
These turned out pretty dang good! The video and the written directions differ regarding using stand mixer (my dough did not "come together" after 5 mins) and mixing/kneading by hand. I used the stand mixer as I was following the written directions. My dough tore when trying to roll out. I bailed on rolling and just pat it into rectangle shape, squish-patching the tears. Next time, and there WILL be a next time, will try hand kneading. Also used electric coffee grinder to make sure psyllium was flour-like consistency.
 
Mnat
Mnat December 27, 2021
I’ve made these a few times and they came out really well. However, different brands of psyllium powder can change the end result like the last time I made it, it was very gelatinous. I think would really like to try it with egg 🤔
Thanks for the recipe Aran!
 
elisa
elisa August 14, 2021
These are truly spectacular cinnamon rolls! I make them about one a month and my partner and I both love them. I love that they’re gluten free and vegan, but like with all of Aran Goyoaga’s recipes, they don’t at all taste any different from things made with regular wheat flour. You’d never know they’re gluten free.
 
Emilye
Emilye April 28, 2021
These look fantastic and I look forward to trying the recipe. Out of curiosity, any suggestion on how to make these using sourdough starter?
 
Tessa T.
Tessa T. April 23, 2021
Can’t fault these! I have made dozen of gluten free cinnamon buns over the years. I have found one other recipe that is note worthy but it requires pumpkin purée, and sometimes you just want simplicity like these! I did swap the sourghum flour for buckwheat, they rose so well and the texture was perfect you can’t tell they are gluten free! The best 10/10 thank you!
 
Bcrisp
Bcrisp January 24, 2021
My family was very appreciative of these cinnamon buns, which I made yesterday. The dough was perfect, and felt really lovely to knead and roll. I was worried about the high oven temperature, so I dropped it to 390F and pulled them out at 45 minutes. Even so, the top was overly brown and not as soft as I would like, and the bottom was similarly on the hard side. I think I’ll try dropping the temperature even more next time (and there will be a next time, very soon!). Thank you for the recipe!
 
Elle
Elle January 24, 2021
Just made these today & they were delicious. It was my first time using these flours, first time making a flax/psyllium egg, first time using vegan butter... I'd long been curious about this recipe; I have the cookbook and admired the photography but hadn't made much from it yet. It was magic to watch the dough come together! I proved the dough in the fridge overnight, brought them to room temp and then baked them. I will definitely be baking more from the cookbook & I'm excited to dig in now that I have the requisite flours.
 
jamisonlh22
jamisonlh22 January 13, 2021
Liquid to dry ratios seemed way off. After carefully measuring all of the ingredients, I was left with a very soupy mixture that was impossible to knead. I had to add a lot more flour just to be able to form a workable mixture. At this point I ended up a large volume of dough, and the butter/sugar/cinnamon mixture was not nearly enough to coat it (even spread very thin). I've found similar issues with other recipes from Aran. I've even tried weighing out the ingredients to limit discrepancies, but have had the same problems.
 
Aran G.
Aran G. January 13, 2021
Sorry didn’t work out for you. Make sure you are using very fine psyllium husk powder not whole husks or flakes because they don’t absorb liquid the same way. Make sure it actually says powder and that is consistency of flour. If you are using anything that resembles a meal or flakes, they won’t absorb all the liquid.
 
RobbieBakes
RobbieBakes January 29, 2022
This is exactly what I did. I used the Silly-Yum 😋 husks instead of the powder. Oh well there’s always next time! I’m still gonna eat them all just to spite my stupidity, hahaha!