heavenly cinnamon rolls

The last cinnamon roll I can remember having was from a tin. You know, one of those cardboard tubes where you peel off a layer of paper, press along the seem & the whole thing pops open. Icing included.

I do enjoy a nice, warm, gooey, freshly baked cinnamon roll straight out of the oven though. I had kind of written them off all together once the gluten was cut from my diet. Except for the odd occasion where I found myself lovingly looking through the glass display cases at CinnaBon trying to remember the extent of how good they could be.

Still, the only time that would ever happen was when I was on my way to the movies (since the store was conveniently located at the mall, and I never frequent the mall unless it’s for viewing pleasure), & by the time I was at the movies, the only thing on my mind was popcorn & beer. Well, not beer any more.

Back to the case in point. The only reason I’m even thinking about cinnamon rolls now is because my boss at work has asked that I come up with a homemade croissant for the hotel… being as I can’t work with wheat flour, I’m going to have to achieve something that I thought to be impossible…

One thing lead to another in my train of thought & all of a sudden I was making a list of all the bread-like items that I’d written off permanently as a fond memory. There you have it. My list comprises of gluten-free: bagels, cinnamon rolls, croissant, doughnuts, french toast & more.

I’m doing the cinnamon rolls first since now they are stuck in my head. I’ll save the croissants for when the hotel gets the ingredients in.

As for these gluten-free cinnamon rolls, they are heavenly. They have this moist, warm, chewy texture. Traits that I think are excellent since from what I remember, the majority of cinnamon rolls out there always got dry & more like cardboard. They are just delicious!

I’ve popped a few of them in the freezer before they had a chance to rise or bake. I want to see how they defrost & bake up so I know if they can be stored. Will let you know how that works out…

P.s. the photo is on suspension, the weather is like crap & I can’t get the lighting right to reflect the sheer awesome power of them.

Ingredients, dough: (makes 16) – 50g sugar – 1 tbs instant yeast – 260g almond meal – 110g, GF oat flour – 250g tapioca starch – 100g potato starch – 2 tsp xanthan gum – 1 tsp salt – 0.25 tsp soda bicarbonate ———————- – 250ml buttermilk – 30g unsalted butter, melted – 2 large eggs – 1 tsp vanilla ———————- – 2 tsp powdered gelatin (or 8 sheets) – 4 tbs ice cold water

Directions, dough: 1. place your first 9 ingredients into the bowl of your mixer & fit it with a paddle attachment. Run the mixer on low speed for a minute or two just to incorporate them all together & aerate them. 2. combine your buttermilk, butter, eggs & vanilla together & beat to combine. Create a well in the middle of the dry ingredients & pour this mixture in. Do not mix at this point, move on to the next step. 3. place your gelatin in a small heat proof bowl (I used my glass measuring cup) along with the cold water & place it in the freezer for 10 minutes to allow the gelatin to bloom. Remove from the freezer once the time is up. At this point, you can either heat the mixture up in the microwave (slowly), or submerge your bowl (or measuring cup) half way into boiling water & stir the gelatin until it has all dissolved. Once dissolved, pour it into the well created in the dry ingredients/ Turn your mixer onto low speed & beat until all the dough has been evenly mixed. At this point, the dough should be quite sticky. 4. wrap your dough up in clingfilm & place in the fridge over night. Allow it to rest for at least 12 hours. 5. once the time is up, you will want to cut a piece of baking parchment 40cm x 50cm. Remove the dough from the fridge & dust both the dough & the parchment with some oat flour. Roll the dough out into a rectangle until it is the same size as the parchment.

Ingredients, filling: – 60g unsalted butter, melted – 2 tbs ground cinnamon – 50g brown sugar – 1 tsp xanthan gum

Directions, filling: 1. pre-heat the oven to 50C 1. brush the rolled out dough with the butter until it has a nice even coating. 2. combine the cinnamon, brown sugar & xanthan gum together & then sprinkle it evenly across the dough, on top of the butter. 3. pick up one edge of the dough (the length closest to you) & fold over about 1cm onto itself. Continue to lift the edge of the parchment to encourage the dough to roll into a long tube & then cut into 16 slices. 4. place your rolls in a large baking dish that has been lined with parchment paper. Cover with a clean, damp cloth & place it in the oven on the centre rack. Place a pot of boiling water on the bottom of the oven & allow the rolls to rise for an hour. The steam from the water & the heat from the oven should be plenty. 5. remove the rolls from the oven when they are double in size, & pre-heat the oven to 175C. Place the rolls back into the oven & bake for 16-20 minutes. Remove from the oven.

Ingredients, glaze: – 1 tsp vanilla – 40g unsalted butter, melted – 45ml buttermilk – 300g icing sugar

Directions, glaze: 1. place all the ingredients in a bowl & beat with a mixer to combine. Drizzle over the cinnamon rolls as soon as they emerge from the oven. Allow them to cool slightly before eating!

Tips: *** if you can’t find almond meal/flour, then just use raw skinless almonds. Process them with the sugar & half the oat flour till they are fine & then sift. Re-process any large chunks that remain & then sift again before adding to the dry mix *** *** xanthan gum is added to the filling to help it stay in place rather than leak out of the rolls. Do not be attempted to add more than the recipe states as xanthan gum has a tendency to make everything feel slimy in your mouth. *** *** usually letting the dough rest for 12 hours is to allow it to rise. In this case, we actually want it to absorb the extra moisture & allow the gelatin to set, this is why it is being kept in the fridge. Do not be tempted to leave it out of the fridge for the yeast to activate, we will worry about that later ***

Machinery:

Electric Scale - Etekcity - http://amzn.to/2xkKpQk

Stand Mixer - Kenwood - http://amzn.to/2yqXPiH

Silicone Spatula - Zyliss - http://amzn.to/2y3Srkw

Chef's Knife 8" - Miyabi - http://amzn.to/2fUtyRK

Organic GF Vanilla - Simply Organic - http://amzn.to/2xXdt2e

Almond Flour - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2xkP3xI

Potato Starch - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2yKpYgH

Tapioca Starch - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2xjv879 Oat Flour - Bob's Red Mill - http://amzn.to/2fNUuyZ

#cinnamon #buttermilk #yeast #almondflour #oatflour #tapiocastarch #potatostarch