Paleo Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Intro: Paleo Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

This Paleo Cinnamon Roll recipe is a sweet success! It's not easy for people to go completely gluten and dairy-free. It was frustrating at first because I like to bake, and I found most recipes didn't work out for me the way they were supposed to. I also don't like the gluten-free baked goods sold at stores as they contain a lot of gums (xantham gum, guar, etc.) in high enough amounts to cause me stomach problems.Traditional cinnamon rolls use yeast to make the dough rise, but not in this recipe. Eggs are used here to make the dough double in size.

Going Paleo and baking delicious foods is achievable, but just requires a little time. This recipe took some trial and error and I am so happy with how it turned out. My son loves it so much that he took most of them and ran off. His only tip was to add more of the sugar filling. I really hope you love these delicious Cinnamon Rolls. Also, these will not be identical to those rolls sold at the store. Gluten-free baking isn't the same - but I think it's better. These are made with better ingredients and from scratch! Let's get started!

STEP 1: Ingredients for Your Paleo Cinammon Rolls

Before you begin making these delicious cinnamon rolls, I recommend gathering up your ingredients and just getting everything ready beforehand. I do that in the order below. Once you make this a time or two, it is very easy to make. I know this seems like a lot of steps and ingredients, but cooking without gluten and dairy is like that. It is 1000% worth the time and effort!

Disclaimer: Some people who are strictly Paleo, are not ok with the use of sugar. If that is use, and you are not ok with any sugar alternatives, then that is fine - you may omit it. Some people who eat Paleo, are completely fine with certain sugar substitutes - like real maple sugar (which is incredibly delicious) or honey. I personally use maple sugar. This recipe doesn't call for the use of too much sugar, by the way.

If you notice in my main photos, there are six decent-sized cinnamon rolls. It Isn't a lot if you have a larger family or end up loving these and wanting many more. So, please double the recipe if needed. Also, if you don't have any almond flour, you can use more coconut flour in its place. Please read through all the steps before you begin. And, this may seem like a lot of work for a small batch, so you can always make more and freeze them.

They can be taken directly from the freezer and put into the oven!

For the ingredients, I buy many of these on Amazon because the price is better than my local store. For those items, I will share some direct links for you below. Feel free to substitute with what you have already at home. Please ask if you have any questions!

Dry Ingredients (Place in a Bowl)

• 3/4 Cup Arrowroot Flour
• 2 Tbsp. Coconut Flour
• 2 Tbsp. Almond Flour
• 1/4 Teaspoon of Salt
• 1 Teaspoon of Sugar

Wet Ingredients (Pour into a Small Saucepan)

• 1/4 Cup of Shortening - I use Spectrum Organic Shortening
• 3 Tbsp. Water
• 1/3 Cup Coconut Cream & 3 Tbsp. of liquid (thick coconut water) from the can of coconut milk.

You can get all this from one can of coconut milk. I use Thai Kitchen Pure Coconut Milk here <- I will explain exactly what I mean in that step. Don't worry!

Ingredients to Be Mixed in with Batter (just set aside until you reach that step)

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Filling for Cinnamon Rolls

• 1/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp. Maple Sugar (Some Paleo people are fine with the use of maple sugar. I use this one and it's insanely delicious. If more open, any substitute of your choice would work fine)
• 1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon (or more, if you like)
• pinch of salt
• 1/8 Cup Coconut Oil

Glaze

• 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar, Paleo-friendly (instructions for making it are here, and require maple sugar & a little tapioca starch)
• 1/2 Tbsp. Coconut Oil
• 1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons of Coconut Milk (the cream part)

Before Baking Rolls

• Set aside a tablespoon or two of coconut oil. This will be drizzled or brushed onto the rolls just prior to going in the oven.

Equipment

• Mixer with a Paddle
• Baking Pan (I used an 11 x 7 for the six large rolls)
• Parchment Paper
• Piping Bag & fairly wide tip (or you can use a lunch bag with the end snipped off)

Important Note About the Mixer: One important piece of equipment here is the paddle attachment (also known as a flat edge beater) for the mixer. If you have a Kitchen-aid Stand Mixer, it comes with that attachment. My concern is for those who don't have one. The eggs in this recipe are what makes the rolls rise. Using a regular beater attachment will cause these to be very flat and dense. I did some research online and found a couple of things. If you have something like a Ninja Blender, their sets often come with a dough paddle attachment and that might work well. Worst case scenario, you could use a hand mixer a bit (keeping the mixing to the absolute minimum to incorporate the eggs) and mix with a wooden spoon for the rest.

Holly Mann is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

STEP 2: Dry & Wet Ingredients

Before You Begin:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
• Take the eggs out of the refrigerator and let them sit out, or place in a bowl of warm water.
• Take the vanilla out and place it near your mixer for later.
• Spray the pan you will be using and place some parchment paper on it (or a non-stick cooking mat).
• Get your piping bag ready and place near the pan. If your piping tips are too small, you can use the bag with an adapter piece on the end.

Place all of your dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl:

• Take the arrowroot flour, coconut and almond flours, salt and sugar and place in that bowl.
• Mix it with a whisk or spoon, take it off the stand and put it near the stove-top.

For Your Wet Ingredients:

1. Take out a medium sauce pan and measure out and pour all of your wet ingredients directly into it (except do not pour any eggs or vanilla in this - those are for later).
2. You will be adding in the: shortening, water and coconut cream and liquid.

Coconut Milk Explanation: This is some extra information for those who haven't used this canned coconut milk before. You will need 1/3 cup of coconut cream (the thick white cream that you see in my photos). It's the top inch or two of the can of coconut milk and once you break through it, you will see a thick cloudy/clear liquid below it - this will be the coconut water of sorts (some people call it coconut milk). The terms are confusing. But, you need 1/3 C. of the super thick white coconut cream and 3 tablespoons of the liquid from the bottom of the can. I save the rest in a canning jar in the freezer.

STEP 3: To the Stove Top

Take the room-temperature eggs and crack them into a bowl, whisk them and set them right near your mixer. I recommend that you make your sugar filling now before you start with the dough. It's super easy.

For filling: Just take the brown sugar (1/4 C + 2 Tbsp.), 1 Teasp. of cinnamon, a pinch of salt and 1/8 C of coconut oil and place all together in a small bowl. Heat in the microwave on a low to medium heat until the coconut oil is melted. Mix well with a spoon and set aside.

Finally, let's make these rolls! In this step, you will take your wet ingredients which are in the sauce pan and place the pan on the stove on a medium heat. Mix it around and break up the larger pieces of shortening or coconut milk as it melts. Keep it on the stove-top until you see bubbles forming in multiple places, but try to not allow it to come to a full boil. Once bubbles are breaking through here and there or in several spots, turn the heat off. Remove it from the stove and take your bowl of dry ingredients and pour the whole thing into your medium sauce pan of wet ingredients. Do not pour the wet ingredients into the medium dry ingredient bowl. It doesn't turn out the same.

Once the dry ingredients are in the medium saucepan, use a regular spoon or wooden spoon to mix it all together until you create some type of blob of dough. It doesn't need to look nice at this point and it's fine if it's chunky and dry.

Now, I take that saucepan and dump the whole thing of dough into the stand mixer bowl. I let it sit there for just a minute to cool off.

STEP 4: Mixing and Dough

Once your dough is in the mixer, and you've let it sit for just about a minute, then put it on a low speed. Take your bowl of eggs and pour in about 1/4 of it (be careful not to put too much at once). Let the mixer break it apart and the dough will still be pretty dry and chunky looking.

See all images in this step for how mine looked during the egg-adding step. It doesn't need to be perfect or exactly the same, but a similar texture would be good. If needed, you can turn the dial up so it's on a medium speed, but be careful so pieces don't fly out. Turn it down low as you add in another 1/4 of the mixture, let it mix well.

The dough will break apart when eggs are added until enough are incorporated, so this is normal. Once you've added in all the eggs, you can turn the speed up to a medium briefly to make sure it is all incorporated. It should look something like my photos - somewhat thick, a bit sticky and something you can use a large spoon to scoop out. Next, we will put it in a piping bag.

STEP 5: Piping and Baking the Paleo Cinnamon Rolls

Now, I take out a large wooden spoon. I also like to use a large glass to place the piping bag into. I then fold the edges of the piping bag over the edges of the glass so I can easily fill it. Fill the piping bag (or sandwich bag) with the dough.

As you can see in the photos, I used a textured piping tip. I used what I had on hand. But, I highly recommend using a larger tip than the one I did. Or, you can use the piping bag with only an adapter piece on it, but I found this too large and sloppy. Just play around with whatever works for you. I think if I had a slightly large tip, these would have also puffed up more. Basically, I did a circle shape with the dough and then place a drop in the middle of it, then went around the whole thing again. If you have a bigger tip, you only need to do one loop with the dough and I think it will help with its rise.

With standard (gluten and dairy) rolls, you will be rolling out dough with a rolling pin and then adding your filling. Paleo baking is very different. I did try numerous varieties of methods and the traditional one is not possible with Paleo ingredients. So, it seems tricky but there are always ways around issues.

This may seem weird, but to add the sugar filling in to these beauties, I used a plastic knife to create a bit of a deeper area to place the sugar along the insides of the dough. You should probably use more sugar than you see that I used in my photos, unless you're like me and don't want too much. So I just took the knife to the inside area, pulled back and placed a bunch of sugar in it.

You should have also had a small bowl with one to two tablespoons of coconut oil in it. Please place this in the microwave at low to normal heat to melt it. It may take 30 seconds, depending on your microwave. Take a spoon to this coconut oil and drizzle it over the buns.

Finally, place this in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes!

STEP 6: Glaze for the Paleo Gluten & Dairy-Free Cinnamon Rolls

As this bakes beautifully in the oven, you should now make your glaze. It's super easy to make. Just take out a regular-sized bowl. Add in 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil, 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla and 2 tablespoons of coconut milk. Heat this up in the microwave on medium to regular heat until melted, in about 30 second increments. Take out a whisk. Remove from microwave and then you will need 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Add the powdered sugar to this hot mixture and whisk well. It will be fairly thick, and continue to thicken up a bit as it sits out. If it is not thick enough, just reheat it and add more powdered sugar. Some people do not consider powdered sugar as paleo - so you can omit it or make a version that works for you (I have seen recipes on making it from maple sugar and tapioca starch).

Once your cinnamon rolls are done baking, use a spoon to pour the glaze over the top of them. Let them cool in the pan or on a wire rack. I was able to lift the parchment paper up and onto the wire rack.

Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy! Your family will love you for this! My son keeps asking for more of them.

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PS - since you are here looking for paleo (gluten & dairy free) recipes, I also want to offer up a recommendation on my absolute favorite, life-altering paleo cookbook - it is called My Paleo Patisserie. I cannot recommend it enough!

Lastly, if you need a great paleo crepes recipe (that is super uncomplicated, easy to make), check my recipe out here.

Comments

[wyocowboy62]

mine came out way to runny. I had to make a sheet cake. I followed the steps to the T. what did I do wrong?

[KatieP92]

Mine came out super runny too! I also followed the steps to a T. I had to double the amount of flour than it called for. No idea what happened.

[H3xx]

I'm not knocking the recipe, but somehow I think cinnamon rolls kinda go against the spirit of a paleo diet... The idea is to eat what cavemen would eat right?

Just a comment expressing my cognitive dissonance.

[VictoriaS132]

I don't think it's about eating like a caveman as much as it's about eating what our bodies are naturally adapted to eat. Certain things like wheat and dairy were not part of the diet that cavemen ate, so the idea is that as humans, we are just not adapted to digest those ingredients properly, even if they may not kill us off immediately. :)

[H3xx]

I get that. Plant Lechtin from fleshy fruit vegetables like tomatoes is apparently pretty horrible for our digestive systems. But I stll get this weird twinge in my mind whenever I see a paleo meal that isnt nuts, berries, and steak. Lol.

[VictoriaS132]

The comments from people who actually tried the recipe made me think the batter would be too runny so I figured I should describe my experience with this recipe :)

I didn't have arrowroot flour so I used tapioca flour. I think the choux dough (adding the flour to the hot oil and liquid ingredients is how you make a choux pastry dough) came out a little stickier and and not smooth like pictured, due to the different flour. That being said, I think the liquid amounts are accurate. It wasn't thick enough to have "cut" into it to add filling though.

I also did not have maple sugar so I used agave instead in the same amounts as the sugar. When making the filling, I used agave and coconut oil. You have to use a whisk to get them to incorporate and it just takes a little longer. Instead of stirring in circles or back and forth, I find it fastest to whip in a circle but pulling from the bottom to the top of the bowl/cup, since the oil is sitting on top and you want it to get pushed into the syrup. I also added a little bit of tapioca flour to the filling, in a lapse of judgement, thinking that it needed to be thick. I only added maybe a teaspoon, but that just didn't seem necessary. There was a lot of leftover filling for me, but I may have been kind of stingy with it since we don't eat a lot of sweets. I ended up using the leftover as the "glaze" instead of making anything else and that turned out just fine :)

When adding the eggs to the dough, I added very little at a time, just kind of drizzling it in to give the batter a chance to come together without breaking too much. That worked out really well!

When putting the batter/dough and filling together, I piped a cookie-shape, drizzled filling in a swirl pattern on top, and then piped another swirl of batter on top and drizzled more filling in a spiral on it. I think next time I would want to try to get the "buns" to be taller by making smaller circles but maybe three layers, and possibly in a muffin tin to prevent spreading sideways.

Flavour was good and the kids and hubby ate it up immediately :). I'll probably try again some time. Mine cooked for 30 minutes and probably should have cooked a little longer because they were a little wet inside, but not in an unpleasant way. I just took them out at 30 because they seemed much darker than the pictures of the op. I think next time, I may try to get the dough to be a little bit dryer (and try to get some arrowroot flour for it as well). I will do the filling part differently.

[OutofPatience]

In response to the comment by yrralguthrie, fully 30% of the world's population has some form of gluten intolerance. For those of us with Celiac Disease, eschewing gluten is not merely an alternative food choice; gluten is a potentially life threatening toxin. Unrecognized and unremediated gluten intolerance can precipitate various types of auto-immune diseases and impair bodily systems such as endocrine function, neurological functions, respiratory function, etc...not merely gastrointestinal function. And foregoing gluten is not a way to lose weight either, since most gluten free foods are higher on the glycemic index...that is they are higher in sugar content.

I greatly appreciate individuals such as Holly Mann who take the time and effort to try to come up with alternative recipes for people who must eat "apart from the mainstream." And to H3xx and agaller, ...whether the recipe is technically "Paleo" or not doesn't concern me nearly so much as the fact that it is an attempt to help people who can't eat things they might dearly miss...like cinnamon rolls. Every one longs for a "treat" now and then, and the more that people experiment with creating recipes like this one, the more chances there are that individuals with medically induced food challenges will be able to enjoy a diet that feels "normal."

[HollyMann]

OutofPatience, thanks for sharing your experience in the comment. Glad you don't mind if it's technically paleo or not! I have Hashimotos and cannot have gluten at all. It causes me longterm health issues and many others with hypothyroidism have Hashimotos, usually undiagnosed. Many shouldn't have gluten, but do. Most doctor's aren't super knowledgeable about it. I read some past comments about how it's not an issue because people back in the day ate gluten and they were fine. That was way before we tainted our food products with chemicals and processing that stripped things from their natural state. Anyway, I hope you are doing well. I really appreciate all the comments!

[OutofPatience]

You're welcome, Holly! My Sis also deals with Hashimoto's as you do, and I deal
with Hypothyroidism as well...quite probably, as you astutely observed,
undiagnosed Hashimoto's. Auto-immune problems run in our family...not
our happiest distinction! You are correct that the medical profession,
by and large, is ignorant concerning many of these conditions; (like
CFIDS, Fibro, etc) many doctors still don't even think they exist. My
Sis and I have been fortunate though, to find several physicians who
have been willing to buck the prevailing winds and learn and work with
us. Several have suggested that undiagnosed Celiac was causative of
these conditions in the first place, and eating "gluten free" has made
an astounding difference in the severity of "dysfunction" for us. In the
meantime, we "retired" several years ago to a small farm where we raise
much of our own food supply, including fresh goat milk. (cheese and
yogurt, etc.) This helps quiet much of the inflammation that produces so
many auto-immune symptoms. As to the degeneration of our food supply,
you are also correct. Consider, for example, the depleted and
contaminated soil and water supplies or the genetic alteration of much
of the world's crop seed in addition to chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Anyway, I hope you continue to successfully pursue wellness. Thank you for this recipe. I look forward to trying it!

[AvensisA]

Incorrect. While 30% of Americans see the appeal of gluten-free food, only around 1.4% have a medical need for it:

https://celiac.org/blog/2014/02/9-things-you-shoul...

Gluten intolerance may have been higher previous to the Agricultural Revolution, the ability to digest gluten since became so necessary for survival that gluten intolerance was selected out, much the same way as we have evidence of lactose intolerance being selected out.

[OutofPatience]

AvensisA...Thank you for messaging me regarding my comment. I should more properly have said that research shows that up to 30%-33% of the population
carry a gene making them susceptible to gluten sensitivity in some form. In other words, gluten sensitivity has not been "selected out" of the population. It merely requires a "trigger" to activate it.

I read the article you kindly linked, and I appreciate your perspective. As a medically diagnosed Celiac patient, (for nearly 20 years...and likely, according to several physicians, prior to that, as evidenced by extensive damage done to various body systems prior to diagnosis...) I am afraid I have to differ. My sister also deals with Celiac; it often shows up in genetically related individuals, so this has become a significant issue for us. Anyway...you and I will just have to agree to disagree in a friendly discussion. I respect your opinion and hope you'll do further research into actual medical journals if you want to know more. I won't attempt to provide links for you in this dialogue, as it's too extensive a body of research for such a venue. People who must eat diets without gluten have a difficult time navigating today's food market...just finding foods that won't send us to an emergency room...not to mention the unreliable quality and extra expense of such foods...and it is disheartening to also have to face the skepticism lobbed at us by a frequently well meaning but not well informed public who think that we are merely "trying to lose weight" or are following some sort of health food "fad" diet. And just an aside...as to lactose intolerance...my now 38 year old son nearly died as a toddler before doctors finally discovered that he was lactose intolerant. I thank God that that they thought to look for that rather than rejecting it as a possibility because it "shouldn't" have been a viable diagnosis. Anyway...thank you again for taking the trouble to comment and for the respect you accorded in messaging me privately. Best wishes.............Dana L. Veach

[yrralguthrie]

Good instructable.

But I've always wondered what is the reason for eating gluten free. Gluten causes no health problems, unless a person is one of the very very few that are gluten intolerant. Ditto dairy products. Neither by themselves cause weight gain. Sometimes people on a gluten or dairy free diet do lose weight simply because they become more aware of what they are eating. Sounds to me like an excuse for people to shift the blame for being overweight to something they have no control over, rather than the fact they eat too much. Like saying "I'm fat, but it's not my fault". People have been eating bread for hundreds or thousands of years, but being fat is a 20th and 21st century problem.

[HollyMann]

Foods aren't processed the same as hundreds of years ago. Things were simpler than with less chemicals and stripping things from their natural state. Our stomachs are often damaged from pesticides (Monsanto, for example is one which uses chemicals that are extremely damaging to the stomach lining). Many people have developed compromised stomach lining issues, which have led to some sort of permeability which can lead to an autoimmune disorder. This happened to me. MANY people in America have autoimmune disorders - chronic fatigue and chronic health issues and gluten can be a problem for multiple reasons. I have Hashimotos and I cannot have gluten. If I have it, I have a flareup of extreme fatigue and cannot function for weeks, if not longer. Dairy is highly inflammatory and causes problems for people as well, and many people can't digest cow's milk - it is intended for baby cows, not humans. I've never heard of people going dairy and gluten free to lose weight. Many people can lose weight while still having dairy, if they aren't suffering from severe inflammation. High fat foods can help people stay full and lose weight, if they stay away from sugar. Keto is a good example. I would never wish these stomach problems on anyone. I wish I could eat dairy and gluten but I can't. If you want to know more about the stomach issues causing autoimmune disorders, here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5440529/ there are many more resources online. Hope it helps and take care

[AvensisA]

Paleo, wow that was a fad that died quick. Thankfully these look pretty delicious, so I think I'll have a go making a batch for my gluten-intolerant stepdad. He's been missing the sweeter things and the off-the-shelf celiac cake options have quite frankly been awful so far. (The dryest, most powdery scotch pancakes I've ever tasted included!)

[HollyMann]

That is so nice of you! If you want to start with an easier recipe, the paleo crepes are so good too!

[srd38]

These look delicious and I couldn't wait to try them but something is very off with the ingredient proportions. I had to add way more of the dry ingredients (at least double what you've listed, maybe more) to get this even remotely thick enough to be piped into the dish. Are you sure the recipe is listed correctly?

[JackH90]

I watched a really interesting documentary on the Discovery channel about paleolithic man. This prehistoric period was really the first time that we start to find bone artifacts, cave art, evidence of early religions, and cinnamon roll batter in the archaeological record. Prior to that, in the Pleistocene era, it is believed that man forwent all baked goods and lived off of large quantities of meat, root vegetables, and energy drinks. Paleolithic is derived from the greek of palaios which means "prior to boxed bakery mixes" and lithos which means "era". The well established dividing line between the Paleolithic era and the subsequent Mesolithic era happens at the point that we start utilizing papyrus to box pre-made bakery mixes moving us into a golden age of foodstuff.

[2kellyschafer]

I am still LMAO. Palaios does not mean "prior to boxed bakery mixes". LOL. In Greek language it means "old" or "ancient" and lithos means "stone". Hence the word paleolithic meaning "stone age". I'm sorry I couldn't let that go. My friends and family from Greece are appalled. hehehehe

[HollyMann]

Thanks - very intersting!

[RichFarwell]

Thanks for the info, man. I was thinking these great looking rolls were part of some kind of "new" Yoga" -- you know, "hot yoga", cold yoga, paleo yoga, etc. etc.

I'm hoping these will improve my abbs!