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Leavened only with baking powder and eggs, these gluten free yeast free cinnamon rolls are a great place to start if you’re curious about baking bread but you’re nervous about getting the proper rise.
Since there’s no yeast, as long as your baking powder is good, they’ll rise for sure. Plus, the dough is smooth and easy to work with and turns out every time.
Why this recipe works
The dough for these yeast free cinnamon rolls is smooth and even silky. With no more than a sprinkling here and there of flour as you work, it’s truly a pleasure to roll out.
In just a few minutes, you’re rolling up the dough. Then, all that’s left is to slice it into 1-inch sections and nestle them into the wells of a muffin tin.
After just 25 minutes in the oven, they’re done. Classic, fluffy and soft cinnamon buns, with that perfect buttery cinnamon-sugar filling bursting out of the center and making those edges almost crispy.
Warm, comforting gluten free yeast free cinnamon rolls take no time at all, since they don’t have to be left to rise like our classic yeasted gluten free cinnamon rolls. I also have gluten free monkey bread recipe if you want something easier. They’re still gooey, soft, and sweet!
Making clean slices
You can slice the roll of dough into individual pieces with a sharp knife, or even a piece of unflavored, unwaxed dental floss. It’s a great way to get razor-sharp edges without crushing the roll at all.
Yeast Free Cinnamon Rolls
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Ingredients
For the dough
- 3 ½ cups (490 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, plus more as needed (See Recipe Notes)
- 1 ½ teaspoons xanthan gum, (omit if your blend already contains it)
- 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons (84 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1 cup (8 fluid ounces) milk, at room temperature
For the filling
- ½ cup (109 g) light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 tablespoons (56 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the glaze
- 1 cup (115 g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk, plus more by the 1/4 teaspoonful if necessary
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease the wells of a standard twelve-cup muffin tin and set it aside.
Make the roll dough
- In a large bowl, place 3 1/2 cups (490 g) of the flour, the xanthan gum, baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt, and the granulated sugar, and whisk well.
- Add 6 tablespoons of the butter, the eggs, and the milk, and mix until the dough comes together.
- The dough should be smooth and relatively easy to handle.
- If the dough seems sticky, add more flour by the tablespoon and knead it in with well-floured hands until the dough is smooth.
Shape
- Turn the dough out onto a piece of lightly floured unbleached parchment paper.
- Sprinkle the dough very lightly with extra flour and roll it into a 12-inch by 15-inch rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick (no thinner).
- Trim any especially rough edges.
Make the filling and fill the dough
- In a medium-size bowl, place all of the filling ingredients and mix to combine well.
- With a small offset spatula or large spoon, spread the filling in an even layer over the top of the rectangle of dough, leaving about 1/4 inch clean around the perimeter.
- Starting at a short side, roll the dough away from you into a tightly formed roll. Slice the roll in cross-section into twelve equal pieces, each about 1 inch thick.
- Place each roll in a well of the prepared muffin tin.
Bake
- Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven, and bake for about 25 minutes, or until the rolls begin to turn golden brown and the filling starts to bubble out of them.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool until the rolls are firm enough to handle (about 10 minutes), then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Be sure to remove the rolls from the muffin tin before they are completely cool, or they will begin to stick to the muffin tin.
Make the icing
- In a small bowl, place the confectioners’ sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk. Mix well until a thick paste forms.
- Add more milk by the 1/4-teaspoon, mixing to combine well, until the glaze falls off the spoon slowly, in a thick but pourable glaze.
- Add milk very slowly, as it is much easier to thin, than to thicken, the glaze.
- If you do thin the glaze too much, add more confectioners’ sugar a teaspoon at a time to thicken it.
- Drizzle or spread the icing on the cooled rolls before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
FANTASTIC! I forgot to add the butter for the filling, but other than that it was great! thank you for the recipe!
Have made these multiple times and always loved them, but today I am at my in laws she only has 1:1 King Arthur, no yeast of course so I’m curious how I might be able to make it work so there not as dry and crumbly with this flour???
I’m afraid I’ve never had any success using that flour blend, particularly in a recipe like this that has to be rolled and shaped, Patricia. And I’ve tried adding all sorts of things to it to try to make it viable so I wouldn’t have to warn readers not to use it. Wish I had better news!