Cinnamon Rolls

I tried making gluten free cinnamon rolls two years ago. I essentially used gluten free flour in place of regular wheat flour in one of my pre-gluten-free-days-recipes. It failed miserably. I accepted the loss - and since cinnamon rolls are WORK to make, I didn't intend to try making them again. Wellllll, my husband LOVES cinnamon rolls and with all of this cold weather, I thought I would attempt them again - so away to Pinterest I went and I found this recipe! Voila! And now I'm sharing it with you. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls

DOUGH

1/4 cup water, lukewarm

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast, 1 package

1 3/4 cups whole milk, room temperature

2 large eggs, well beaten, at room temperature

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp kosher salt

4 1/2 - 5 cups gluten-free flour (I used this recipe)

FILLING

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

ICING

2 ½ cups powdered sugar

½ cup whipping cream

1/3 cup milk

½ tsp maple extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

HOW TO PREPARE:

Fill a small bowl with ¼ cup lukewarm water then sprinkle in the yeast. Add a small pinch of sugar then stir until water and yeast are well combined. Set the mixture aside for about 5 minutes—the yeast should start to bubble and become foamy.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the room temperature milk, eggs, melted butter, sugar and salt then mix until well incorporated. Stir in the bubbling yeast mixture then begin adding the flour, starting with about 4½ cups. Mix until well combined then add additional flour by ¼ cup until the dough is firm enough to handle. The dough will be much softer than regular bread dough—but you must be able to roll it out and handle it gently without the dough being too sticky or loose. Once the dough achieves the correct consistency, cover the bowl with plastic wrap then place it in a warm spot to rise for about 1 hour.

After an hour, the dough should have nearly doubled in size. Generously dust a work surface with gluten-free flour then turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Sprinkle the surface with a little bit more of the gluten-free flour then roll the dough into a rectangle about 18" wide and 18" deep. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, granulated sugar and cinnamon until well combined then set aside.

Spread the 6 Tbsp of butter evenly across the entire surface of the dough then cover the butter with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Roll the dough up jellyroll style until you have an 18"-long cylinder. Cut the dough every 1½" to yield about 16 rolls.

Spray a 9" x 13" baking dish with non-stick spray then space the rolls evenly inside the dish. Cover with plastic wrap then place in a warm spot to rise for about 1 more hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and set out the ingredients for the icing so they can achieve room temperature.

When the rolls have once again doubled in size, bake them for about 25−30 minutes. Mix up frosting and then frost when the rolls have cooled a few minutes. Enjoy!