You may be thinking, “What’s a 52 Minute Gluten Free Cinnamon Bun”? I’m so glad you asked! It’s quite possibly the most incredible recipe you’ll have tried all year. Maybe even longer. I mean, when’s the last time you had really amazing gluten free cinnamon rolls, and it only took you 52 minutes to make a whole pan of them?
Allow me to explain. You may have seen my grandma’s Gluten Free Cinnamon Sticky Buns recipe or Mindy’s Famous Cinnamon Rolls recipe or my gluten free pie crust cinnamon rolls recipe. They’re all wonderful in their own right. But the rolls with yeast necessarily take longer because the yeast has to have time to … you know, to rise.
Baking gluten free means that we don’t need to spend hours kneading and waiting and punching down and resting our gluten free cinnamon bun doughs (yay!), but when baking with yeast you still have to give the little yeasties time to wake up and create those lovely air pockets that give yeast doughs that iconic puffiness we all identify as the way cinnamon buns are supposed to be.
But then one day a reader sent a link to me for a wheat flour cinnamon buns recipe without yeast. She wanted to know if she could make these into gluten free cinnamon rolls with no yeast using my gfJules Flour. Of course!
My gfJules Flour is so empowering because you should be able to take any kind of recipe you find and make it gluten free with a simple switcheroo of the main ingredient. Sometimes (as with yeast breads) there are some changes to the method, but the ingredients should be a fairly simple one-to-one changeover when you use my flour. (for more information on converting recipes to gluten free, hop to this article)
But I was intrigued when I saw this recipe and wanted to try it for myself. So I did, and if you know me, you know I can never leave a recipe alone, so I changed it (I think for the better). But the first time I made it, I tried it their way and while it was good, it was slightly too biscuit-y, if you know what I mean.
I wanted more cinnamon-sugar goodness and less dough; more sweet and a little more moist; and icing! Of course the icing!
So my fast and easy gluten free cinnamon bun recipe is my spin on the original wheat flour recipe changed only by using my gfJules Flour instead, and cutting out all the extra directions for gluten that we don’t need.
Oh, and changed by adding a little maple syrup and cream cheese to the dough and extra cinnamon & sugar topping and icing! Of course the icing!
I use my Blendtec* Blender and Twister Jar and set my Blendtec to the Salad Dressing setting to make whipping up this icing extra quick and easy, which is rather perfect for this quick and easy recipe, don’t you agree?
I also rolled the dough much thinner so I’d have lots of spirals of yummy cinnamon and sugar and less dough in between. I tried different shapes and sizes with the dough too; they actually all turned out pretty in their own way.
The end result is a soft, tender, moist and sweet roll that doesn’t taste at all biscuit-y and you’d never miss the yeast, or the gluten, or the eggs.
I’ve given you brands in the recipe below so if you need to make this recipe dairy-free like I do, you’ll know what ingredients to look for (check my Post on Dairy Free Ingredient Recommendations for more!). Otherwise, feel free to just use butter and regular cream cheese and whatever milk you like, although I never recommend baking with skim.
I also would not recommend trying this recipe with just any gluten free flour blend. My award-winning gfJules Flour is formulated to be light, soft, not gritty, and to add stretch to doughs like these so it’s easy to roll the dough out thin and to roll without cracking or breaking.
Trying this recipe with a brown rice flour-based mix, a bean flour mix, or one without the special ingredients that add s-t-r-e-t-c-h will just wind up being frustrating and I don’t want that for you.
Make it once and make it right!
I called this deliciousness a 52 Minute Gluten Free Cinnamon Roll recipe because I know you can do this in under 52 minutes. How? Because I timed it and I can do it in 37 (yes, they can be made start-to-finish in THIRTY-SEVEN minutes!). Remember: they’re gluten free cinnamon rolls, NO yeast!
So I gave you 15 minutes of wiggle room so you can appropriately budget your time and know how long you have to wait patiently for your soft, warm, ooey, gooey cinnamon rolls. (not long, right?)
Just mix the dough …
Follow my directions for rolling the dough out and covering it with cinnamon-sugar deliciousness …
Then tuck the ends under each roll and place into an oiled muffin pan.
After that, the hardest part is waiting!
By the way, what’s the difference between a cinnamon bun and a cinnamon roll?
I digress ….
I’m so excited to share this new recipe with you. It will never replace my grandma’s cinnamon sticky buns recipe and I’ll always love a good yeasted gluten free cinnamon roll, but it sure is nice to know you can whip up these scrumptious gluten free cinnamon rolls in 37-52 minutes. 🙂
With or without icing, I’m sure you’re going to love these gluten free cinnamon buns/cinnamon rolls. And be sure to leave a comment if you can beat my 37 minute time!
52 Minute Gluten Free Cinnamon Bun Recipe
52 Minute Gluten Free Cinnamon Bun Recipe
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 1/4 cups (304 gr) gfJules Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tbs. baking powder
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1 tsp. ground cardamom (or cinnamon)
- 9 Tbs. cold butter or vegan butter (Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)
- 2 Tbs. cream cheese or vegan alternative (Tofutti, Kite Hill, Follow Your Heart®; Go Veggie®) OR 2 Tbs. extra butter (in a pinch)
- 3/4 cup milk of choice (I use almond, coconut or soy)
- 1 Tbs. pure maple syrup
Filling:
- 2 Tbs. melted butter or vegan substitute (Earth Balance Buttery Sticks)
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 Tbs. ground cinnamon
Icing:
- 8 ounces (1 package) cream cheese style spread (Tofutti, Violife, Follow Your Heart®; Go Veggie®) or dairy cream cheese**
- 5 Tbs. butter or vegan alternative (I use Earth Balance® Buttery Sticks)*
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 F (375 F convection).
Butter or oil large muffin cups.
Whisk together dry ingredients for dough. Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment or a bowl and a pastry blender, add cold butter and cream cheese (each cut into small chunks before adding).
Once the mixture looks pebbly, stir while adding milk and maple syrup. Continue mixing just until integrated and the dough is holding together but still somewhat sticky (don't over-mix).
1- Form the dough into a loose ball and roll in gfJules Flour to keep it from sticking to the counter or pastry mat.
2- Pat dough out flat, then roll in all directions until it is quite thin -- 1/8 inch at most.
3- Melt butter for filling, then spread across the top of the dough evenly.
4- Mix brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle across the top.
5- Cut down the middle of the dough with a butter knife or bench scraper. Peel up one edge of the long side of dough and begin rolling up tightly until you have one long log of rolled dough. Repeat with other half of dough.
6- Cut each log in half and then in half again. You should wind up with 10 or so rolls, more if you'd like smaller rolls.
7- Unroll each until the end of the dough can be tucked under the bun so that the cinnamon-sugar mixture won't leak out of the bottoms during baking. Place one bun in each buttered muffin cup.
8- Cover the muffin pan loosely with oiled foil to prevent the tops from becoming hard. This covering can be removed after 10-15 minutes of baking.
9- Place pan in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a bun comes out clean (not wet). Do not over-bake.
10- Remove to cool before frosting. After 5 minutes of cooling in the pan, run a butter knife around the muffin cups to release any stuck areas and turn the buns out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
To make the icing, hop to the directions here.
Notes
Recipe is easily doubled.
**My preference is Tofutti or Go Veggie brand for best results. Many vegan brands of cream cheese tend to make this frosting too watery, and the frosting will need to be refrigerated or frozen while frosting in order to keep it from being too thin.
* Do not use "Melt" brand vegan butter or the frosting will be watery and will "melt!". My preference is Earth Balance Buttery Sticks (not the spread in a tub!).
Recommended Products
Any links to Amazon may earn me a small amount from qualifying affiliate purchases; this amount goes to fund this blog and does not cost you anything additional.
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GO Veggie!, Dairy Free Cream Cheese Alternative, Classic Plain, 8 oz -
gfJules All Purpose Gluten Free Flour
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Earth Balance Vegan, Lactose Free, Non-Dairy, Gluten Free, No MSG, Non-GMO Buttery Sticks 16 ounce (Pack of 6)
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Blendtec Twister Jar (37 oz), Professional-Grade Blender Jar, Thick Blends, Spectacula Spatula, Twister and Mini Gripper Lid, BPA-free, Clear
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*I am a Blendtec Ambassador because I love and believe in the quality of their products. I use my blender for everything from daily smoothies to cinnamon roll icing! As always, all opinions are my own. See my disclosure policy for more information. Working with select brands I love allows me to keep bringing you free recipes, and I hope that in the process, you’ll learn about some of the safe gluten free products I choose for my family. Thanks so much for your support! (Enter code GFJULES at for 10% off )
Hello Ms. Jules. I was wondering if you could switch out the flour with your Nada grain free flour?
Hi Amanda, yes you can! The dough is a little more fragile when rolling, but it still works and tastes yummy!
~jules