We have a gluten free cinnamon roll recipe that we’ve used for years, but lately I have been wanting to modify it somehow to make our rolls have a lighter, fluffier texture. I looked through lots of different recipe ideas online and saw several suggestions to use vanilla pudding as an ingredient! The recipe I ended up using for the actual dough is from Life After Wheat.
I also wanted to try rolling up the dough in a different way to end up with heart-shaped cinnamon rolls for a festive Valentine’s Day feel. When all was said and done, they almost seemed more like a donut than a true cinnamon roll, but they were amazingly good none-the less. Wes said they turned out way better than our previous recipe usually had, so we will definitely be using this version again!!
Gluten Free Cinnamon Roll Donuts
Ingredients
Donut Dough
- 3 ¼ cups Cup4Cup flour or other all purpose blend
- 1 packet instant yeast approx 2 tsp
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup Jello vanilla pudding prepped according to directions
- ½ cup butter softened
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup milk warm
Filling
- 4 TBS butter softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup white sugar
- 2 TBS cinnamon
Cream Cheese Glaze
- 3 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 TBS butter melted
- 3 TBS milk
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- food coloring optional
Instructions
- Add flour, yeast, and salt to large bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Using a (stand or) hand mixer with dough hook, add prepared pudding, butter, eggs, and milk and mix on low-medium speed until dough is smooth. (Dough will be very sticky at this point.) Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, combine filling ingredients and blend with fork until crumbly.
- Place a large piece of parchment paper on counter and lightly dust with additional GF flour. Add dough to paper and sprinkle top with flour as well. Roll dough into an approximate 16" by 11" rectangle, lightly adding flour to top as needed
- Evenly spread filling mix over dough, and press down gently
- To make the heart shape, we will roll each of the long sides towards the middle by gently lifting the parchment paper. Be sure to keep the roll tight so you don't lose the filling while baking. Once both sides are rolled in, gently press together to keep secure. With hands or flat side of knife, press in the uneven ends of the roll until flat
- Next, cut the roll into 12 even slices. I like to use a serrated bread knife, dusted with flour to prevent sticking. I find it easiest to start in the middle with my first cut and work my way out to keep the slices even. I cut the roll in half, then each half in half. The four sections are then each cut into thirds, for a total of 12 slices.
- As I cut the rolls, I use the floured knife to carefully transfer them to a greased cookie sheet. Ours is huge, but a 9x13 should work just fine. After placing rolls on cookie sheets, use fingers to refine the heart shape.
- Next we need to let the rolls rise. My oven has a proof setting, but if yours doesn't you can heat it to about 150-200 (or whatever the lowest temp on your oven is), turn it off, then place pan covered with towel inside. Let sit about 25 minutes while they increase in size. Mine didn't change significantly, but other types of GF flours can respond more.
- Once they are done proofing, remove pan from oven and preheat to 350°. Bake for 25 minutes, or until lightly golden on top, then remove and let cool.
- Finally, combine glaze ingredients and drizzle across the cooled donut rolls. Add sprinkles if desired and enjoy!
— RECIPE CARD (click to save to Pinterest) —
