Cinnamon Rolls (Vegan, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free!)

Hi guys!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I'm hoping to make it up to you with this recipe for vegan, gluten free and refined sugar free cinnamon rolls! This was the first time I attempted these, as I'm wary of making gluten free dough. However this recipe worked our perfectly, they were soft and moist just like regular cinnamon rolls!

I use coconut sugar instead of normal sugar here, coconut sugar is made from coconut palm sap which is then dehydrated to form small crystals. It has a caramelly taste so works perfectly with the cinnamon here. It also has a very low GI compared to cane sugar so will not affect your blood sugar levels. You can find coconut sugar in any health food shop, on amazon or even some supermarkets stock it now! You can also use it in baking other things, I just follow a normal recipe and replace the caster or granulated sugar with coconut sugar. 

You Will Need:

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk (I use rude health)
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 1/2 tbsp instant yeast
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup nuts (I used hazelnuts but almonds, peanuts or walnuts would work fine too)
• 1 cup buckwheat flour (you can use any gluten free flour i.e rice, buckwheat etc)
• 1 cup gluten free flour
• 2 flax eggs (2 tbsp flax seed mixed with 6 tbsp water)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

First, form your flax eggs by placing the flax in a dish and mixing with the water. Leave this for at least 10 minutes until it forms a gel. Then, in a saucepan melt 3 tbsp of the coconut oil, and add the almond milk to heat it gently. Mix this with the yeast and 1 tbsp of the coconut sugar and leave for 10 minutes to activate. Meanwhile, place your nuts in a food processor and blitz them into a fine flour, then add your gluten free flour and buckwheat flour. After the flax has gelled and the yeast has activated, add these and the flours into a mixing bowl and combine to form a sticky dough. Knead this for at least 10 minutes, keeping in mind that as there is no gluten it won't become stretchy like normal dough. 

Leave the dough in the mixing bowl, covered in oiled cling film in a warm place until its doubled in size.

After the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 160 degrees and place a sheet of baking paper on your counter top. Roll out the dough into a rectangle of about 1cm thickness. Spread the remaining coconut oil over it and sprinkle on your coconut sugar and cinnamon evenly. Then, starting carefully at one end, roll the dough into a long fat swirly sausage. Slice into 8-10 pieces and put each slice on your baking tray, with the swirl facing up. Brush the tops with a little bit of coconut oil to brown them and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Be careful not to over bake, as they will try out and go quite hard if they're baked too much!

You can keep them for up to 3 days in an airtight container, but they're best enjoyed fresh out of the oven with a little bit of icing drizzled over (to make icing I combine coconut oil, coconut sugar and vanilla extract).

Hope you enjoyed this recipe.

Love Moo x

@MoosFood