Gluten Free Vegan Cinnamon Buns (xanthan free, egg free, dairy free, soy free, refined sugar free)

2011 October 27

ohhhhh YES!!!

When it comes to baking without allergens or for special diets, there are a few Holy Grails. One of them is a decent, luxurious cinnamon bun.

I love these. They are terrific. Light, fluffy, a bit decadent, and no fake ingredients. No strong grassy or tinny flavours from bean or heavy GF flours. No wierd texture. Just soft, cakey decadence. Now, if you’ve been following my FB page, you’ll know I’ve been promising these puppies for a long, loooooong time.

Today, I made myself get up at 5 am to get them done before work, it was the only way to pull it off. (Sometimes life gets a little crazy. Work, family, and starting second businesses like this one)

Anyhow, they are finally here. In all their fluffy cinnamon glory. *happydance* :)

Note: It may seem odd to put salt in the filling, but half the reason why butter is so ‘good’ in recipes is the salt! When you remove butter, add some salt. Salt balances out sweet flavours and changes the effect on your tongue. Try it- you’ll be surprised!

MyRealFoodLife.com

Gluten Free, Vegan Cinnamon Buns

Wet Ingredients

1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 to 1 cup apple juice (or 1 cup water 2 tbsp honey)
¼ cup apple sauce
4 tbsp flax meal (if you must, you can replace with ground chia)
1 tbsp finely ground chia seed
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Dry Ingredients

1/2 cup white sorghum flour
1/4 cup almond meal (nut free: try 2 tbsp chickpea flour plus 2 tbsp coconut flour)
1 /4 cup and 2 tbsp potato starch
1/4 cup and 2 tbsp tapioca starch
1 cup white rice flour (white rice free: try ½ cup millet and 1/2 cup white sorghum)
1/2 cup coconut sugar (or regular brown sugar if you prefer)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda

Filling:

about 1/2 cup coconut sugar or more (regular brown sugar)
2 tbsp cinnamon (or to taste)
3 tbsp or more of olive oil plus extra to grease the pan
1/8 tsp salt (generous pinch)
3 tbsp potato starch

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Mix the wet ingredients first, to let the seeds swell while preparing the dry ingredients.
Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then sift them. Toss into the bowl and mix any large bits left over from sifting.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. The batter should be thick, more like a sticky dough.
Get two pieces of plastic wrap, lay them out on the table side by side so they overlap and create a large rectangle. Sprinkle the potato starch evenly on top of the plastic.
Drop the batter on the plastic wrap in generous spoonfuls. Oil your hands with olive oil and pat the lumps out to form one rectangular layer, about ½ inch thick.
Cover evenly with the sugar (make it a thick covering!), drizzle the olive oil on top, sprinkle the salt, and sprinkle on the cinnamon. (You can put in some raisins and chopped walnuts here too if you want).
Grease a 12 cup muffin tin with the olive oil.
Pick up one end of the plastic, lift a bit and pull towards the other side so that your dough on top starts to roll. Keep pulling the plastic till you have formed a log with the delicate dough. Cut off 11/2 inch sections and gently place each section inside the greased muffin tin. The dough will be very delicate, this is ok.
Bake at 375 for 15-20 min. Check after 15 min to see if the dough is solid- if it is, remove to cool 10 min and then turn out onto a cooling rack. I cut my rounds almost 2 inches thick so they needed almost 30min to bake.
Let these beauties rest at least 5 min before gently scooping them out of the tins, so they get a bit more solid first.