These are literally the Best Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls you will ever have! With a golden, fluffy dough that is filled with a delicious cinnamon sugar mixture. All topped off with a cream cheese icing that is out of this world!
This recipe is for my gluten free cinnamon rolls. If you would like a regular cinnamon roll recipe, you can check out my Classic Vegan Cinnamon Rolls Recipe!
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Roll Ingredients
My best gluten free cinnamon rolls are made with whole, good-for-you ingredients to make delicious and wholesome cinnamon rolls. Here's what you'll need:
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Roll Dough:
- Milk: For vegan and gluten free cinnamon rolls, use a dairy free milk like almond or oat milk. If you are not concerned about your cinnamon rolls being vegan, dairy based milk will work as well.
- Maple Syrup: A natural, delicious sweetener like maple syrup is great in the dough. If you prefer, you can use honey or agave syrup.
- Butter: Vegan butter or regular butter can be added here.
- Salt: A bit of salt is added for flavor and to control the yeast.
- Active Dry Yeast: Yeast is what makes these cinnamon rolls fluffy and enhances the flavor.
- Yogurt: A little bit of yogurt adds moisture to the cinnamon rolls. You can use non dairy yogurt for a vegan option.
- Gluten Free All Purpose Flour: Cup4Cup gluten-free flour is the best gluten-free flour blend for this recipe. You cannot replace the flour with almond flour or another gluten-free flour. It has to be a 1-1 replacement flour.
Cinnamon Filling:
- Butter: Regular or vegan butter will wrk
- Sugar: Any kind of sugar will work here, such as cane sugar or coconut sugar.
- Cinnamon: Ground cinnamon is essential for a classic cinnamon roll.
Cream Cheese Icing:
- Cream Cheese: Vegan cream cheese can be used in the place of dairy based cream cheese. If you are not vegan, feel free to use regular cream cheese.
- Butter: Feel free to use vegan butter or dairy based butter.
- Powdered Sugar: Confectioners sugar, or powdered sugar, adds sweetness and texture to the cream cheese icing!
How to Make Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix the melted butter, warm milk, maple syrup, and salt together in a bowl. Sprinkle the yeast evenly across the top of the mixture, gently stir, and let sit for 10 minutes.
Step 2: Add the gluten free flour and mix until a dough forms. Add the yogurt to the dough and knead the yogurt into the dough with your hands. This will make the dough more elastic and easier to roll out.
Step 3: Leaving the dough in the bowl, form it into a round mound and cover it with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes. It helps if the dough is in a warm place, so I like to set the bowl on top of the oven as it preheats. This helps the yeast and makes the dough rise faster. Keep in mind, since these are gluten free, they will not be as voluminous as gluten based rolls.
Step 4: Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and roll it into a ¼ inch thick rectangle or oval. Add more flour as needed if the dough is sticky. Spread the softened butter over the top and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
Step 5: Roll the dough into a log and cut it into 10-12 pinwheels. Place the pinwheels into a baking dish so that they are close but not touching. Cover with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let them sit for another 30 minutes. Bake them for 30 minutes in the oven.
Step 6: While the cinnamon rolls are baking, make the cream cheese frosting. Use an electric hand mixer to mix the butter, powdered sugar and cream cheese. Allow the rolls to cool and then spread the icing over the rolls. Enjoy!
Gluten-Free Cinnamon Roll Recipe Tips
- Don't skip the resting! Your gluten free cinnamon rolls need time to let the yeast do its magic and rise, in order to be as fluffy as possible. Although this adds to the time if takes before you can be eating your cinnamon rolls, it is totally worth it.
- If you are in a pinch and don't have time to let the dough rise, try my No Yeast Cinnamon Rolls! They are super easy to whip up in just 30 minutes.
- Make sure the milk is just warm when you mix it with the yeast. Warm liquid help the yeast develop, but if it is too hot, it can kill the yeast instead of making it thrive!
- To help the dough rise faster, place it on top of the preheated oven! You can do this in both the first rise with the dough in the bowl, and in the second rise with the cinnamon rolls in the baking dish. This is a super great trick anytime you need something to rise faster!
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! To store leftover cinnamon rolls, put them in an airtight container in the fridge. To reheat, you can pop these in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Don't warm them up for too long or all the icing will fall off!
To make in advance, follow the instructions up until it is time to ice the cinnamon rolls. Instead of icing them, let them cool and then wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in an airtight container and freeze them until you are ready to eat. Once you want to eat the cinnamon rolls, let them thaw in the fridge, warm them up in the oven and ice them the day of.
The dough might not be rising for a different number of reasons. First, make sure that you added all of the ingredients in their correct measurements. If so, then it might be the temperature of your house that is preventing the dough from rising. If your house is particularly cold or it is winter time, then give the dough a bit of extra time to rise.
These can absolutely be made vegan by replacing the dairy based ingredients with vegan alternatives such as almond milk, vegan butter, and vegan cream cheese. If you want a gluten based vegan cinnamon roll, head over to my Classic Vegan Cinnamon Rolls Recipe.
More Cinnamon Roll Recipes to Try
- Best Vegan Cinnamon Rolls with Yeast
- No Yeast Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
- Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
- Vegan Blueberry Sweet Rolls
The Best Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
Not gluten-free? Try the recipe below instead
Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
- 1 cup warm (not hot) almond or oat milk regular milk will also work
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ cup melted butter regular or vegan
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon plain yogurt regular or non-dairy
- 2 cup gluten free all purpose flour I like Cup4Cup flour in this recipe
Gluten Free Cinnamon Roll Filling
- ⅓ cup softened butter regular or vegan
- ½ cup sugar (any kind)
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz cream cheese regular or non-dairy
- ¼ cup softened butter regular or non-dairy
- 1 ½ cup powdered sugar
Instructions
How To Make The Best Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls
- Reminder, this is my recipe for gluten free cinnamon rolls. If you are not using gluten free flour and will be using regular all-purpose flour, please scroll up for a link to my classic cinnamon rolls recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 350
- To prepare the gluten free cinnamon roll dough, begin by mixing the melted butter, milk, maple syrup, and salt together in a bowl. Sprinkle the active dry yeast evenly across the top of the mixture, stir gently, and let it sit for about 10 minutes.
- Add the gluten-free all purpose flour and mix until a dough forms. Add the yogurt into the bowl and use your hands to work the yogurt into the dough. This step is going to make the dough more elastic and hold together better during rolling.
- Leaving the dough in the bowl, form it into a round mound and cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel. Allow it to sit for 30 minutes. I like to sit my bowl on top of an oven preheated to 350. The warmth from the oven helps the dough rise faster. Reminder, since these cinnamon rolls are gluten free, the dough will not be as voluminous as dough with gluten.
- Roll the dough onto a well-floured surface into a ¼ inch oval or rectangle (add more flour if the dough is too sticky to roll). Spread the softened butter to cover the dough. Evenly top with the sugar and cinnamon.
- Roll the dough into a log and cut it into about 10-12 pinwheels. Place the pinwheels into a baking dish so that they are close but not touching. Cover with a kitchen towel and let them rise for another 30 minutes. Bake the rolls in the oven for about 30 minutes.
- While the rolls are baking, make the cream cheese frosting by using an electric hand mixer to mix together the softened butter, powdered sugar, and cream cheese. Allow the rolls to cool and spread the icing over the rolls. Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
The recipes on Peanut Butter and Jilly can easily be adapted to fit a vegan lifestyle, a gluten-free lifestyle, or both depending on the ingredients you use. Please review the ingredients lists carefully and refer to our recommendations in the Notes of the recipe card to make this recipe compatible with your needs. Nutrition information provided is an estimate, and will vary based on specific brands of ingredients used and cooking methods.
Abby says
Can these be prepped the night before and then baked the next morning?
JillianGlenn says
I've had some followers who have done this and it's been a success!
Laura says
King arthur Gf 1:1 flour should not be recommended for your recipe. It says right on the bag, not for yeasted recipes. So the comments stating they didn't turn out...that's why.
Jillian Glenn says
Hi Ruby, King Arthur actually sponsored the creation of this recipe and I used their Measure for Measure Flour in the development of it. Worked out great for me! There are definitely some other gluten-free varieties you can use. I have used Cup4Cup and it also works well in this recipe.
Daniela says
How many days can I store these after cooking?? Or should these be eaten right away?
JillianGlenn says
I usually store them in the fridge and microwave to reheat!
Stephanie says
I followed the recipe exactly and they did not turn out at all! They didn’t rise at all and after I baked them, they were flat, not golden and fluffy. What went wrong?!
JillianGlenn says
Hi Stephanie, I'm not sure why! Did you substitute any of the ingredients. This is one of my most popular recipes and has been duplicated hundreds of times! Not sure why it wouldn't work for you unless your yeast was dead or you swapped an ingredient?
Nicole Heintz says
I made these with success up to the rolling part. The dough was extremely sticky and did not hold a shape. I used it to bake a loaf but any advice would be appreciated
JillianGlenn says
Simply add more flour! Sometimes the dough can be a bit wet depending on the type of milk you use so just sprinkle flour on it as you roll it out.
Emily says
What sugar is best to use for these? And what vegan butter would you recommend
JillianGlenn says
I love Country Crock Plant Butter! You can find it anywhere now. And, for sugar, any kind. I use regular cane sugar.
Lori Baril says
What kind of vegan cream cheese do you use! I haven't found one that I really care for, but maybe adding the sugar will help.
JillianGlenn says
Miyokos is my absolute favorite!
Maura says
Do you recommend using xanthan gum even if the gluten free flour already has it?
Jillian Glenn says
Nope, you can skip it!
Milissa says
Can coconut oil be substituted for vegan butter?
Jillian says
Hi Milissa, absolutely! The taste will be a little sweeter but should still taste delicious.
Ashley says
I notice you recommend Cup4Cup flour. It’s a great GF flour but it does contain milk powder. Just a heads up if you have a dairy allergy or are vegan!
Jillian Glenn says
Yes, thank you Ashley!
Kim says
Their new Ancient Grains blend is DF!
Quinn says
These came out great! I did use a silicone mat in my baking pan, coconut spray and took out in 25min. This has become an instant favorite in our household! Thank you for all your delicious recipes.
JillianGlenn says
This is so wonderful to hear! Thanks for trying my recipe 🙂 glad everyone loved them!
Ali says
Can I sub regular butter and cream cheese if I just want to make it gluten free?
Jillian Glenn says
absolutely!
Ali says
Tried to make the dough today and it came out very wet almost like cookie dough even with adding half a cup more flour… Any suggestions as to what could’ve gone wrong? I couldnt roll it at all without it crumbling :/ I used vegan butter and gf flour.
Shana says
Does coconut oil work instead of the butter?
Jillian says
That works perfectly 🙂
Jade says
Hello! I’m trying this recipe for the first time:) I know you said not to use any other flour, however I have a dairy allergy (why I follow you) and the flour you use in all of your vegan recipes isn’t dairy free:(. I did find a local brand that has almost the same ingredients and is an all purpose flour. I hope they still turn out!
Jillian says
Hi Jade, my preferred flour gluten free flour is King Arthur Measure for Measure which is dairy free! You can also use regular all purpose flour if you are not gluten-free. Hope this helps! Thanks!
Lucy says
Hi!
For this recipe can you use Bobs 1-1 gluten free flour?
Jillian says
Hi Lucy, Bob's Red Mill's 1-1 gluten-free flour is not ideal for this recipe.
Uyen says
Can I use King Arthur measure 4 measure flour?
Thank you!!
Jillian says
Yes! I used Cup4Cup but King Arthur M4M also works!
Ruth Fast says
Which picture is the correct result,? You have the glutinous looking ones and the none glutinous looking ones?
Jillian says
Hi Ruth, they're both the correct result. One photo series uses Cup4Cup GF flour and the other uses King Athur Measure for Measurem GF flour.
Macey Thigpen says
What type of yogurt should I use? Plain yogurt or Greek yogurt?
Jillian says
Hi Macey, either will work!
Liz says
Flavors were there but mine came out tasting a little gritty. Any suggestions?