Gluten free sourdough cinnamon buns are rich, chewy and delicious. They are a everything you could want in a cinnamon bun, except the gluten!
Why use sourdough?
It is hard to make delicious, rich-tasting, chewy, gluten free bread products. Starches, bean flours and xantham gum just don’t taste that good. Wholegrain gluten free flours are flavourful and nutty, but result in a dense slice of bread.
Sourdough fermentation solves all of these problems:
- by breaking down the complex proteins and carbohydrates in wholegrain flours
- adding flavour to baked goods
- using the rising action of yeast, coupled with acidity of the ferment, to get a double rise
So next time you make gluten free cinnamon buns, use a sourdough starter!
Gluten Free Sourdough Cinnamon Buns
Using a gluten free sourdough starter helps to make a rich, chewy and delicious gluten free cinnamon bun. These buns are delicious for breakfast, brunch or snack. See the notes at the bottom of the recipe if you want to make these cinnamon bun even healthier by omitting the sugar.
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Sourdough
- Cuisine: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 cup sourdough starter
- 1 tsp instant bread yeast
- 3 cups gluten free flour mix (+ 1/2 cup for rolling)
- 3 large egg
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tbsp of xanthan gum
- 3/4 tsp salt
Filling:
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tablespoons melted salted butter
- 1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
Instructions
- Stir the instant yeast into the starter to dissolve. This is only to help boost the rising action of the natural yeast.
- Combine all of the dough ingredients with the starter. Mix thoroughly. The dough should be firm enough that you will need to knead in the last bit of flour. If it is still sticky add in an extra 1/2 cup of flour.
- Gently roll the dough into an 18″ by 12″ rectangle on parchment paper. Use flour as required, to help with the rolling.
- Brush 1 1/2 tbsp of melted butter over the rectangle, then sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle on chopped walnuts if you are using them.
- Roll the dough along the 18″ side, into a tight cylinder and squeeze gently to even out the layers.
- Slice into 12 rolls, and place them in a greased 9×9″ glass dish with the cut side down. Leave out to rise at room temperature for 2-4 hours, or in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
- Cook at 350 F for 30-40 min (until browning.)
Notes
- Here’s my recipe for a gluten free sourdough starter. It takes 3-5 days to get a good starter, so plan ahead! However, if you are short on time, buckwheat and teff will both make a strong starter in around 24 hours.
- Either buy a store-bought flour
, or use my recipe to create your own.
- If you want to make a sugar free cinnamon bun, omit the sugar in the dough. Make a sugar-free filling as follows: melt 1/2 cup of butter, then stir in 1 tbsp of cinnamon and 1/2 cup of date sugar (affiliate link.) Sprinkle this mixture over the dough instead. If you want a bit more added sweetness add 1/2 cup of raisins.
- I recommend topping your cinnamon buns with a probiotic kefir cheese frosting or cashew cheese frosting.
Keywords: breakfast, brunch, snack, cream cheese frosting, sugar-free, traditional, fall, winter, spring, treat
Can I freeze them prior to baking?
I usually bake, then freeze my gf baking (because I like to simply microwave then eat 🙂 ) However, I think that should work. Sourdough is supposed to survive freezing. Let me know how it goes!
Yeah this doesn’t seem quite right, I followed the recipie…the fermented overnight was very dry being 1:1 and the dough was very crumbly and it didn’t really rise at all in the oven, normally a cinnamon roll dough is much wetter so I am wondering if the amounts are off or if I should have added water or something, the taste was great but it really was just a crumbly mess
Interesting. I’ve made this a number of times without any issues. Most of the liquid comes from the melted butter in the dough.
Absolutely delicious! I’m cooking and baking my way through a number of your recipes and have loved all of them so far. Thanks for making it so easy :o)
Thanks! Let me know if you ever find anything that needs fixing. I try to test my recipes regularly, but haven’t managed to do them all.
Hi. Like another person my dough for the gluten free sourdough cinnamon buns would not form a dough without some additional liquid. 2 eggs is all that islistedfor 3 .5 cups of flour. There must be some water or milk needed as gf flours are very dry .
Could you please review the recipe. thanks
Interesting.. . I’ve tested the recipe twice in the past few months, without an issue (once using a rice flour blend, once with a buckwheat flour blend). I think part of the issue is that melted butter is actually part of the liquid. It is not for the filling, but the dough. The eggs plus 6 tbsp of melted butter is a total of just under 1 cup added liquid, in addition to the sourdough starter. Altogether it is enough to make a dough stiff enough to roll out.
Just to check (for the next time I test this recipe, likely sometime soon!) How much extra liquid did you have to add?
The kids loved these buns. I made some cream cheese frosting, was a nice treat.
★★★★★