It’s that time of year again.

The smell of pine, a sweet kiss under the mistletoe, and the aroma of delicious, decadent, made from the heart cuisine.

When I was a little girl, my family gathered at my grandparents’ house for the holidays. Like most grandmother’s, mine was a most amazing chef and baker. We all savoured every last bite of what she made, but there was one standout that we couldn’t seem to get enough of, her made from scratch (yes dough and all) cinnamon rolls.

Perched at my designated spot in the kitchen (a high chair with a pull out cutting board that doubled as my “table”), I watched in awe as she mixed, blended, folded and assembled these amazing little delights. The finishing touch before putting them in the oven was to “cut” them with a piece of thread (she was also a very talented seamstress), and of course, that amazing icing.

Sugar high or not, these were special cinnamon rolls. Special in that they were made with love and joy, while a drooling, excited little girl couldn’t wait for them to cool before diving in.

So, imagine my excitement when I came up with this gluten-free version.

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls Ingredients:

For the dough

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 cup white rice flour
• ¼ cup coconut flour
• 2 tablespoons coconut or maple sugar
• ¼ teaspoon unrefined sea salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ cup cream coconut cream, or organic/raw cream
• ½ cup coconut milk
• 2 pastured eggs
• 1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons ghee melted and cooled slightly

For the filling

• 2 tablespoons ghee
• 2 tablespoons coconut or maple sugar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (grade B preferred)
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
• 1/2 cup raw and organic chopped nuts (I chose pecans), divided

For the icing

• 2 tablepoons organic ghee
• 2 tablespoons coconut or maple sugar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup (grade B preferred)
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
• Splash coconut milk or cream

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls Instructions:

Dough

Mix your dry ingredients first-put flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large glass mixing bowl. In another glass bowl, mix together cream, milk, eggs, vanilla and ghee. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well to incorporate. Set aside while you prepare your filling.

Filling

In a medium saucepan (NOT non-stick) melt the ghee slightly over low heat. When melted, add sugar, syrup and cinnamon. Mix well. Add arrowroot powder, stir well, and then add half the nuts, remove from heat and stir to mix. The filling mixture should be fairly thick, like a very soft paste.

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls Construction:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Prepare your dish. I used a glass deep-dish pie plate. Pyrex or similar will work as well. Simply grease well with coconut oil to prevent any sticking. Set aside.
3. Take a large spoonful of dough into your hand and flatten into a disc shape roughly the size of your palm. Take a spoonful of filling and spread it over the disc. Then roll up the edges of the disc around the filling (sort of like a little pouch or purse) There is really not a wrong way to do this, you are just making a small pouch/pocket of dough with filling inside. You could also roll like a tortilla. Place in prepared dish and continue until all the dough and filling is gone. If your dish is round, make a ring of rolls around the outside with one or two in the middle. You want them to touch slightly. Sprinkle the remaining nuts and a shake of cinnamon and/or nutmeg over the top and bake at 350 F for approximately 20-25 minutes or until slightly browned on top and solid.
4. When cinnamon rolls are about 5 minutes away from being done, prepare your icing.

Icing

The icing is basically the same process as the filling, although you are looking for a smooth pourable consistency. In a medium saucepan (NOT non-stick) melt the ghee slightly over low heat. When melted, add sugar, syrup and cinnamon. Mix well. Remove from heat. Add arrowroot powder and stir well. Add a splash of coconut milk or cream to thin to desired consistency. If it gets too thin or won’t thicken, heat slightly, stirring constantly (it won’t take long) to desired thickness. Remember you want to be able to drizzle it on.

Drizzle warm icing on top of cinnamon rolls to your liking and enjoy.

Happy holidays and much love to you and your family in the new year! And be sure to let me know how it turns out for you in the comments below!