This recipe is really a case in point. I have long despaired of having anything really resembling a good cinnamon roll after being diagnosed with diabetes. I made one early attempt, with a combination of almond flour and coconut flour, back in the early days of this blog. They were…okay. At the time, I thought maybe they were the best I could do using low carb and gluten free ingredients. A little later, I did attempt a sweet roll using carbalose flour, but that does contain gluten and I am moving further and further away from using any gluten products at all. So for the time being, I gave up. I was very pleased with my Cinnamon Roll Scones and thought that they were an excellent replacement in taste, if not exactly in appearance and texture.
And then, when I was making another recipe altogether, I recognized something about the dough I was working with that I thought might make a good cinnamon roll. It was the way it both rose and spread during baking that caught my eye, and I thought that if I rolled it out carefully and filled it with melted butter, cinnamon and granulated erythritol, it might just do the trick. Now I will tell you that these are cinnamon rolls of the biscuit dough variety. I have never attempted a yeast dough with almond flour, or with any gluten free flour at all. But traditional wheat flour biscuit dough makes wonderful cinnamon rolls and I knew that if I could just nail an almond flour biscuit dough, I could make a decent low carb cinnamon roll. And so it was, a few weeks back, that a biscuit-y type recipe turned out well enough for me to think it might just translate.
The Results: I really loved these. They were tender and moist and perfectly cinnamon-y. Again, they aren’t like yeast dough, but very similar to cinnamon rolls made with biscuit dough. They don’t rise and spread all that much, but I am not sure I really care because flavour and texture were spot on. And my kids loved them too, which is always worth some bonus points in my eyes. To be able to have a cinnamon roll with my coffee in the morning was just heavenly.
Almond Flour Cinnamon Rolls – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 cups almond flour
- 3 tbsp granular Swerve Sweetener, or other granulated erythritol
- 3 tbsp unflavored whey protein powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
Filling:
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 tbsp brown sugar substitute, I used Ideal
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing
- 2 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 tbsp powdered Swerve Sweetener, or other powdered erythritol
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease an 8-inch round cake pan with butter.
- In a large bowl, whisk together almond flour, Swerve, whey protein, baking powder, baking soda, salt and xanthan gum.
- Stir in eggs and butter until dough comes together. It will be quite sticky.
- Turn out dough onto a large piece of parchment, and then pat into a rough rectangle.
- Top with another piece of parchment and roll out to about 10x8 inches. Peel off top piece of parchment paper.
- Brush dough with melted butter, then sprinkle with brown sugar substitute and cinnamon, going almost right to edges.
- Starting with the far, longer edge of your dough, gently lift away from the parchment and roll up tightly towards you. Pinch the seam to seal.
- Using a sharp knife, carefully cut into 8 equal portions. Place in prepared cake pan, just barely touching each other, and bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until just golden brown. Remove and let cool 10 minutes.
- For the Frosting, beat all ingredients in a medium bowl and then pipe or spread onto warm rolls.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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Hello there, I baked these and they came out looking and feeling nice but they tasted and smelled awful sadly.
I had to use milk protein (i.e. whey and casein) instead of pure whey, and sweet’n’low brown substitute – do you think that would have made the difference? They tasted too much of butter, hardly at all of cinnamon and had a real hit of chemical aftertaste.
I haven’t ever heard of milk protein so I don’t know what that would do to it, but the sweet and low would absolutely give you a chemical aftertaste. Several people have made these and had the same good results I did, so I do think it has to be your substitutions causing the problem.
I live in Northern Ireland so I had to order the sweet’n’low – I couldn’t find any other brown sugar sub. Such a pity as they look so good! Thanks for your reply.
Can you get any other sweetener instead? Even Splenda might work better than Sweet n low. Erythritol would be good, if you can find any.
WheyLow makes a brown sugar substitute that is fantastic. I use it in everything. It’s a bit pricey but I always wait for coupons. I’m waiting on an order from them right now. I was hoping it would be here by Christmas, darn it….
These were AMAZING! My whole family loved them:) Thanks so much for doing what you do…I especially loved the texture!
These look delicious, Carolyn!
Just made 1/2 recipe – very good, really enjoy them. Do you think they would freeze well?
Thanks for all your hard work!!!
They would probably freeze just fine without the frosting. I am not so sure about with!
Well, my 1/2 batch is gone!! My husband said I could makes these every day!
So probably freezing won’t be necessary, but I think I will make two batches and freeze one, would be nice to know there is such goodness in the freezer.
I haven’t had a cinnamon roll in a while now, finding myself too lazy to get up way to early to make sure they are ready just in time for breakfast with the rest of the family.
Love your quick version, the rolls look perfect!
These look wonderful! BOOKMARKED
Wow!! I was just thinking this month that I would love to find a sugar free, gluten-free cinnamon roll recipe! What a blessing to find this. I am seriously psyched and can’t wait to try these. 🙂
These look amazingly perfect. I have tried with yeast even though gluten free dough does not rise like regular dough but it does give a bread like texture and flavor.
I love hearing about your process for recipe discovery. You’re proof positive that necessity is the mother of invention. You’re able to put ingredients together in ways I could never dream, because I don’t have to. You’re amazing. These look delicious.
These look amazing…can’t wait to try them!!
I love cooking with almond flour. These look wonderful!!
I’m always so impressed at your ability to adapt classic recipes into low carb versions. It looks as though you’ve done it again with these cinnamon rolls!
Carolyn…. I haven’t had a cinnamon roll for quite some time, and these beauties immediately caught my eye. My mom is diabetic, and we try to make things healthier for her. I saw almond flour in the store the other day and actually had it in my hand, but didn’t get it. Now I’m kicking myself!
I admire your ability to create recipes!! I can follow and tweek, but not very often create. Well done!
I made these today. My husband said there were great and “feel free to make these again!”. But they were VERY sticky. They didn’t resemble buns like your pics. So sticky that next time I’m going to dump the batter in a pan and put the “filling” on top. It will turn out more like a snack cake but I think it will taste the same.
Hmmm. My dough was sticky, certainly, but they didn’t bake up all that sticky. What kind of almond flour did you use? If you find your dough too sticky next time, try adding a few more tablespoons of almond flour. I think different brands can sometimes lend to different results. But once baked, they really shouldn’t be all that sticky.
Have you made this same dough without the xanthan gum? I’ve omitted it from other recipes and things have turned out fine… as far as I can tell since I haven’t compared it to recipes where I’ve used it. (It seems to me I’ve seen it in the whole foods store but it was more than I was willing to spend that day. I’m just wondering if the use of it makes that big of a noticeable difference?)
I haven’t made this particular dough without the xanthan. I have on occasion made things without…depending on the baked good, some hold together, some get really crumbly. Since you are rolling this one, I would be afraid it wouldn’t hold together well without. The dough is fragile enough as it is. I know a bag of xanthan seems really expensive, but since you only use about 1 tsp at most, it lasts a loooooooong time. I keep it in a jar in my freezer and the one bag I bought 2 years ago is still going strong. I still have about 1/4 of it left!
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