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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These were super good!! I used Splenda Brown Sugar and it worked out great. I like these better than Cinnabon because I didn’t get the punch-in-the-gut feeling afterward that I always got from Cinnabon. A+!
Made these and they were delicious! I used Lean Shake from GNC to get the whey protein & Xanthan gum. I put in the amounts requested in receipe. The flavor was Vanilla but added more cinnamon.
I am wondering what the xanthum gum is for? What can I replace it with, I have all the other ingredients?
It helps hold things together but you can try going without.
I routinely use psyllium husk powder in place of xanthan gum, just double the amount called for. I have used it in this recipe and it worked great!
Aww I wish I had seen your comment before I went out and bought xantham gum. I have a tub of psyllium husk powder that I bought months ago and I’ve barely used it.
do you think I could make these the night before & cook them in the morning? I want to have them Christmas morning but certainly don’t want to prep them then. Thanks!!
Yes, but let them come to room temperature before baking.
These are very good! Thank you so much!
Hey Carolyn! I made these 2 weeks ago and they were great! I couldn’t find a brown sugar substitute in stores so I just used an erythritol/cinnamon mix I have around to go on other breakfasty things. I started to look for the Ideal brown sugar sub online only to discover that it has been discontinued.
What would you suggest instead of the Ideal? I love erythritol, it tastes just like sugar to me where as aspertame and sucralose, even stevia based things have an after taste to them for me. Are there any erythritol relatives out these in a brown variety?
Thank you!
You could try adding about 1 tsp of molasses to your erythritol (you can use blackstrap molasses) to give it that brown sugar taste and appearance. It won’t add many carbs…6 to the whole recipe.
Carolyn, can you recommend a good unflavored whey protein powder? I’m not familiar with that product yet and I want to make sure I get my ingredients as close to yours as possible. I can’t wait to try this recipe because I’m learning to get my diabetes under control, too. Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe!
I usually use Jarrow Organic (Affliate Link) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005EQPGCC/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B005EQPGCC&linkCode=as2&tag=aldaidrabfo05-20&linkId=JDY4CZPNPFNPB2PR
I just made these, I followed the recipe and instructions exactly as written. The dough was very sticky but it rolled out on the parchment just fine and rolled up even easier. They are buttery cinnamon deliciousness!
I left out the xantham gum, added 2 T of coconut flour….rolled out just lovely. Baking now, I know they will be delish! Thank you!
would it be OK to omit the unflavored whey protein powder? or sub something for it?
Sure, you can do that but add a touch of vanilla extract.
My husband makes amazing (and very high carb!) yeast-dough cinnamon rolls for Easter. This year he made these in addition, especially for me. It was very sweet of him, but the cinnamon rolls…not so sweet. Maybe my expectations were too high, but I found these a bit dry and not sweet enough. If I make them again, I’ll definitely add more sweetener to the filling, and more cinnamon. The icing was the key for me. It made a huge improvement. At least they kept me from eating “just one” of gooey, sugary ones.
hello carolyn just me again……edna……….please disregard above question……i love cinnamon rolls so much i am going to make them but just eat two a week…….as for the whey powder i was looking at another post by the recipe and they asked so i found out that you need whey powder ……..will be going shopping tomorrow so will visit my health
food store and purchase some…………….sorry for bothering you………….check into your site daily if nothing is posted on my wall…………keep up the great work
Thanks, Edna!
hi carolyn……posted you before about calorie count……none listed for this one….the dr still wants a little more weight off but i am stuck for about 8 months (2yrs diabetic) so he told me to watch my calorie count plus carbs and sugar…………the second question is whey powder……..a) why do you use it b) do you need to 3) will any type purchased from health food store be ok………….thanks for taking the trouble to respond by after 65 yrs this new lifestyle is not only challenging but confusing with all the new products i have been and need to be introduced with…………….thanks again …..you are a true God send for older folks like me…….could not eat “normally” without you
Hi Edna…in addition to the whey protein, make sure you are getting really finely ground almond flour for the rolls.
Do you think using vanilla whey protein powder would change the flavor too much? (I love your site and how you’ve done all the work for us!! I constantly recommend your recipes on FB.) Thanks so much!
Sherri
Is your vanilla whey sweetened at all? Go ahead and use but cut back on any sweetener if it is and leave out any vanilla extract.
My husband used to make cinnamon rolls often and keeps saying he’s going to make them “on Sunday.” Of course, I try and usually succeed at talking him out of it. When we were going to have a friend for brunch this morning, I handed this recipe to my husband and said, “here are your cinnamon rolls, you think you can do this?” Oh yeah, they were really really good! My eighteen-year-old son, who does not like low-carb anything, inhaled them! A new Sunday favorite.
Wonderful! They aren’t exactly like the real thing but they make an okay substitute!
I wanted a new treat and I have not had cinnamon rolls in over a year since going gluten free/sugar free. Thank you! This recipe was yummy! 🙂