Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Filled with a sugar-free juicy blueberry compote, brushed with maple glaze, and topped with a thick layer of cream cheese icing – these blueberry maple cinnamon rolls feel like soft, cake-like pillows.
Flavor Notes
maple | blueberry compote | pancakes
Pairing Suggestions
brunch | fresh manicure | sunday
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About these Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
This is my third attempt at vegan, gluten-free cinnamon rolls. Admittedly, yeasted rolls are notoriously difficult to get right when you can’t rely on gluten. Most cinnamon rolls have a stale, firm bread texture, but not these!
The texture I’ve landed on is more cake-like and squishy than the traditional cinnamon roll, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I love a softer, fluffier cinnamon roll. And after you try this recipe, I think you will, too.
Ingredients for Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Gluten-Free Flour Blend
- Sorghum flour – sorghum flour is a grain that is relatively high in protein and it works well as the smaller component used in a 80:20 or 90:10 gluten free flour blend with millet flour. Sorghum helps to maintain the moisture of the dough. Purchase here.
- Millet flour – high in protein (not as high as sorghum) and capable of adding structure to the dough of gluten free baked goods. It gives a cake-like crumb to the dough. Get it on Amazon here.
- Tapioca starch – to replace the starch content that would be coming from all-purpose flour. It allows the crust to darken and contributes to the cinnamon rolls’ elasticity and chewiness. Grab it here.
- Corn starch – a stronger binding agent than tapioca starch and one that will hold up at higher cooking temperatures. Feel free to replace the tapioca starch with cornstarch in this recipe.
- Psyllium husk powder – super high in fiber, the psyllium husk helps bind the dough and it contributes to the dough’s elasticity. Here’s a link to my favorite brand.
Wet Ingredients
- Soy milk – I love using soy milk in recipes because I know I’m adding a healthy dose of protein and isoflavones. Feel free to swap in your favorite plant milk or regular milk if not vegan.
- Yeast – we’re using active dry yeast for this recipe, NOT quick-acting. Pick it up here on Amazon.
- Yogurt – I prefer to use kite hill’s plain, unsweetened almond milk yogurt in my baking recipes!
- Coconut sugar – feel free to substitute regular sugar here. I love the deep, nutty flavor that coconut sugar brings to recipes.
- Apple cider vinegar – to activate the baking powder and help the rolls rise.
Other ingredients
- Frozen blueberries – you’ll only need one ingredient to make the blueberry compote, which we’ll use as the cinnamon roll filling and later to swirl on top of the icing, if desired.
- Powdered sugar – to make the cream cheese icing 🙂
- Cream cheese – I love kite hill’s cream cheese because I have found that other brands’ cream cheeses are off-white in color. Kite Hill will give you a nice bright white color that you’d expect from a cream cheese icing!
- Baking soda and baking powder – we’re incorporating these to help the dough rise while baking.
How to Make Gluten Free Vegan Cinnamon Rolls
Cinnamon rolls take a good amount of planning because they need time to rise twice before baking! Here’s a quick overview so you can plan accordingly:
Step 1: Mix the dough
Step 2: First rise
Step 3: Make the blueberry filling
Step 4: Roll, fill, and shape the cinnamon rolls
Step 5: Second rise
Step 6: Bake
Step 7: Make the cream cheese icing
Step 8: Ice the cinnamon rolls and enjoy!
Tips for shaping the rolls
Typically, cinnamon rolls are best shaped by rolling the dough into a large “log” and using a string or floss to split the log into individual rolls. I highly recommend you DO NOT use this method for this recipe!! The dough is quite soft and breakable, so the rolling process will be quite tedious and you’ll likely split the dough.
Instead, I recommend using the pizza cutter method. After spreading the blueberry filling across the dough, use a pizza cutter to slice the sheet into 2.5-3 inch strips, then roll each strip up in to a cinnamon roll.
Expert Tips for Making Cinnamon Rolls
Be sure to warm the milk to at least 110 degrees before adding the yeast.
You’ll know the yeast is working if the milk mixture develops a thick layer of foam on the surface.
Cover the dough and allow it to rise in a very warm area of the house – 80 degrees or higher is ideal. You can put it in front of the fireplace, in a particularly sunny room, or even in the oven if yours has a “bread proof” setting.
Please, please please weigh your ingredients! All the amounts are listed in grams so that no one is tempted to use volumetric measurements 🙂 Weighing the flours is the only surefire way you know you’ll be using the right amounts.
Recipe Card
Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment
- 1 baking pan 9 x 13
Ingredients
- 100 g sorghum flour
- 300 g millet flour
- 237 g tapioca starch
- 70 g corn starch
- 40 g psyllium husk powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 111 g coconut sugar
- 428 g soy milk, warm (110-120℉)
- 1 pack active dry yeast
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 226 g plain yogurt I used kite hill
Blueberry Compote
- 1 lb frozen blueberries
Cream Cheese Icing
- 16 oz cream cheese
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ cup plant milk as needed
Maple Glaze
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tbsp plant milk
Instructions
Cinnamon Rolls – First Rise (1hr)
- Mix ¼ cup of the coconut sugar into the warmed milk and stir to combine. Add the packet of yeast and allow the yeast to bloom for 10 minutes.
- Combine the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
- Pour the milk mixture and yogurt into the dry ingredients. Stir with a spatula for a minute or so, then switch to kneading. You can use your hands to knead, or you can let a stand mixer do the job. Knead for about 8 – 10 minutes.
- Once the dough is fully kneaded (the dough should be smooth and no longer stick to your hands), shape it into a large ball and set it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow it to rise somewhere warm (~80℉) for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Blueberry Compote
- While the dough is on its first rise, make the blueberry compote. Bring the frozen bag of blueberries out to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes, then add the bag to a medium saucepan. Cook for 10-15 minutes on medium heat (stir occasionally) or until the berries have released plenty of juices and have started bubbling. Remove from heat.
Shaping the Cinnamon Rolls
- After the dough has doubled in size, roll it out into a large sheet on a lightly floured surface.
- Spread ¾ the blueberry compote over the sheet of dough.
- Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough into 2.5-3" ribbons. Roll each individual ribbon up into a cinnamon roll.
Second Rise (3+ hrs)
- Place the rolls into a lightly greased 9×13 baking pan. Cover with a second towel and allow to rise for at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Bake the cinnamon rolls at 350℉ for 30 – 35 minutes. Brush the rolls with the maple glaze when there are 5 minutes left in the bake.
- Allow the cinnamon rolls to cool before icing.
Make the Cream Cheese Icing
- This can be made in advance, if needed. Using a hand mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar (no need to soften the vegan cream cheese). Add milk to achieve a thinner texture, if desired. The thickness of the icing is really a personal preference, so trust your gut!
