Gluten Free Caramel Cinnamon Rolls

An honest to goodness gluten free cinnamon roll that is soft, and has caused my family to ask me repeatedly, "are you SURE that these are gluten free?"
I can promise you that these are sure to get rave reviews from anyone that you serve them to.

Ingredients for the sauce:
1/4 C butter
1/2 C brown sugar
2 TBL corn syrup
1 tsp. pure vanilla
2 TBL heavy cream
1/8 tsp. salt

Ingredients for the dough:
2 1/2 C gluten free flour blend (310g of  Krusteaz is what I used )
1/2 C tapioca starch
1 TBL rapid rise yeast
3 TBL granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 C instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 C butter
1/2 C water
3/4 C milk
1 egg at room temp
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 TBL extra light olive oil
1 tsp pure vanilla

Ingredients for the filling:
1/2 C brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 TBL cinnamon
2 TBL softened butter
1/2 C chopped nuts (optional)

Let's get busy!

Start by greasing a baking pan ( I use an 8x10 foil pan), and preheat your oven to 350*F

 1. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup over medium-low heat, stirring it until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the vanilla, cream and salt. 
Pour your sauce into the greased pan.

2. Mix all of your filling ingredients in a small bowl until they are well combined. Set aside.

3. Mix all of the dry ingredients for your dough in the bowl of a stand mixer, making sure to mix well. You really can't over mix gf flours.

4. In a microwave safe bowl (preferably with a pour spout), heat the water and butter just until the butter melts; stir the milk in, then whisk in egg, vinegar, oil and vanilla. Use a thermometer to make sure that your liquid is at the right temp for the yeast ( 100*-110*). 

5. With your mixer running at medium-low speed, add the liquids to the dry ingredients, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl every so often. Mix for about 3 minutes.

6. Lay a 10x20 inch piece of plastic wrap on your rolling surface(this makes it easier to roll into a cylinder), and sprinkle it with about 1 TBS of sugar. I have found it helpful to put damp paper towels underneath to prevent sliding all over.

7. Place your dough in the center of the wrap, pat it into a square, cover it with another layer of wrap.  Roll it into a rectangle that measures roughly 8x16.

8. Take off the top layer of plastic wrap and sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of one long side uncovered by filling so that you can seal the roll shut.

9. Start on the long side that has filling to the edge, and using the plastic, begin rolling your dough into a long cylinder. 

10. Using a piece of thread, or dental floss, slide the thread under the end of the cylinder, and use it to cut the dough into 8 rolls.

11. Place your rolls into the pan and gently pat them down to about 1 inch high. Cover with a clean, lint free cloth, and place somewhere warm to rise until they are doubled in size( about 35 minutes). I do this on my stove top while the oven warms.

12. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until the rolls are a golden brown. 
Let the rolls set up in the pan for about 5-10 minutes, then turn them over onto a serving plate.



This recipe was adapted from The Baking Beauties

Coconut Flour Raspberry Rhubarb Muffins

These muffins can be mixed up in no time at all, freeze well, and are a great grab and go breakfast on a hectic weekday morning.
I used raspberries and rhubarb that I had in the freezer, but you could easily replace them with blueberries, or another fruit.
I was tempted to add chocolate or vanilla chips, but held back for some crazy reason.

Let's get baking :)

Ingredients:
1/3 C (37g) coconut flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 C unsweetened applesauce
3 TBLS honey
3 TBLS butter, melted
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 C raspberries/rhubarb mix (or berries of your choosing)

Preheat oven to 350*F

1. Sift together your dry ingredients

2. Whisk the wet ingredients together.

3. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients; stir until mixed well, and no lumps are left. 

4. Gently fold in your fruit. Let sit for about 5 minutes to allow the coconut flour to absorb the liquids.

5. Scoop by 1/4 C. into greased muffin cups, using an ice cream scoop, (I got 7 out of this batch).

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

7. Let them cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then remove to a rack.

Ooey Gooey Monkey Bread

Monkey bread has always been one of my family's favorite weekend morning treats, but when Chance was diagnosed with Celiac, it became a thing of the past...until now.
I have made gluten-free monkey bread before, but it had a very eggy taste to it, and we all agreed that while it was not bad, it wasn't close enough to what they were accustomed to. I remained determined to come up with something better.
Fast forward to this morning and this my friends is THE recipe! This bread was soft and chewy, with just the right amount of crunch on the bottom, and wonderful caramel sauce dripping down into all the little nooks and crannies.

Ingredients for dough:
210 g ( 2 1/2 C.)  gluten-free all-purpose flour blend
61 g tapioca starch ( 1/2 C.)
1 TBSP rapid rise yeast
3 TBSP granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp. xanthan gum
1/4 C. instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 C unsalted butter
1/2 C water
3/4 C milk
1 egg, room tempurature
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 TBLS extra light olive oil
1 tsp. pure vanilla 

Ingredients for the cinnamon sugar:
3/4 C granulated sugar
1-2 tsps. cinnamon (varies on your taste for cinnamon)

Ingeredients for the sauce:
1/2 C butter
1 C brown sugar, packed
2 TBLS. real maple syrup
2 Tbls heavy cream (we drink raw milk, so I skim the cream from the top.) Learn how to do that here)
just a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla

 Optional: 1/2 C chopped nuts

Let's get started! 

1. Grease a bundt pan and if you are using nuts, sprinkle them evenly in the bottom. Preheat your oven to 350* F

2. In the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer, mix the dry ingredients for the dough until combined well.

3. put water and the 1/4 C butter in a glass measuring cup and warm in the microwave until the butter is melted. Stir; add milk, egg, vinegar,oil and vanilla. Whisk to combine.

4. Using the paddle attachment, and with the mixer running on low, add the liquids into the dry ingredients
Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl when needed. 

5. In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

6. Pinch of small bits of dough (about 1/2 -3/4 inch), or use a small cookie scoop. Drop them into the cinnamon sugar a few at a time and shake to coat. 

7. Place the coated doughballs into the bundt pan, being careful to not crowd them, (you want the sauce to be able to ooze in between them). When you have used up the dough, if there is sugar mix left, sprinkle it over the doughballs.

8. In a small saucepan, over medium low heat, melt the butter for the sauce. Stir in the brown sugar, maple syrup, salt and vanilla. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Whisk the cream in.
Drizzle over your doughballs. Doesn't that look good? 

9. Put your pan in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for about 25 minutes. I usually leave it on my stove top, covered with a lint-free cloth while the oven warms.

10. Bake at 350* for 30-40 minutes, checking it at 30 minutes to see if it is done.

Let finished bread set up for 5 minutes after removing it from the oven, then place a serving plate over the pan and using oven mitts (because that pan is HOT, my friends!), quickly flip  
the pan upside down onto your plate and remove the pan.
If there is sauce and nuts,  (if you opted for them) still in the bundt pan, you are going to want to get a spatula and scrape it onto your bread, because you won't want to miss a drop.

Isn't that a thing of beauty?!? 

If you can hold yourself back, it's best to let it set up for about 10 minutes, because it is seriously lava hot, and the texture will be better.

Now pour a big ol' glass of milk, or mug of coffee and enjoy!