Please see the bits written in red, if you'd like to make my apparent fiasco/success.
Original Post 3/6/11:
Ugh. I am in a big slump. My recipes have bombed one after the other recently. I really wanted to make these Cinnamon Roll Muffins work. I adapted it (or tried to) from this super cute cupcake recipe. Gluten free and dairy free, they were going to be adorable and healthy.
I have been on a quest for many months to find a gluten free cinnamon roll recipe that is similar to a regular wheat flour cinnamon roll. Going through many gluten free blogs, I have discovered that there aren't any cinnamon rolls. Looking back, I realize this should have been a clue that what I was trying to accomplish was no easy feat!
That said, my first attempt was not entirely my fault. I found a recipe for a gluten free cinnamon roll on a forum. Great! Finally, I can make my cinnamon roll muffins! They are basically cinnamon rolls that have been unrolled and re-rolled into muffin tins, so this should be a snap, right?
My first crack at the recipe stunk. It was too mushy to roll out and roll back up. It stuck to the floured mat I was working on. I had to scrape it all up, and to save what was left, I put the dough in tins and baked them like muffins. They came out really weird, like a strange pop-over, maybe? Anyway, they were terrible. To the garbage they went!
My next attempt I used the original recipe for Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes, but changed the bread flour to 4-1/2 of Amy's Flour Blend and I then added 1/2 cup tapioca starch to that. I also used coconut oil in place of butter and subbed coconut milk for cow's milk. Instead of white, granulated sugar, I used sucanat
. To make these 'cause my kids liked them:
Use the original cinnamon roll cupcake recipe, which is not gluten free, substituting 4-1/2 cups of gluten free baking mix plus 1/2 cup tapioca starch for the bread flour. I used Amy's Basic Flour Blend. To make it dairy free, use coconut oil in place of butter, and dairy free milk.
It was a half success. The dough was not as mushy as #1, but it was still hard to roll up and stuck to the mat a good bit. I did manage to get it back together, cut them, and put them in muffin tins, but I could not unroll them to make the cute spirals. The muffins came out a little dry so I added icing. It took care of the dryness, but just plain, they were so-so.
Don't roll them out on a mat. Flour a piece of parchment paper and roll it up. I think it still might be a bit of a challenge to roll up, but my kids think it's worth the trouble.
The third was the charm and sadly it was because I gave up and made Elana Pantry's Cinnamon Bun Muffins. They are moist and delicious and I am a little miffed.
I'm not saying I'm giving up on creating a gluten free cinnamon roll that is soft and doughy like a "real" cinnamon roll, I'm just saying I'm frustrated and it's going on the back burner.
Meanwhile, check out my Gluten Free/Dairy Free Cinnamon Rolls. They are more similar to those pecan rolls you get in the bread aisle of the grocery store, but they are still pretty good.
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Mmmmondays
Midnight Maniac Meatless Meals
Mouthwatering Mondays
