Sticky Cinnamon Rolls

Updated

This is a bit of a cheater recipe—it’s last month’s Cinnamon Cream Scones recipe reinvented as Sticky Cinnamon Rolls.

Work has been so all-consuming I haven’t had a chance to bake or even cook as much as I’d like. I had a break this morning and decided to make scones. They’re easy and they’re good. And, I craved something carbolicious. (I have GF treats from the health food store in the cupboard but, hmm, let’s just say homemade is better.)

While measuring the dry ingredients my mind started wandering. And, the idea of cinnamon rolls kind of crept in. I’ve never made them and haven’t eaten one in years. They just popped into my head and once there that was it. I knew the dough for the scones was pliable and thought, “Let’s do this.”

I adjusted the recipe slightly - omitting the sweet white rice and replacing it with the same amount of tapioca flour. I thought it might make a softer dough that would be more like a cinnamon roll. Not too bad.

So here you go — it’s a cheater recipe that really doesn’t have much of a recipe at all. (And, it may require some future tweaking or fiddling but if I do that I’ll keep you posted.)

Sticky Cinnamon Rolls

(The italicized notes reflect updates to the recipe. Read the Update below for more details.)

1 recipe Cinnamon Cream Scones - omitting Sweet Rice Flour and subbing in Tapioca Flour (See the new flour blend below.)

Filling

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons Earth Balance

handful chopped walnuts

handful Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Glaze

4 or 5 tablespoons confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon (more or less) coconut or other non-dairy milk

A few drops of vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare the Cinnamon Cream Scones according to the recipe. (Replacing the flours in the original recipe with the new flour blend noted below + 1 tablespoon baking powder.) Place the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a small bowl. Cut the Earth Balance in until it is thoroughly incorporated into the sugar cinnamon mixture. Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips.

Dust a pastry mat with sorghum or rice flour and turn the dough out onto it. Pat it down shaping it into a thick rectangle. Sprinkle a little more flour over the dough and start to roll it out with a rolling pin making sure that it doesn’t stick to the mat. (I have an ancient Tupperware pastry mat that’s excellent for this.) You want to roll out the dough into a rectangle that’s about 6 or 7 inches wide and 12 inches long. The final product will be about 1/4 inch or more in thickness.

Spread the cinnamon sugar mixture over the dough keeping it about 1/4 inch from the edge. You’re going to start carefully rolling the long edge until it becomes a long roll. Using a very sharp knife cut the roll into about 12 one-inch slices. I put each slice in a muffin pan that had liners in it. They fit perfectly. Alternatively arrange them side-by-side in a rectangular baking pan - sides touching.

Pop them in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Mine took the full 25 minutes - they were bubbling slightly when I took them out.

Prepare the glaze by mixing the confectioners sugar, coconut milk, and vanilla together. Adjust to the desired consistency (mine was pretty thick) by adding more milk or sugar as needed.

Drizzle the glaze over still warm muffins and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

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Update on Dec 31, 2009 by Nancy Kohler

As promised I worked a bit on this recipe and the result is MUCH better. They’re cooling now on my counter but I just had to eat one steaming hot from the oven.

Here’s what I did:

Make the Cinnamon Cream Scones recipe using this flour blend: 1 cup sorghum, 3/4 cup tapioca, 1/2 cup brown rice (or Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour) and all the other ingredients listed. Add 1 tablespoon baking powder to the dry ingredients.

Follow the directions above for the filling (or be creative and make your own filling) and forming of the cinnamon rolls. I used a piece of parchment on the bottom and top of the dough for rolling. The dough was a bit less firm this time so I refrigerated it for 15 minutes or so and then worked quickly. The bottom layer of parchment helped to start the rolling process.

After the Cinnamon Rolls were slightly cooled I drizzled them with a glaze made from about 3 or 4 tablespoons of confectioners sugar, 1 tablespoon coconut milk and a few drops of vanilla.

We had them for breakfast (I’m the only GF eater here) and everyone loved them. So happy!

Grilled Mediterranean Kabobs

July is turning out to be a beautiful month. OK, it’s a little cool for July but, personally, I like it that way. Anything other than the torrentially rainy and gloomy June we just had has to be viewed as a perfect month weatherwise.

It’s finally feeling like we may have a summer. We’ve come out of hibernation and are anxious for fun activities that take us out of the house. We’re outdoors more frequently and later into the evening. It feels so good.

Who wants to be in the kitchen in front of a hot stove in the summer? Not me. I want a good meal but an easy one. These Mediterranean Kabobs are just that—easy. For lunch, for dinner, even as an appetizer.

Grilled Mediterranean Kabobs

Ingredients:

GF fully cooked chicken sausage
Frozen, thawed artichoke hearts
Red, yellow, or orange bell pepper
Large, pimento stuffed, green olives
Italian dressing

Tip: The vegetables may be available in your grocer’s salad bar— making this an even easier meal to prepare.

Cut the chicken sausages into one inch chunks, artichoke hearts in half, and peppers into slices and then 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces. Slide the vegetables, green olives and chicken sausages onto water soaked wooden skewers. Alternate chicken sausage and vegetables until each skewer is about 2/3 of the way full. When you’re done with each place it in the bottom of a large baking dish. Once complete sprinkle with Italian dressing (your favorite or oil, vinegar, salt and pepper will work just fine). Twirl each kebob around until it is fully covered with the dressing.

Place the kabobs on the grill until heated through and the sausages are sporting some nice seared grill marks. Serve immediately with your favorite summer salads.

NOTE: I like Al Fresco All Natural Sweet Italian Style Chicken Sausage. They are gluten-free and fully cooked.

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