Cinnamon has to be one of the best spices out there. The smell and taste of cinnamon mixed with a little coconut sugar and vegan butter sure get the tastebuds going. These Raw Gluten Free Cinnamon Buns are my fun take on a breakfast classic. These rolls are sweet, loaded with that cinnamon goodness and topped with a delicious dairy free frosting. These yummy cinnamon pinwheels are a great mid-day snack, vegan dessert, or an extra sweet way to start your day.
the gluten free cinnamon rolls dilemma
I’ve made quite a few vegan gluten free cinnamon buns, and I still haven’t found one that is fluffy/not dense. I totally get that working with gluten free flours is very tricky. But I am always on the lookout for a cinnamon bun that doesn’t sit heavy. So after some brainstorming, I realized a raw version might be the way to go. I figured why not make a raw version of the classic breakfast and see what happens. It didn’t disappoint.
cinnamon + Chrismas = magic
Growing up, on Christmas morning I looked forward to breakfast almost as much as my stocking. My mom would either make her classic coffee cake, or we would get cinnamon buns from Cinnabon. I mean Christmas is already exciting enough as a kid, but knowing that besides Santa coming that I would get to wake up to the sweet and fragrant smell of cinnamon and sugar in the house, well it just couldn’t really get better than that. The flavour of these cinnamon rolls definitely has me walking down memory lane. I may be reminiscing of the deliciousness of cinnamon and the magic of Chrismas for a kid.
These vegan gluten free cinnamon rolls are quite sweet. Because these rolls are already filled with coconut sugar and cinnamon, you may find that you don’t need the dairy free frosting as it will add more sweetness to the rolls. So the choice is completely yours. When you cut off the ends of the dough roll taste the ends and decide if it is sweet enough for you. If you can handle more sweetness, add the frosting.
two options for the dairy free frosting
I’m also giving you two options with the vegan frosting. You can have a thicker icing on top or a runny, more of a glaze topping. They are both delicious and both use almost the same ingredients. the thicker option calls for 1 tbsp of vegan butter, so if you don’t have that on hand the glaze will work! They both are delicious and taste similar, the consistency is mostly where they differ.
The thicker vegan frosting option is shown here. 
The more glaze-like frosting is shown here.
Looking for other decadent recipes for breakfast to go with these raw cinnamon rolls? These Gluten Free Pumpkin Waffles are the bee’s knees. Or try this Coffee Cake on a cozy Sunday morning.
On the Picky Husband’s first bite he said these vegan gluten free cinnamon buns were too sweet. I looked at him, unimpressed. Adam is the guy that walks past the Cinnabon in the mall to smell the freshly baked cinnamon buns and to sample whatever they have that day. I said there is no way these dairy free cinnamon rolls are as sweet as Cinnabon. He slyly agreed. But again, you have options. If you like extra sweet things go with the dairy free frosting, and if not, let the cinnamon rolls be as they are.
here are a few reasons why I love these Gluten Free Cinnamon Buns, so listen up!
- Who can really say no to a cinnamon roll? They are like the Queen of breakfast. Any holiday morning needs to have some version of a cinnamon roll in it. Cinnamon swirl oatmeal, cinnamon coffee cake, raw cinnamon rolls, or the classic cinnamon bun. Cinnamon makes the holidays better.
- I use Ceylon cinnamon in my baking-known to have amazing health benefits. Some research shows that it helps to lower blood pressure, help regulate your glycemic index and aid indigestion. So I’m sticking with this type of cinnamon in all my baking!
- These dairy free cinnamon rolls take no time to make. Again, with most raw treats the waiting time is the longest. But even for these rolls, the fridge time is only 1.5 hours total, so nothing crazy! It’s totally doable to whip these rolls up in the morning for a later breaky.
Guys, these dairy free cinnamon rolls are amazing! The flavours are spot on, they are gooey, sticky and quite sweet. The nut base of these gluten free cinnamon rolls is a pretty good substitute for the traditional bun. Enjoy some cinnamon goodness, with or without the dairy free frosting, it’s bound to be the perfect midday pick-me-upper.
raw gluten free cinnamon rolls
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup pecans
- 1/4 cup flax meal
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla
Filling
- 4 medjool dates (gooey, and pits removed)
- 1 tbsp warm water
- 1/3 cup coconut sugar
- 1- 1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp vegan butter (melted)
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
option one: vegan frosting (more of a glaze)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp almond milk
option two: vegan frosting (thicker icing)
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp almond milk
- 1 tbsp vegan butter (room temperature)
Instructions
- Add the cashews and pecans to a food processor. Process until a chunky meal as formed (not a flour). Next add the flax meal, maple syrup and vanilla. Process until the batter is smooth and begins to form a ball in the food processor. The batter should be sticky but can form a ball.
- Place one sheet of parchment paper down on the counter, roll the batter into a ball (it will be sticky). Place it on the parchment paper. Then add a second piece of parchment paper on top of the dough. Using a rolling pin, begin to roll the dough into a circle shape (roughly 8 – 8 1/2 inches wide and long). Remove the top piece of parchment paper and then move the dough (still on the first piece of parchment paper) onto a baking sheet and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Add the dates and 1 tbsp of warm water to a clean food processor. Processor until small pieces of the dates remain. Melt the vegan butter over low heat in a saucepan. Next, add the rest of the filling ingredients (including the vegan butter) and blend. I would suggest adding 1 tbsp of cinnamon first, taste testing the filling and then adding the 1/2 tbsp if you feel it needs more. Set aside.
- After 30 minutes, remove the dough from the fridge. Using a spoon, begin to coat the dough with the filling. The filling should be thick but spreads easy enough. Spread the filling evening to the outer edges of the dough. All the filling should be used up.
- Very delicately, begin to tightly roll the dough up. Place back in the fridge for 1 hour. It can sit in the fridge for longer than 1 hour, but that is the minimum.
- Prepare the vegan frosting. For option one, add the powdered sugar and milk into a clean food processor and blend until smooth. Or you can hand whisk. For option two, I found using hand beaters works best, but you can also whisk it by hand. Simply add the sugar, milk and butter altogether and whisk or beat until smooth. Set aside.
- After 1 hour, remove the dough cylinder from the fridge. Cut the ends off (chef’s treat) and then using a serrated knife, slice the dough into 7-8 cinnamon rolls. Top with the icing.
- Store in the fridge (in a sealed container). And try not to eat them all in once sitting.
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Oh my! What a creative re-invention of an old classic! Yum, once again!
thanks for the love, sweet lady!
Just made these this morning! They were fantastic! I read your blog post and took into consideration your husbands comment so I made a couple of changes: I added 2 tbsp of maple syrup instead of 1/4 cup of maple syrup in the dough and for the filling I put less than 1/3 cup of coconut sugar (maybe around 1/4 + a bit more, just to cut from the sweetness. We thought it was great!! Definitely making this again!
So glad to hear you enjoyed these raw cinnamon buns and made some adjustments on the sweetness to suit you! Thanks for the love and the feedback:) 🙂