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Cinnamon Bun Muffins


gluten free cinnamon bun muffins

One of my favorite readers Courtney recently suggested that I create a gluten free cinnamon roll recipe.  She said it would be perfect for Christmas morning.  Being smack in the middle of Hanukkah that wasn't something I had thought about.  Thanks Courtney!

So, here's my little ol' gluten free Cinnamon Bun Muffin recipe.  I hope you all enjoy it during the holidays.

Cinnamon Toppingprint friendly recipe
2 tbsp agave nectar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp grapeseed oil

  1. To make cinnamon topping, combine agave, cinnamon and oil in a small bowl
  2. Set mixture aside
Muffin Mixtureprint friendly recipe
1 cup blanched almond flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp celtic sea salt
¼ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup agave nectar
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract

  1. Combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl
  2. In a large bowl blend together oil, agave, eggs and vanilla
  3. Blend dry ingredients into wet and scoop a scant ¼ cup at a time into lined muffin cups
  4. Spoon topping onto muffins
  5. Bake muffins for 8-12 minutes at 350°
  6. Cool muffins for 2 hours then frost with Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting

Makes 9 muffins

For a real cinnamon roll recipe, you can head on over to Gluten-Free Girl, she has been working on a cinnamon roll recipe of late and I imagine will post one soon.

I am totally blown away by Stephanie's blog, Totally Together Reviews; Stephanie recently blogged about the The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, and is doing a giveaway as well. Her post about my book has received well over 400 comments.  Thanks Stephanie.

One of my favorite periodicals, The Christian Science Monitor just ran a Best Cookbooks of 2009 article mentioning The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, what a delight to find my book in there.

And in television news, I was on two shows today (demoing recipes from my gluten free cookbook) the first show was Good Day Colorado and the second, Daybreak on the Deuce. You can watch both appearances below.


Finally, to top these muffins off, stay tuned for my next post with my yummy gluten free Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.


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45 comments leave a comment

  1. erin

    oh wow! perfect timing! i was googling all over the place yesterday to find a suitable cinnamon roll recipe for Christmas morning and was so disappointed you didn't have one. am looking forward to giving these a shot. thanks!

  2. Rachel B

    Sorry to post this on here, but I didn't know where else to post it so you would see it. Speaking of Hanukkah I've been searching for a recipe for a GF dairy kugel that is made without sugar and can't find one anywhere online. So I'm hoping you have one that you just haven't gotten around to posting yet. I would love to have it to make for my son who is visiting me next week. Thanks, Elana.

  3. Oh wow, Elana to the rescue again! My family always loved, (eww, I know) the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. I still throw a batch in for my daughter, glutonious girl, but now I will make your muffins this year for DH, DS, and myself.
    Thanks again.

  4. MANY many thanks to Courtney for requesting this treat; and of course to you, Elana, for creating it! Yum :)

    Hooray for more good press on your fabulous book!

  5. Lauren @ celiacteen.com

    Oh yum! Such a great idea Courtney! And Elana - this looks just fabulous =D.

  6. Beth

    Looks like another amazing recipe. What a great idea to combine the almond flour & coconut flour. Can't wait to try these on Friday night.

  7. Ali

    I'm so happy you've posted a recipe like this. Cinnamon buns have been a tradition in my family on Christmas morning as well, and I was the only one stuck with eating yogurt last year :( So thank you for this! We are also using your cream cheese frosting on our almond flour gingerbread cookies this year too! Happy Hanukkah to you and your family!

  8. Courtney @ BenefitYourLife.com

    COMFORT and JOY!! Im set for life now. I am thankful for access to delicious and nutritious breakfast foods such as chocolate chip scones, coffee cake, pancakes and now cinnamon roll muffins. I LOVE good food and I LOVE when food allows me to feel good. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you :)

  9. Oh I am soooo excited! Something I can eat Christmas morning that won't start me off with terrible brain fog (thanks to the protein filled almond flour and low glycemic agave nectar). You rock Elana!

  10. Jazz

    Thank you very much for this recipe!

    As soon as I saw it I had to try it. These are better than any other gluten-free treat I've ever tasted. :)

  11. Awesome-looking muffins. The decadence without the gluten or carbo-crash! Yum!

  12. Christie @ Honoring Health @ honormyhealth.com

    ~drool~

    I can't even imagine how delicious that is!

    I ordered your cookbook a couple of days ago, I can't wait for it to arrive!

  13. Liat

    mm... YUM! Elana these look SO good!
    Ok so I didn't get to eat any Hanukah foods this year what so ever (I couldn't think of anything without potatoes, eggs, and a lot of oil, I guess food without excess oil is a bit in contradiction to the Hanukah spirit). This was of course not much of a Hanukah for me :o( But I'm going to celebrate x-mas with my husband's family and now I have an idea for something x-masy I can eat while everyone else have cake. I'm thinking I'll replace the eggs with some apple sauce -should go together well and will be perfectly within my diet restriction. My parents are coming over from Israel next week and I am so excited about trying some more of your great recipes. Thank you!!!

  14. Dominika

    What a treat, I am soooo excited to try these!!! Thanks Elana :)

    Just curious, how many muffins does the recipe yield?

  15. Emily

    Wow, Cinnamon rolls were one of my favorite foods growing up. I bet these would taste delicious. How fun to see you on tv!!

  16. Diane-The WHOLE Gang @ thewholegang.org

    I'm making these muffins for my road trip! They look so yummy. I'm very excited about giving away your cookbook Friday!

  17. These sound fabulous! I love mixing coconut flour and almond flour (made pumpkin chocolate chunk cookies last week - yum!). Anyway, Elana, how do you measure your coconut flour? Do you sift then measure, measure then sift, pack it loose/tight with no sifting, etc. I had read to always sift then measure (I usually sift into the measuring cup to prevent packing) and that has worked well for me but if your 2 T aren't pre-sifted, then there will be a difference for sure! Can't wait to try these!!!

    Congratulations on the TV spots - they were great!

    • For anyone that is interested:

      1. I got about 6 regular-sized muffins from this recipe. Mine look a ittle bigger than Elana's though, so she may have gotten 7-8?

      2. I measured the coconut flour, then sifted it to remove lumps. It may have been slightly packed from the scooping action, but not much.

      3. I took a toothpick and "swirled" in the cinnamon topping on 3 of my muffins. I like the look better in the end result. On the muffins that I did not stir it in, the muffins rose more than I expected (yeah!) and some of the cinnamon topping slid off before it baked on. I'm sure the taste will be fabulous either way!!!

      Now, I just need to finish this salad while they cool a bit and then the taste-testing will begin. Wahoo!!! Thanks Elana!!!!!

      • Bernadette

        Thanks for the tips. I was just coming here to ask how many muffins is this recipe supposed to make because my tin fits 6, and they came out bigger. I wish I would have thought of swirling the cinnamon.

        These are good additions to the recipe directions. Thanks again!

  18. A

    I just made these today and they were much appreciated fresh out of the oven. I substituted olive oil for grapeseed oil and oat flour for coconut flour. We just barely managed to save two so that we can see how they taste when they're cool.

    My mother really seemed to like them, so I think she's going to enjoy your book, which I got her as an xmas gift.

  19. A

    Update: wow! These are even better cold than warm...they're good warm, but amazing cold because the sweetness and cinnamon are more pronounced. This is the first muffin I've tasted that is better at room temperature than warm.

  20. Robin

    Good Job on the TV spots and thank you for this recipe! My husband and son will love you for it! I am also interested in how to measure coconut flour for your recipe!

  21. Sara

    Thank you so much for this. Like everyone else, I was wondering what I was going to do since we just discovered this year that my husband is wheat-sensitive and we've removed processed foods and preservatives from our diet. This will be a WONDERFUL treat. I just got my almond flour in the mail yesterday and I am so excited to try a lot of your recipes. My only question is how do you deal with the expense of the almond flour if you like to bake a lot (I'm having to deal with that with all of the agave nectar I'm using too).

    • I know what you mean about the almond flour being so expensive! I don't use agave but the alternative sweeteners I use are expensive too. I guess we just have to learn to enjoy them more while eating less?!

      One thing that I've found to be helpful is to buy the big bag of almond flour (actually, it's a box - 25 lbs?) It's an investment, but once you know that you like working with the almond flour, it's one that I feel is worth it (and the per pound price goes down). Thankfully, my sister-in-law and I usually split a box. When it arrives, I divide it into 2 lb portions and use a vaccuum sealer. Then I keep it in the deep freezer. I think gallon ziplock bags would also work.

      I have also been experimenting with using more coconut flour (which is a little cheaper). I sub about 1/4 of the almond flour with sifted coconut flour (sift, then measure).

  22. Bora Bora @ boraborafoods.com

    Hi Elana, congratulations on your book! We love your blog and hope you've had a chance to try the Bora Bora sample bars we sent you. We can't wait to hear your feedback, thanks and have a great gluten-free holiday!

    ~The Villagers of Bora Bora
    http://www.boraborafoods.com

  23. Lenee

    I am interested in using only almond flour and omitting the coconut flour in this recipe since I have discovered I am sensitive to coconut flour. Does anyone know how much almond flour I should use?

    I also have just purchased the 25 lb box of blanched almond flour. I used gallon ziploc freezer bags to store most of it in the freezer and I am leaving some in a glass canister in my refrigerator and also leaving a clear cookie jar full on my counter for daily use. Ahhh it's so nice to have a good stock of it over the holidays!

    Just purchasd a copy of Elana's cookbook at my local Barnes and Noble as a gift for a new gluten free friend. I was elated to go there and find the cookbook on their shelf!

    I refer to Elana's recipes as my "gluten free bible cookbook" since I'm also a diabetic they work wonderfully for me!!

    Happy baking everyone!

  24. Kim

    Thank you so much for posting this. I make cinnamon buns every Christmas morning and feel so terrible that my GF niece can't enjoy them.

    Now I can make these for her and she won't feel left out!

  25. Savannah at Kitchen @ 9th and 9th @ kitchenat9thand9th.blogspot.com

    I am one of those people who will be devouring these on Christmas morning! I have a friend who must stick to the gluten free ways, and I will be sharing these with her! They look delicious!

  26. brandy

    I made these tonight and the family loved them. Thank you so much for the recipe. I added chopped walnuts to the topping and used butter instead of oil just to customize it to our family and it was delicious. Thank you again.

  27. be

    Liat, could you please tell me how much applesauce you sub. for the eggs.
    Thank you

    • i love all elana's recipes. i would love to know if anyone out there has made any of her recipes using egg substitutes (ener g egg replacer etc,), and how they turned out. especially the cinnamon buns. living a vegan life. thanx...

    • Liat

      Sorry, just saw your comment. Wasn't around internet for a while. A bit too late I guess but still - I use 1/4 cup applesauce with 1/2 tsp baking soda. I did try it at x-mas, but it didn't come out very well although normally it does work well. I ended up making another batch that had 2 eggs instead of 3 and using some applesauce which worked out fine. I'm thinking of replacing some of the eggs with other things (like banana, linseed, or something like that) but that will change the taste as well. Hope you still got to make these for xmas.

  28. Laura

    Thank you for a delicious Christmas breakfast, Elena! We did use butter instead of oil in the cinnamon, and olive oil in the batter, but otherwise loved it just as you made it!

    Look forward to making more of your delicious creations!

    Laura

  29. Linda M

    These cinnamon buns work well as a coffee cake also - I made them this morning in an 8" square pyrex cake pan. Increase the baking time a little and it's done when browned and a knife comes out clean in the center. I was just too lazy to deal with muffin tins this morning so I thought I would try to make a coffee cake instead. Thanks for the great recipe! I am greatly enjoying your cookbook as well as the recipes at this site.

  30. Kristin

    I found these way too sweet, even for cinnamon buns. Next time I'll cut the sweetener in half. I got 9 smallish muffins from the recipe. I used coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil and it worked fine. Regarding the question about replacing egg with applesauce, I have found that I can often sub 3T applesauce for an egg, but I have not tried it in this recipe.

  31. sue

    Hi Elana I had Bob's almond flour that I use to coat my fish fillets and chicken strips instead of bread crumbs. I used it for these muffins and you are right, it does not work! I know you are saying " I told you so". I had it so I gave it a try. I ordered the Almond flour from Honeyville and what a difference. I want to thank you so much for all the great recepies. It really is nice to be able to eat muffins and cakes and cookies again. People still think its all in my head and don't understand my digestive problems and allergies. I never new how many people are out there like me!! I make gluten free for me and its the first thing to go at home or when I bring it to friends or work!! Go figure.

    God bless you for caring and continuing to come up with idea's.
    P.s. Gluten free for me sounds like a great book title!!!

  32. Hadley

    Can you make these just with coconut flour instead of almond flour?? How much would I need? Thanks a lot, these look divine!

  33. wow, these cinnamon bun muffins looks so good!

  34. Linda

    Elana, many, many, many thanks for this recipe! We have been making it regularly, doubling the recipe to make 12 full "muffins." We skip the frosting and the cinnamon topping (instead adding cinnamon to the batter). My daughter (9) was eating way too much dairy and wheat. I was exploring the issue of food allergies myself and knew we needed to diversify her diet. The texture of this "muffin" is superb. The combo of the almond flour and coconut flour makes for a fine crumb. I plan to experiment with the basic recipe to expand our options. I also own your book and love those recipes too. I have added a small quantity of coconut flour to your cookie recipes to keep them from spreading on my pan (for whatever reason) to good effect. You have made an important difference for our family, thanks!!

  35. Blueberry Muffins « Jenniti's Trifecta @ jenniti.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/blueberry-muffins

    [...] Muffins adapted from Elana’s Cinnamon Bun Muffins Makes [...]

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