These gluten-free cinnamon rolls are big, fluffy, and SOFT! Plus thanks to a secret ingredient, they’re so easy to make!
I have been a gluten-free food blogger for over 10 years and never shared a gluten-free cinnamon roll recipe until now!
I tested and re-tested this recipe to get it just right. I am so proud of this recipe and I hope you love it too!
Are you ready for the BEST gluten free cinnamon rolls of your life?
I haven been eating gluten-free since 2012 and have tried dozens of gluten-free cinnamon rolls over the years. I’ve finally perfected my recipe and I’m so excited to share it!
This gluten-free dough is made with King Arthur gluten-free bread flour, which makes all the difference in creating a soft texture and lightly chewy dough.
Trust me when I say these cinnamon rolls are JUST as incredible as regular cinnamon rolls. They’re big. They’re fluffy. They’re soft and never dry! They really are the real deal.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A tested & perfected recipe! I tested and re-tested this recipe to get these cinnamon rolls just right
- Big, fluffy, and SOFT
- Make-Ahead option – can be made the day before and baked in the morning
- Easy to make with gluten-free bread flour
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the Cinnamon Rolls
- Gluten-free bread flour: THIS IS THE SECRET INGREDIENT! I’ve been loving using this gluten-free bread flour, which contains wheat starch that is completely gluten-free. It’s easy to shape and yields a similar texture to traditional bread. It’s great for sweet breads, rolls, and any other gluten-free bread dough! I also use this flour in these gluten-free crescent rolls.
- Water and milk: I prefer whole milk for these cinnamon rolls. It gives the dough a richer flavor!
- Sugar: You need white granulated sugar in the dough, both for flavor and to feed the yeast.
- Baking powder: Any baking powder will work for this recipe! It’s an important ingredient that helps create a light, fluffy gluten-free cinnamon rolls dough.
- Instant yeast: Instant yeast can be added right into the dry ingredients. It doesn’t need to be mixed with warm water to create a yeast mixture. Be sure to get this type rather than active dry yeast!
- Eggs: Eggs create a rich, soft dough. For best results with these gluten-free cinnamon rolls, use large, room temperature eggs.
- Butter: Like the eggs, the butter creates a rich and flavorful dough. I recommend using salted butter for this recipe. It provides the best depth of flavor!
- Salt: I like to use fine sea salt for this gluten-free cinnamon rolls recipe!
- For the filling: I love a classic, easy filling with brown sugar, cinnamon and butter!
For more gluten-free special breakfast recipes, try this gluten-free coffee cake, gluten-free blueberry muffins, gluten-free scones and gluten-free baked donuts.
Dairy-Free?
These cinnamon rolls can easily be made dairy-free. You can use dairy-free milk in place of the milk. I like using Elmhurst Unsweetened Cashew milk in place of whole milk. It has a similar fat content to whole milk, and doesn’t have any added gums or stabilizers that could interfere with the rise/crumb of the rolls. I also use vegan butter in place of the butter.
How to Make Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
Make the Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the gluten-free flour, granulated sugar, instant yeast, salt, and baking powder. Mix to evenly combine.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly add the water, milk, eggs and melted butter. Turn it up to medium speed and mix for 3 minutes until very smooth. The dough will resemble thick cookie dough. This is normal!
- Use an oiled spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. (Refrigerating the dough makes it easier to roll out.)
- Turn out the gluten free cinnamon buns dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball.
- Sprinkle with a little flour, then roll the dough out into a 15×15-inch square.
You also might like this gluten-free pizza crust, gluten-free cinnamon sticks or gluten-free breadsticks.
Make the Filling/Shape the Rolls
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter or cooking spray.
- Spread the melted butter for the filing over the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar all over the dough. Using a pizza cutter, cut the square into twelve 1.25-inch wide strips of gluten-free cinnamon roll dough. Roll each dough strip up into a cinnamon roll.
- Place in the prepared baking dish.
Rise/Bake the Rolls
- Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Place in a relatively warm place and allow the rolls to rise for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the rolls are slightly golden brown.
- Set the rolls aside to cool for 15 minutes or until just slightly warm to the touch.
Cream Cheese Frosting
- Powdered sugar: Any powdered sugar will work for these gluten-free cinnamon rolls!
- Cream cheese: Be sure to set your cream cheese out and allow it to soften to room temperature before making the frosting. This will ensure the frosting is smooth and clump-free.
- Butter: I recommend using salted butter for this recipe. It provides the best depth of flavor!
- Vanilla: I prefer using real vanilla extract for this cinnamon roll frosting.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until smooth and creamy.
- Add the butter and beat until smooth and combined, then beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla until combined.
- Using a knife or icing spatula, spread the icing over the warm rolls. Serve immediately and enjoy your fluffy cinnamon roll!
Maple Glaze Option
These cinnamon rolls are also delicious with a maple glaze instead of cream cheese frosting! For the glaze mix together 2 cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon maple flavoring, 4-6 tablespoons milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter and a pinch of salt until smooth.
Make-Ahead/Storage Instructions
MAKE-AHEAD/OVERNIGHT RISE: These cinnamon rolls can be assembled the day before and baked the following morning. Make the gluten-free cinnamon rolls as you normally would, following the steps through the “Make the Filling/Shape the Rolls” section. Cover the rolls tightly and refrigerate for 8–12 hours. (16 hours max. 8–12 hours is best, but 16 hours is okay if absolutely needed. Do not exceed 16 hours.) The next morning, remove from the refrigerator and allow to rise on the counter for 30-45 minutes before baking. Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.
STORAGE: Store these homemade gluten free cinnamon rolls in an airtight container or covered in plastic wrap for up to three days. If the cinnamon rolls have cream cheese frosting, I store them in the refrigerator.
Expert Tips & Tricks
- GLUTEN-FREE BREAD FLOUR: This gluten-free bread flour is key for these gluten-free cinnamon rolls to turn out correctly. Other gluten-free flour blends will not work in it’s place.
- DAIRY-FREE: For dairy-free, gluten-free cinnamon rolls, I like to use Elmhurst Unsweetened Cashew milk. It has a similar fat content to whole milk and doesn’t have any added gums or stabilizers that might interfere with the rise/crumb of the rolls. You can also use vegan butter in place of the butter, and make the frosting with dairy-free cream cheese. My favorite brand is Kite Hill.
- I prefer the paddle attachment instead of the dough hook attachment for gluten-free bread. It tends to knead gluten-free dough more evenly!
I also use this same flour/dough recipe in this amazing, gluten-free monkey bread!
Easy, Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls
Video
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 4 ½ cups (680g) King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour
- ⅓ cup (65g) granulated sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (1 packet)
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ¼ cup (295ml) water warm
- 1 cup (236ml) whole milk warm
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tablespoons (85g) butter melted
For the Filling:
- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- 8 tablespoons (113g) butter melted
Cream Cheese Frosting:
- 8 ounces (226g) cream cheese softened
- 4 Tablespoons (56g) butter softened
- 1 ⅓ cup (160g) powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Or Simple Glaze:
- 3 cups (340g) powdered sugar
- 1/3 -1/2 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
Instructions
Make the Dough:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the gluten-free flour, granulated sugar, instant yeast, salt and baking powder. Mix to evenly combine.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly add the water, milk, eggs and melted butter. Turn the speed up to medium and mix for 3 minutes until very smooth. The dough will resemble thick cookie dough. This is normal!
- Use an oiled spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. (Refrigerating the dough makes it easier to roll out.)
Make the Filling/Shape the Rolls
- In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Lightly grease a 9×13 baking dish with butter or cooking spray.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball.
- Sprinkle with a little flour, then roll the dough out into a 15×15-inch square.
- Spread the melted butter for the filing over the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar all over the dough.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut the square into twelve 1.25-inch wide strips.
- Roll each dough strip up into a cinnamon roll. Place in the prepared baking dish.
Rise/Bake the Rolls
- Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Place in a relatively warm place and allow the rolls to rise for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the rolls are slightly golden brown.
- Set the rolls aside to cool for 15 minutes or until just slightly warm to the touch.
For the Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on high speed until smooth and creamy.
- Add the butter and beat until smooth and combined, then beat in the powdered sugar and vanilla until combined.
- Using a knife or icing spatula, spread the icing over the warm rolls. Serve immediately and enjoy!
For the Simple Glaze
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the glaze ingredients until well combined.
- Spread over the slightly warm rolls. Serve immediately and enjoy!
These are so good! I have made them twice. My family thought they needed more ooey gooey goodness inside, so I doubled the filling and mixed the butter with the sugar & cinnamon then spread it on the dough. I reserved part of the filling and spread it over the top of the rolls after I placed them in the pan. They turned out perfectly. Thank you so much!!!!
We’re so glad you all enjoyed the recipe and found a filling amount you love! Thank you for your feedback, Priscilla. Happy baking!
Can you freeze the rolls? Waiting for them to bake now but the dough seemed amazing and I have really high hopes!! I would like to bake half and put the other half in the freezer to bake later.
Hi Chandelle! To freeze the baked cinnamon rolls, we recommend individually wrapping them in plastic wrap and storing in an airtight container (unfrosted works best). Thaw, reheat, and frost when ready to serve. Happy baking!
I am thinking about adding heavy cream before baking the rolls to soak up extra liquid like gluten recipes do. What are your thoughts?
Hi Ashley, we haven’t tried that ourselves, but other readers have shared they’ve done that successfully with this recipe. If you give it a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
Is this recipe in one of your cookbooks? I can only purchase one of them at a time and I want to make sure I’m purchasing the one with this recipe first if it’s available.
Hi Dani! Yes, this one is featured in Let’s Bake Gluten-Free Volume 1. We hope you enjoy the cookbook!
The recommended flour has corn starch , so you have another flour or a recipe to make it?
Hi Mel, unfortunately this recipe was designed for the recommended flour and won’t produce the same results with other blends. This is Erin’s only cinnamon roll base recipe. We’re sorry for the inconvenience!
The recipe calls for 4 ½ cups (680g) King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour. My KA gluten-free bread flour package reads 1/4 cup equals 30g which would mean 540g for 4 1/2 cups, which is what it comes out to on my scale as well. Which amount should I use?
Hi Jane, the measurements in the recipe are correct despite King Arthur’s label. We find that 1 cup of KAF weighs much closer to 150 grams. Cup measurements are subjective and we think the manufacturer doesn’t realize gluten-free flour is denser than traditional wheat flour (traditional wheat flour is 120 grams/cup) so they provide that generalized measurement that really isn’t accurate. Erin’s measurement for the KAF flour is consistent across all of her recipes, even though it’s not the same as the KAF label. We hope you enjoy the cinnamon rolls!
I am in cinnamon roll heaven!
Almost gave up trying to make GF rolls. Every recipe was a nightmare. But, from some reason yours was calling out to me to try. So glad I did!!! Thank you, thank you Cinnamon Rolls are my favorite bakery item. I thought I would never have them again. Now..make sure that I don’t eat too many and put on weight
Aww, thank you so much for such amazing feedback, Hope! We love hearing how much you loved the recipe!
Didn’t change anything about this recipe and it was wonderful. I will definitely make it again.
We love to hear this! Thank you for sharing your positive experience with us!
Absolutely the best gluten free cinnamon roll recipe I’ve tried. They’re fluffy, perfectly sweet, and didn’t take forever to rise.
I had 2 modifications and they still turned out amazingly: I halfed the recipe since I only wanted a few to make king cake cinnamon rolls (dyed the simple glaze recipe the traditional colors) and I ran out of bread flour 🙁 so I had to substitute some of the King Arthur Gluten Free Pizza flour. It is still a wheat starch based blend (though it looks like it has more sorghum flour than the bread blend) so I figured it may work. I did everything by weight so I only had 270 g of bread flour. I topped it off with 70 g of pizza flour in total. I wouldn’t necessarily try and experiment with a higher percent flour substitution, as I don’t know when (or if) it would turn out disastrous.
We’re so pleased to hear these substitutions worked well for you and that you enjoyed the cinnamon rolls! King Cake cinnamon rolls sound fun! Thank you for taking the time to share this feedback with us. Happy baking!
Hello Erin, Today I made the cinnamon rolls for the 2nd time and they came out even better than the 1st batch. I had a little bit of trouble with the 1st dough sticking, but not this time.
I added just a little more flour and they rolled up perfectly. I haven’t had a cinnamon roll since 2005, so a million thank yous to you!!! Faith
Hi Faith, what an amazing story! SO glad you could finally enjoy cinnamon rolls again! Thanks so much for sharing, it means a lot!
By far the BEST gluten free cinnamon rolls I have had or made! The taste and texture is just like real gluten cinnamon rolls! I am in heaven! Thanks so much for the recipe!
Hi Kelly, thanks so much for the great feedback! So happy you enjoyed them!
Followed the recipe to a T, not sure what I did wrong dough was too wet to be rolled out. Big ole fail for me
Hi Jess, sorry to hear this didn’t turn out as expected! The dough may need a bit more flour added—it really depends on the temperature, humidity, altitude, etc.
Just made 6 of these for the first time (cut in half by weights) and they were SO good! Crumb was soft & tender and filling/icing amounts were in perfect proportion. Thank you for a great GF recipe – I’ll definitely be making these for family in the future!
Hi Deb, thanks so much for sharing! So happy you enjoyed these!
I just finished eating one and it was delicious! I don’t know why I have been so intimidated to make cinnamon rolls. This was not difficult and they came out amazing. I will definitely make them again! These are way better than any cinnamon roll we have gotten from any gf bakery BY FAR. My kids were psyched and everyone loved them! It took me 2.5 hours total from start to finish with resting the dough, proofing, baking, and cooling. Rolled them out on a piece of floured parchment paper and they rolled up easily. Thanks for the awesome recipe!
Aw, love hearing that! Thanks so much for the great review!
Can you make these without an instant yeast packet? Can you use regular yeast?
Hi Elle, good question! Yes, but you’ll need to bloom the yeast first in the water and milk, which should be 105–110°F. Let it sit 5-10 minutes, then add this mixture when the recipe calls for the liquids.