Cinnamon Rolls 

These keto cinnamon rolls are the ultimate comfort food. They taste so good it’s hard to believe they are sugar free, grain free, gluten free and come in at only 1.3 net carbs per roll!

I have just updated the post with more tips, tricks and details to make sure the rolls turn out perfectly every single time. The recipe itself has not changed at all – it was perfect all along!

Ingredients

Gluten free enriched dough:

• ▢15 g (3 tbsp) whole/rough psyllium husk (If using psyllium husk powder, use only 13g.)
• ▢180 g (¾ cup) warm water
• ▢160 g (1⅓ cups + 1 tbsp) tapioca starch (You can use an equal weight of arrowroot starch, cornstarch (US)/cornflour (UK) or potato starch instead.)
• ▢135 g (1 cup) millet flour, plus extra for flouring the surface (You can use an equal weight of finely milled/ground brown rice flour instead, but your rolls might be slightly less fluffy.)
• ▢25 g (3 tbsp) sorghum flour (You can use an equal weight of light buckwheat flour, white teff flour or oat flour instead. Use the latter only if you’re not sensitive to oats.)
• ▢50 g (¼ cup) caster/superfine or granulated sugar
• ▢6 g (2 tsp) instant yeast (If using active dry yeast, use 8g.)
• ▢6 g (1½ tsp) baking powder
• ▢5 g (2 tsp) xanthan gum
• ▢5 g (1 tsp) salt
• ▢100 g (⅓ cup + 1½ tbsp) whole milk, warm
• ▢1 US large/UK medium egg, room temperature
• ▢35 g (2½ tbsp) unsalted butter, melted

Cinnamon filling:

• ▢85 g (¾ stick) very soft unsalted butter (The ideal butter texture is somewhere in between softened and melted butter – it should be quite soft and easily spreadable, but not completely liquid.)
• ▢100 g (½ cup) light brown sugar
• ▢1 tbsp ground cinnamon

For baking the cinnamon rolls:

• ▢½ tbsp unsalted butter, softened, for buttering the skillet or baking pan
• ▢100 g (⅓ cup + 2 tbsp) heavy/double cream, warm

Cream cheese icing:

• ▢115 g (½ cup) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
• ▢55 g (½ stick) unsalted butter, softened
• ▢90 g (¾ cup) powdered/icing sugar
• ▢½-1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or 1-2 tsp vanilla extract)
• ▢pinch of salt

Instructions

Gluten free enriched dough:

• To make the dough, I recommend using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. You can also make the dough by hand, but the mixer makes it much easier and results in a smoother dough.
• Make the psyllium gel: In a bowl, mix together the psyllium husk and warm water. After about 30-45 seconds, a gel will form.
• In the bowl of the stand mixer, whisk together the tapioca starch, millet flour, sorghum flour, sugar, instant yeast, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt.Tip: If using active dry yeast instead, you need to activate it first. Mix together the active dry yeast, 1-2 tbsp of the sugar and the warm milk. Set aside for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture starts frothing. Then, add it to the dry ingredients along with the psyllium gel, egg and melted butter.
• Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the psyllium gel, warm milk, egg and melted butter.
• Knead the dough until smooth and all the ingredients are evenly incorporated, then knead for a further 5 minutes (if using a stand mixer) or 8-10 minutes (if kneading it by hand). Use a rubber spatula to occasionally scrape along the sides and bottom of the bowl to prevent any dry patches of unmixed flour.Tip: This extra kneading time will make the dough EXTRA smooth, which is the key to beautiful gluten free cinnamon rolls.
• The final dough will be slightly sticky to the touch – that’s okay, you’ll be working on a lightly floured surface so it shouldn’t be a problem. Resist the temptation to add more flour to the dough, as that can make the final rolls too dense and dry.Tip: If you find the dough too sticky to easily handle (even on a floured surface and with floured hands), you can chill it in the fridge for about 1 hour before proceeding to the next step. This will give the flours in the dough time to properly hydrate and also firm up the butter in the dough – both of these factors will make the dough firmer, less sticky, and therefore easier to handle.

Cinnamon filling:

• In a bowl, mix together the very soft butter, light brown sugar and ground cinnamon until you get a soft, spreadable paste.Tip: If it’s too thick to spread easily, you can soften it slightly in the microwave (in 2-3 second bursts, mix in between). If it’s too runny, you can chill it briefly in the fridge until it thickens to the right consistency.
• Set aside until needed.

Assembling the cinnamon rolls:

• Lightly butter a 10-inch (25cm) skillet or round baking pan, and set aside until needed.
• Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball.
• Roll it out into a roughly 11×15-inch (28x38cm) rectangle.
• Dollop on the cinnamon filling and spread it out into an even layer across the rolled-out dough, all the way to the edges.
• Cut the rectangle lengthways into seven 1½-inch (4cm) wide strips, so that they’re 15 inches (38cm) long. I like to use a pizza cutter for this, but a sharp knife will also work well.
• Roll up each individual strip into a roll – this will give you the perfect swirl.
• Arrange the cinnamon rolls in the buttered skillet or baking pan, they should only just touch each other.

Proofing the cinnamon rolls:

• Proof the cinnamon rolls in a warm place for about 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes or until about doubled in volume. Lightly cover them with a sheet of plastic wrap/cling film to prevent them from drying out during proofing.Tip: If your kitchen is on the cold side, you can proof them in a lukewarm oven (the ideal proofing temperature is around 79ºF/26ºC). I usually place a cup of hot water inside the oven, to maintain a fairly humid environment.

Baking the cinnamon rolls:

• While the rolls are proofing, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and pre-heat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
• Once the cinnamon rolls have doubled in volume, pour warm heavy/double cream evenly all over them.Tip: The addition of cream makes these gluten free cinnamon rolls extra rich and soft. It’s important that you use warm cream (not cold from the fridge).
• Cover the skillet or baking pan with a sheet of aluminium foil.Tip: You don’t need to cover it super tightly, just enough so that most of the steam generated during baking will get trapped by the foil. But arrange it so that it’s fairly easy to remove later on, without having to necessarily remove the skillet or pan from the oven, if at all possible.
• Bake the cinnamon rolls at 350ºF (180ºC) covered with the aluminium foil for 20 minutes.Tip: The aluminium foil traps the steam generated during baking, which prevents a crust from forming on top of the cinnamon rolls. This allows them to expand much more during this first part of baking, so they’ll end up even softer and squishier.
• After the 20 minutes, remove the aluminium foil and continue baking until the cinnamon rolls get golden on top – about 15 minutes more.
• Allow the baked cinnamon rolls to cool for 5-10 minutes while you prepare the cream cheese icing.

Cream cheese icing:

• In a bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. (You can do this by hand with a balloon whisk, with a hand mixer fitted with the double beaters, or with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.)
• Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt, and whisk well until evenly combined, smooth and creamy.
• Spread the cream cheese icing over the cinnamon rolls while they’re still hot or very warm. You can use all of the icing, or spread just ¾ of it over the rolls and set the rest aside for anyone who wants extra with their cinnamon roll.Tip: The warmth/heat from the cinnamon rolls will cause the icing to partially melt into all the nooks and crannies, and it will make the cinnamon rolls even more decadent and luxurious.
• Enjoy the cinnamon rolls while they’re still warm.

Serving and storage:

• These gluten free cinnamon rolls are best served while they’re warm.
• They’re at their best on the day of baking, but you can keep them in a closed container for about 2-3 days. Just before serving, re-heat them briefly in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. This will return them to their original pillowy softness.

Overnight, make-ahead options:

• Option 1: You can prepare the dough and then keep it in the fridge overnight (in a closed container or in a covered bowl). You can then roll, shape, proof and bake the cinnamon rolls the next day.
• Option 2: You can make the dough and shape the cinnamon rolls, and then keep the tightly covered skillet or baking pan in the fridge overnight. The next day, bring the rolls to room temperature. If they haven’t doubled in size by the time they’ve reached room temperature, proof them for a while longer – and then, pour over the heavy/double cream and bake according to the recipe.

First, the smell

This beautiful warm smell of cinnamon and baked goodness that fills the house and wraps itself around you like a fluffy warm duvet.

Smelling cinnamon rolls releases my happy hormones, just like stroking kittens does, or sleeping in during the week.

Then, the swirl

Can it be that the swirl in a cinnamon roll has hypnotic properties? Think about it. Remember how Kaa the snake from the Jungle Book did this swirly-eye-thing to Mowgli and he would be at her mercy? That’s what a cinnamon roll does to me. Somehow, I feel magically drawn towards it!

Cinnamon rolls lure me in in, like a wonderful psychedelic maelstrom of promising pleasure. This swirl, it shuts off the logical thinking part of my brain. It has secret come-hither-powers that should never be underestimated.

And lastly, the taste

The taste! Can you picture biting into a freshly baked cinnamon roll right now? Sinking your teeth into that fluffy, gooey goodness? I bite into a cinnamon roll and it’s like I have arrived IN THE NOW.

There are people that meditate for years to achieve this state of enlightenment. I am telling you. There’s absolutely no need to travel to India and checking into the silent Ashram. No need to grow a beard or stop cutting your nails.

My dear sugar free and low carb friends, I have tried many versions of healthified (meaning: no-wheat, no-yeast, no-grains, no-sugar) cinnamon rolls using grain free flours such as almond or coconut flour. They all taste great, but their texture is either too cakey or crumbly to truly resemble the original, badass cinnamon rolls of my youth.

The Dough

This keto cinnamon rolls recipe is made using the “Holy Grail of Keto dough”, which is a truly genius invention using mozzarella cheese.

It was conceived as a pizza base (I am talking about it in detail in my keto Pretzels post). With a few tweaks it makes a brilliant dough for sweet pastry as well.

I’d go as far as saying this: Holy Grail dough (which has become famous as Fat Head dough) is the cleverest brainwave since the conception of low carb eating.

I want to hug the person who thought of combining an Italian cheese with almond flour to create a dough that actually mimics the taste of wheat dough. How could you possibly come up with an idea like this? Was it a coincidence? Someone accidentally dropping flour into melted mozzarella? It’s a bit like that person who banged two stones together and created fire. Boom, and the world is a better place.

The dough is a little tricky to handle – thanks to the inherent gooey-ness of mozzarella – but if you follow the instructions in the recipe section below, you should have no problems.

Here are the ingredients you’ll need for low-carb cinnamon rolls:

• Shredded mozzarella – This recipe works best with low moisture pre-shredded mozzarella from the supermarket. Fresh mozzarella contains too much liquid and is too runny. You can also use a (firm) mozzarella block and grate it yourself.
• Almond flour – I used extra fine almond flour. If you are using almond meal or ground almonds, add an additional 2 tablespoons. Or, add one additional tablespoon of coconut flour.
• Cream cheese – should be full fat.
• Egg – large and room temperature
• Baking powder

• Water (or butter) – I preferred the version with water, but both work well.
• Granulated sweetener – I like a golden erythritol monk fruit sweetener blend here, such as Lakanto Gold. It has a taste very similar to brown sugar that works great with cinnamon. You can also use Swerve, xylitol, Bocha Sweet or allulose.
• Cinnamon

• Cream cheese
• Greek yogurt – or use more cream cheese or softened butter
• Vanilla stevia – or powdered sweetener

Step 1: Melt the mozzarella and the cream cheese in a large bowl in the microwave. Or, melt it in a non-stick pot on the stovetop over low heat.

The mixture must be melted but not bubbling hot. We don’t want to cook the egg! Add the egg and stir with a spatula until combined.

Step 2: Add the dry ingredients – almond flour and baking powder – to the mixture. Continue mixing with the spatula. Then knead with your hands until a smooth dough forms.

Step 3: Form 6 dough balls.

Step 4: Roll each dough ball into a log

Step 5: …flatten the log with your hands. Then, spread the cinnamon filling on top and roll up.

Step 6: Cut each roll in half with a sharp knife.

Step 7: Place the cinnamon rolls in a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Make sure you leave space between the rolls so they can expand during baking.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden.

Step 8: While the rolls are baking, prepare the frosting. In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, yoghurt and vanilla stevia with a fork until smooth. Spread the frosting over the warm rolls end enjoy.

I have made this recipe for many years. Here are a few tips that to help you get perfect results.

#1 The cinnamon roll dough can be sticky. I find that lightly oiling my hands prevents the dough from sticking to them. I used walnut oil, but you can use any neutral-tasting oil.

#2 As the dough cools down, it becomes firmer. Warming it back up makes it easier to work with. This makes it soft again. I put it in the microwave for around 10 seconds. Or, gently heat it on the stovetop.

#3 The log method I use to create the cinnamon rolls makes them look pretty, like rosettes. I also think it helps them rise better. But it does take a little longer.

If you are short of time, you can also use the traditional way of making cinnamon rolls. Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper into a large rectangle. Spread the cinnamon filling on top. Then, roll the dough into one large log and cut it into slices.

DOUGH

If you don’t have extra fine almond flour and are using almond meal or ground almonds, add an additional 2 tablespoons of almond meal/ground almonds or 1 tablespoon of coconut flour so the cinnamon rolls keep their shape.

FILLING

You can use salted or unsalted butter instead of the water in the cinnamon filling. This gives the rolls a nice buttery taste. I made a few using butter, then decided to just dissolve the sweetener in water as the rolls are very high in fat already. The choice is yours!

FROSTING

If you do not have vanilla-flavoured stevia for the frosting, use powdered sweetener instead and add a few drops of vanilla extract.

I liked the fresh flavor of the Greek yogurt in the frosting. However, you can use all cream cheese.

Instead of frosting, why not make a simple sugar-free icing to top the cinnamon rolls? Mix three tablespoons of powdered sweetener with two teaspoons of water until smooth. Then, pipe or drizzle the icing over the cooled rolls.

We love these low-carb cinnamon rolls with a steamy cup of coffee or an almond matcha latte.

Whether you eat them for breakfast, brunch or in the afternoon, the rolls are best enjoyed warm. Then, they are soft inside and have the most tender crunch on the outside.

Refrigerator: Should you have any leftovers, keep the rolls in an airtight container in the fridge. You can store them for up to 1 week.

Freezer: It is possible to freeze these cinnamon rolls for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight, then reheat them in the microwave.

Reheat individual rolls in the microwave for 10 – 15 seconds. To reheat multiple rolls, warm them in the oven or in the air fryer for 3-5 minutes. I recommend a temperature of 180C or 350F.

Nutrition

Calories: 94 kca lTotal Carbohydrates: 2.1g Protein: 6.2g Fat: 7.2g Saturated Fat: 2.3g Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.1g Monounsaturated Fat: 0.4g Cholesterol: 25mg Sodium: 98mg Potassium: 9mg Fiber: 0.8g Sugar: 0.4g