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Easy AIP Cinnamon Rolls are perfect for special breakfasts and brunches, including holidays! This dough is easy to make and easy to roll out. The end product is a delicious soft dough filled with that familiar sweet cinnamon spice! Hard to stop eating, so thankfully AIP Cinnamon Rolls are the healthy version of that old favorite!
This recipe is Paleo, Gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free and nut-free, with a coconut-free option.
Ingredients in Easy AIP Cinnamon Rolls
Gluten-free, grain-free, egg-free, nut-free, this Paleo breakfast treat is especially perfect for the Autoimmune Protocol.
Flours used in AIP Cinnamon Rolls are:
- green banana flour
- tiger nut flour
- coconut flour — If you’re coconut-free, this can be subbed for more tiger nut.
Additional ingredients are:
- Spectrum palm shortening, or room temperature spreadable coconut oil
- avocado oil or olive oil
- gelatin
- coconut sugar, or maple sugar
- cinnamon
- apple cider vinegar
- baking soda and sea salt
How to make Easy AIP Cinnamon Rolls
Lots of process photos
You’ll see in the main Recipe below, I’ve included 20 process photos! That’s because I want you to feel you know what to do at every stage of the recipe.
While the recipe isn’t tricky, I know it’s reassuring to SEE how to do it.
How gelatin helps the process
The key to this recipe is the large amount of gelatin in the recipe. It not only stands in place of eggs, gelatin also thickens the dough, so we can roll it out! And it creates a tender baked dough, as the end product.
The gelatin, though, is not mixed like a gelatin egg. Instead, it’s mixed in with the dry ingredients.
If you’re at all concerned about having success with this recipe, my one big tip is: if you can, use the same brands of ingredients that I use. This really helps to eliminate variations in different products: flours, coconut milk and gelatin being the most important variables.
That being said, I’ve made the base dough for this recipe about 10 times, and it always turns out perfectly! 🙂 It really is a fun and easy dough to work with and make!
Method
To create dough and form AIP Cinnamon Rolls:
- Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix well. Allow dough to rest 10 minutes, so it thickens.
- Transfer dough to a piece of parchment paper to “roll out”. Instead of using a rolling pin, use your fingers. Press it into a rectangular shape, 9″x6″. This dough isn’t sticky and is very easy to work with.
- Spread with palm shortening. Top with coconut sugar and cinnamon.
- Roll up: It will gently crack as you roll it, but the dough is VERY soft and tender; it is not fragile, so it’s easy to just fold these cracks shut a bit (as needed) as you go, a little like working with Play Dough, but not as sticky. Basically, don’t sweat it, just smoosh back together any big cracks, ignore the others, and keep rolling.
Easy AIP Cinnamon Rolls (Paleo, Gluten-free)
Equipment
- small baking dish 7"x8" or anything similar, including a round pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup green banana flour
- ⅔ cup coconut milk not cold OR tiger nut milk for coconut-free; For non-AIP, also okay to use other milks. It's very important that the milk is not cold. It needs to be room temperature or warm-room temp. I like Aroy-D brand best because it's natural, always creamy, but does not separate into a hard top layer; it's homogenized, so it's easy to use in recipes.
- ¼ cup tiger nut flour <-- This brand
- 6 Tablespoons water room temp not cold, warm or hot
- ¼ cup gelatin <-- Use discount code BEAUTIFUL10 for 10% off your entire order.
- ¼ cup palm shortening , Spectrum brand, or spreadable coconut oil (slightly warm); (For more gooey cinnamon swirl filling, see Notes section.)
- ¼ cup avocado oil or olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons coconut flour optional; For coconut-free, add 2 more Tablespoons tiger nut flour.
- ¼ cup + ¼ cup more coconut sugar divided; (For more gooey cinnamon swirl filling, see Notes section.)
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon (For more gooey cinnamon swirl filling, see Notes section.)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda , sifted
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line small baking dish with parchment paper.
- Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix well. Allow dough to rest 10 minutes, so it thickens.
- Scoop into a big fat jelly roll shape, and transfer dough to a piece of parchment paper, to roll out. Instead of using a rolling pin, use your fingers. Press it into a rectangular shape, 9"x6". (If you like/prefer more and thinner layers of dough, then press out your rectangle so it's longer, 12", or even more, long. Also, with more rolls means more filling, so with this option, see Notes section for making extra filling.) This dough isn't sticky and is very easy to work with. Spread with palm shortening.
- Top with coconut sugar and cinnamon. Roll up: It will gently crack as you roll it, but the dough is VERY soft and tender; it is not fragile, so it's easy to just fold these cracks shut together as you go, a little like working with Play Dough, but not as sticky. Basically, don't sweat it, just smoosh back together any big cracks, ignore the others, and keep rolling.
- Create a log of dough, all rolled up, with the seam to one side or underneath. You don't really need to pinch the seam shut, but you can if you want to.
- Use a piece of dental floss, string or a knife to cut into four even sections. Transfer these to prepared baking dish. Press down on each one, to flatten slightly. (The final process photo below shows the cinnamon rolls after they're baked. They'll spread.)
- Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes. NOW, when you take the baked Cinnamon Rolls out of the oven, they are going to be VERY soft (because of how much gelatin is in the dough). You NEED to let the dough cool so it firms up. AIP Cinnamon Rolls are lovely warm or room temp, but don't eat them hot. Once they're room temp, they can also be reheated to warm in a 275° oven for about 20 minutes. (Also, do not eat them chilled. They need to be fully room temp or warm.) Serve!
- To make icing drizzle, place ½ cup powdered sugar in small mixing bowl. (It's okay to use powdered coconut sugar, powdered maple sugar, or powdered cane sugar, as you prefer.). Add just a little coconut milk, and stir with a fork. Add only as much coconut milk as is needed to create a barely pourable icing (it's easy to add too much; add less than you think you'll need to start). Wait until AIP Cinnamon Rolls are mostly cooled before drizzling on icing.
Notes
More gooey cinnamon swirl filling
So, you have a decision to make. If you make the recipe as-is, it's great and delicious. But if you want MORE gooey cinnamon swirl filling, as is often the case with less healthy cinnamon rolls, you can do that. Here's how: You need to double the filling --- ½ cup palm shortening + ½ cup coconut sugar + 4 teaspoons cinnamon
Nutrition
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Josie says
What can I say? You are awsome❤ Thank you
Megan says
So sweet, and happy you like the recipe, thank you!
Josie says
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