They are Delicious and Vegan and Gluten Free! Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

These wonderful, cinnamon rolls are perfect for pecan lovers.  The dough is made with an assortment of healthy flours AND leaves out the gluten and the dairy.  If you can't find a particular ingredient for this recipe, check out the Internet for substitutions (including the right quantities for substitutes).  They don't look like the puffy, gooey sticky buns/rolls made with all the regular ingredients.  Jenny was very creative and her rolls taste great while being oh so healthy.  Definitely worth trying.

A few things to remember: this dough is very soft but if the dough doesn't come together for you, add a little more flour.  It's important to use the parchment paper to roll the dough, sushi style and it's really important to coat the parchment paper with extra rice flour.  I use my trusty rolling pin (coated with rice flour) to gently roll out the dough.  Because there is no gluten, don't expect the rolls to puff out like their cousins, but they will kind of rise/puff.  The texture is denser, rich and redolent of pecans and maple.

This recipe is adapted from a book entitled Gluten-Free and Vegan Bread by Jennifer Katzinger.  Thanks Jenn!

To make 10 rolls.

Ingredients
Filling:
1/2   cup of pecans
2      tbsp Sucanat
1      tbsp canola oil
1      tbsp ground cinnamon
3      tbsp maple syrup (optional- spread on top of the filling)

Dough:
1 1/4 cups sorghum flour
1      cup tapioca flour (you could substitute with arrowroot flour by using 1/2 the quantity)
3/4   cup brown rice flour, plus more for the work surface
1/2   cup garbanzo bean flour (you could substitute with chickpea flour)
1/2   cup millet flour
1/2   cup flax meal
1      tsp sea salt
1      tsp xanthan gum
1/2   tsp ground cinnamon
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 cup room temperature water
3      tbsp olive oil
2      tbsp Sucanat (you could substitute with brown sugar)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly grease a 9-inch cake pan.

To make the filling: place the pecans, Sucanat, canola oil, and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse until the pecans are finely ground, but not so much that a butter-like paste forms.

An assortment of healthy flours

To make the dough, in a large mixing bowl, combine the sorghum flour, tapioca flour, brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, millet flour, flax meal, salt, xanthan gum and cinnamon.

In a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), dissolve the yeast in the room temperature water.  Add the olive oil and Sucanat.  Just as the yeast begins to foam, about three minutes, add the combined dry ingredients.  Mix until a soft dough forms.  You can do this by hand or with the stand mixer and the paddle attachment, pulsed on low speed.  The dough comes together quickly.

Generously dust a 16 inch sheet of parchment paper with brown rice flour.  Turn the dough out onto the paper and with floured hands, gently spread into a rectangle that is 16 inches long and 10 inches wide.  Spread the filling over the flattened dough, evenly coating the surface.

Rolled and ready to cut

Turn the paper so that the long side of the rectangle is nearest you.  Begin rolling into a snug cylinder.

Measure out 1 1/2-inch sections and slice the cylinder into 10 pieces.  Place the slices close together in the prepared cake pan and bake for one hour and 10 minutes until golden and slightly firm to the touch.

I cooked my rolls for 30 minutes, then froze them.  To reheat, place frozen rolls directly in a preheated 350 degree oven.



WANNA PLAY?
Replace the pecans with sliced almonds, or just sprinkle almonds on top of the filling.  Consider adding unsweetened coconut or minced dried fruit to the filling.You could add honey or another healthy sweetener instead of the Sucanat.  You could sprinkle maple syrup on top of the buns, before baking.