Cinnamon Rolls a Hit

Before the gluten-free lifestyle kicked in, I used to make homemade cinnamon rolls for our Christmas breakfast. The wheat recipe called for lots of rising time, punching down dough, and other prep steps, so this was a once a year thing for this some-time baker. This Christmas Eve I thought I would try a gluten-free version and found an excellent recipe on Ellen's "I Am Gluten-Free Blog" and while the dough was a challenge to work with, as it was extremely soft, the cinnamon rolls were a hit with our clan. I found they were better the second day, as the texture got a bit harder and less crumbly. You can find this recipe and lots of other great recipes on Ellen's blog or copy it down from here:

Cinammon Rolls
Serves 8 or 9

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons shortening or butter
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup of milk, room temperature
1 packet yeast (about 1 tablespoon)
1 egg
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup potato starch
1 cup corn starch
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TO SPRINKLE ON BOARD COVERED WITH PLASTIC WRAP
1 - 2 tablespoons sugar

FILLING
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped nuts - (I used pecans)

GLAZE (I skipped the glaze, but it sounds good for next time)
¾ cup powdered or confectionary sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
milk to thicken

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In medium bowl, combine shortening and sugar. Mix well. Measure warm milk and add yeast to milk. Whisk well to fully dissolve.

Add milk/yeast to sugar mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Mix very well, being sure to remove all lumps. Dough will be quite soft.

Take a piece of plastic wrap and lay it out so it covers a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square. Sprinkle sugar on the wrap. Lay ball of dough on top of that. Then pull out another sheet of wrap and gently lay over the dough. Pat the dough down into a roughly squarish pancake. Lift the top wrap up and then reposition it. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough in between the two layers of wrap. Occasionally you'll have to lift and reposition the wrap because it gets "stuck" under the edges. You might have to occasionally flip the whole thing over. Make sure that when you're done you've got ABOUT a 13 1/2" x 13 1/2" square of dough.

Remove top piece of wrap. Combine filling ingredients. Spread evenly across dough's surface. Use the bottom piece of wrap to lift the edge of the dough and start to roll it up forming a long cylinder. Start with the sugary edge, which will be the center of your roll and roll toward the sugarless edge. Cut off or trim up the irregular ends of your "log". Then cut into 8 or 9 slices of similar size, about 1 1/2" wide. Place rolls into a greased round glass pie pan.

Bake approximately 20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

Combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk to make glaze. The amount of milk you use will depend on how thick you want the glaze to be. Stir until all lumps are dissolved. Drizzle over warm rolls if desired.