Our Christmas Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls have become a Christmas tradition in our household.  They only take an hour from the start of mixing to pulling them from the oven and they smell fantastic while presents are being opened!  I have tweaked the recipe slightly from the one found on iamglutenfree.blogspot.com.

Dough

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup of milk, room temperature

1 packet yeast

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

Filling

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon

Glaze

¾ cup powdered 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 (amount not specified) 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, leaving a 1-1/2" sugar free edge because when you roll the dough all the sugar shifts and fills this in.  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.

Graham Crackers

These graham crackers are pretty popular in our family.  It is difficult to keep them around for more than a couple of days!

2 1/4 cup gluten free flour mix
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
7 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
3 tbsp cold water
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla

1 - Mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, xanthan gum, baking soda and salt.

2 - Using your fingertips, work butter into dry ingredients.

3 - Stir in 3 tbsp cold water, honey and vanilla.  If dough is too dry, add more water, a teaspoon at a time.

4 - Gather dough into a soft ball.  Cover a plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

5 - Preheat oven to 325 deg.  Lightly grease a cookie sheet and line with parchment paper.  (I use silpat mats instead of parchment paper.)

6 - Cut two gallon-sized plastic zip bags down each parallel side so that each opens out into one long sheet.  Roll a piece of dough between the two sheets to about 1/8-inch thick.  Cut into 2"x3" pieces and prick lightly all over with a fork.  Remove top zip lock sheet.  Take remaining sheet with dough on it and turn it over.

7 - Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cookies cool slightly before transferring to cooling rack.

"Oreo" Cookies

These are tasty!  Using the large end of a frosting tip, I have made mini "Oreos."  I am posting a filling recipe, but they are pretty good with marshmallow creme as the filling.  I also plan on using the cookie dough to make chocolate pie crust.


Cookie Recipe
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (GF)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (we use Hershey's)
1 1/4 cup GF flour

1 - Preheat oven to 350 deg and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  (I use silpat sheets instead.)

2 - Cream sugar, butter, salt and vanilla until light but not fluffy.

3 - Add cocoa and flour to make a cohesive dough.  Flatten dough and refrigerate until ready to bake.  (If refrigerating the dough, make sure it comes to room temperature to make it easier to roll.)  (Note:  You can bake this dough immediately.)

4 - Roll dough out to 1/4-inch thick.  Use round cookie cutter (or something to make a circle cookie 2.5 to 3 inches in diameter).  Arrange them on a prepared cookie sheet, about 1 inch apart.  Imprint with a cookie stamp, if desired.

5 - Bake for 8 minutes or until cookies just begin to brown on the bottom.  Cool on a wire rack.

6 - When cooled, spread with filling and make sandwiches.  Refrigerate until filling is set.

Creme Filling
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 tsp salt, dissolved in water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Cream butter and shortening until well combined.  Add salt water, vanilla and sugar.  Beat until mixture is fluffy.