Date Stuffed Cinnamon Rolls Vegan Gluten free

Ingredients

Dry

1 1/3 cup Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Four
3/4 cup almond flour
1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
4 tablespoons cold vegan butter (I use Earth Balance)

wet

3/4 cup almond milk
1 tablespoon vegan butter
1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons dry instant yeast

date filling

15 large Medjool dates
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon

icing

1/2 cup icing sugar
1-2 teasoon almond milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 8"x 6" baking dish and set aside.
Place the dates into a bowl, cover with warm water and set aside.
Starting with the wet ingredients, put the almond milk, cane sugar and vegan butter into a small pot. Heat on low until it reaches 110-115F. I recommend using a thermometer for this. If the mixture is not warm enough the yeast won't activate and if it is too hot the yeast will be destroyed. The mixture should be lukewarm, not hot. Take off the heat, add the yeast, stir and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl add Bob's Red Mill flour blend, almond flour, cane sugar, baking powder and sea salt. Stir until combined making sure there are no clumps. Cut the cold vegan butter into 1 inch cubes and with a knife or pastry cutter 'cut' the butter into the flour mixture. You want to keep small pea sized pieces of butter in the mixture. It should have a slightly clumpy texture.
Next take the yeast mixture (it should look frothy and bubbly) and fold it into the dry until incorporated. The dough will be quite sticky. Gently form the dough into a large ball and place back into the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place on the warm oven to rise for about 30 minutes.In the meantime make the date filling. Drain the soaked dates, remove the pits and place into the food processor. Add the oil, water, vanilla and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Process, scraping down the sides as needed until it forms a smooth paste.
In the meantime make the date filling. Drain the soaked dates, remove the pits and place into the food processor. Add the oil, water, vanilla and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Process, scraping down the sides as needed until it forms a smooth paste.
Lay a piece of 12"x 16" parchment paper on a flat surface. Lightly dust the paper with flour (I use Bob's Red Mill 1:1). Take the dough (it should have risen about 1/3 of its size) and place in the middle of the paper. Dust the rolling pin with flour and roll out the dough into a rectangle the size of the parchment paper. If the dough sticks add more flour to the rolling pin or dust the top of the dough with flour.
Once the dough is rolled out take the date filling and dollop spoonfuls on top the dough. Using the back of the spoon carefully spread the date mixture to cover the dough. The dough underneath is quite delicate so you don't want to press to hard. Once the mixture is spread in an even thin layer, generously sprinkle with extra cinnamon to cover the top.
To roll, tightly roll the edge closest to you and hold the parchment paper underneath, gently lifting it up. Slowly roll the dough, using your fingers to unstick any dough that may be sticking to the parchemnt paper.
Once rolled, use a serraded knife or floss to trim off the ends of the roll if they're looking a bit scrappy. Cut into 6 pieces. Gently transfer to the greased baking dish. You can gently mold them back into a circular shape if they've become misshapen.
Once all of them are in the dish, cover with plastic wrap and set on top of the preheated oven for at 1.5-2 hours (I recommend 2 hrs). They won't double in size like traditional rolls but they will expand at least 1/3 of their size.
Once they've risen, remove the plastic wrap and bake for 30-35 minutes. They should be a nice golden brown when done. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before icing.
To make the icing, stir together half a cup of icing sugar and 1 teaspoon of almond milk, adding more until you reach the desired consistancy. Pour or spread the icing on the rolls. They will last covered at room temp for 3-4 days or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Enjoy!

Notes

*I like to cut the rolls 4.5cm in width, which gives 6 rolls (after trimming off the scrappy ends at each side). You can also cut them a bit smaller to get 7 rolls and bake them in a stardard pie plate.

*If you are not vegan or dairy free regular butter can be subbed for vegan butter.

*This recipe was loosely adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie

Nutrition