Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls

Published: Feb 10, 2021 · Modified: Mar 15, 2025 · This post may contain affiliate links · 45 Comments

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The best homemade gluten free cinnamon rolls! They're fluffy, filled with ooey gooey cinnamon filling and topped with a dreamy cream cheese frosting!

a baking dish with homemade gluten free cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting on top.

I have extremely high standards for gluten free cinnamon rolls so I did what any obsessive baker would do - I pulled out some yeast and turned on the oven.

After several flops and way too many cinnamon rolls later, I had a clear winner. I wanted these rolls to:

spoon drizzling cream cheese frosting onto a cinnamon roll.

Be ooey gooey in the center without being under-baked or doughy and trust me - this is a fine line.
Rise! I can't tell you how many gluten free cinnamon roll recipes I've tried where they didn't rise much. Big dense duds.
Be addictively delicious like a Cinnabon on Christmas morning!
Not be too complicated. Easy rolls that taste incredible.

Gluten free yeast recipes are tricky and no yeast cinnamon rolls weren't an option. Read on to learn some of the tricks I learned while baking up several batches.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. In other words, if you click a link and purchase something I will receive a commission at no cost to you. I only recommend products I use and enjoy myself.

Key Ingredients:

eggs. butter, cream cheese, vegetable oil, salt, cinnamon, brown sugar, powdered sugar, yeast, and gluten-free flour.

Whole milk - Whole milk creates a rich dough. I've not tested this recipe with a dairy-free alternative yet, but a reader used almond milk with good success.
Active dry yeast - Yeast is essential for a pillowy soft texture to the dough! It's a natural leavening agent that creates carbon dioxide and causes the rolls to rise.
Sugar - A little bit of sugar feeds the yeast.
Eggs - Add moisture and a rich flavor to the dough, like in brioche!
Vegetable oil - Some recipes call for oil, others call for butter. I chose oil because it creates a moist dough.
Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free All Purpose Flour - I created this recipe with this brand and all brands react differently in recipes. Some of my readers had success with namaste gluten-free flour as well.
Butter - For the ooey gooey cinnamon filling! Make sure it's soft and spreadable! If it's cold, it will be impossible to spread onto the sticky dough.
Baking soda & cream of tartar - I added these to give the dough an extra lift.

How to Make Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls:

They're not hard, but they do require a little TLC. Basically, you can't fudge the recipe! Follow the instructions and they should come out DELISH!

The dough making process

First I activated the yeast. I did this by heating the milk in the microwave to 110 degrees Fahrenheit and then adding the sugar and active dry yeast. I let it sit for six minutes until the yeast looked frothy.

Why did I do this? It confirms the yeast is still alive to work it's magic. If the milk is too hot, it will kill the yeast so be sure to use a thermometer. Alternatively if it's too cold, it won't activate the yeast and the rolls won't rise well.

You can read more about yeast here.

Then I added room temperature eggs, oil, and ½ cup of sugar into the milk mixture and whisked until incorporated.

milk, yeast, eggs, sugar, and oil in a bowl.

a bowl of milk, yeast, eggs, oil, and sugar whisked together.

Add the milk mixture into a stand mixer bowl with the dough hook attachment, then add the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar.

Blend with the dough hook for two minutes stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl after 15 seconds.

The dough should be smooth and really sticky at this point. This is a very sticky dough which means it's sticky to work with, but it also means we won't end up with a dense roll.

The first rise

Scrape the sticky dough into a large greased bowl and brush the top with a small amount of oil so it doesn't dry out.

Saran wrap and set aside for two hours to rise.

gluten free dough in a bowl covered with saran wrap.

gluten free dough in a bowl that's risen for two hours.

How to roll them up

Sprinkle a generous amount of flour over a large, clean work surface.

Place the dough on the floured work surface and sprinkle flour on top of the dough. This will make it so the dough doesn't stick to the counter and the top doesn't stick to the rolling pin.

gluten free dough on a surface with gluten free flour

hands using a rolling pin to roll out gluten free cinnamon roll dough.

Gently roll the dough into a rectangle shape about 11 by 13 inches long.

Using an offset spatula spread the cinnamon butter filling evenly over the dough leaving a ¼ inch gap on all sides. It should be very soft and spreadable!

spatula spreading a cinnamon butter mixture onto rolled out dough.

hands rolling up gluten free cinnamon roll dough into a log.

Starting on the long side, directly in front of you, roll the dough into a log. It will lengthen a little as you do this. Mine ended up being close to 18 inches long at this point.

hand holding a knife on top of a dough log about to cut into it.

hand holding an unbaked gluten free cinnamon roll.

Cut the rolls into 9 equal pieces. For me this ended up being 2 inch rolls.

Just do your best to cut the rolls evenly - they don't have to be exact.

Baking the rolls

Grease an 8 by 8 pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Place 9 cut rolls into the pan in 3 rows with 3 rolls each evenly spaced.

It's important the rolls are nestled next to each other. This means they will rise into one another and you will have a gorgeous pan of cinnamon rolls with sticky centers and soft sides.

unbaked, unrisen cinnamon rolls in a baking dish.

Let the rolls rise in the pan for another 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit on the middle rack for 30 to 34 minutes until the tops are golden brown, but more importantly the insides are cooked but still soft.

baked gluten free cinnamon rolls in a baking dish.

hand mixer mixing cream cheese frosting.

Make and spread the icing on the rolls while they're still slightly warm. The frosting will melt slightly then set.

a pan of baked cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting on top.

close up of cream cheese iced cinnamon rolls.

Recipe Tips

Cinnamon rolls are BEST the day you make them. On day two I would finish them up, gift them to a friend or freeze them individually so you can pull one out later. They dry out quickly.
Use room temperature eggs so you're not changing the temperature of the liquid and inhibiting the yeast.
Ice the rolls while they're still warm. The icing will melt a little bit into the roll and be super delicious. I like to save just a little bit and ice them again once they've cooled. This is mostly a preference thing. Don't ice them right out of the oven or the icing will completely melt.
The dough is very soft and sticky so use a generous amount of flour when you roll out the dough!

Storage & Freezing:

Again, cinnamon rolls are best enjoyed fresh! But if you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Cream cheese frosting is perishable and shouldn't be stored at room temp.
Reheat the cinnamon rolls in the microwave until just warm. Or wrapped in foil in the oven.
If you do freeze them for later make sure to let them come to room temperature before warming them up in the oven or microwave. If you heat them up frozen the icing will melt.

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