Gluten Free Cinnamon Roll Recipe

(Should've taken a picture before the frosting ,and closer up, and...better. But I was anxious to eat the blasted things!! The blog where I found the recipe has an excellent picture if you're a visual type...)

Healthy? No. Calorie light? No. Do I care at this moment? NO!! Sometimes a bread deprived girl just needs a cinnamon roll. And this my friends is a true, rolled out, swirly, soft, light, DELICIOUS cinnamon roll. And it's 100% gluten free.

If you're anything like me, airports are torture. Why? The smell of Cinnabon in the morning. Or afternoon. Or night. :) Ever since the diet, a bonefide certified cinnamon roll has sounded delicious, but it seemed that all the recipes I came across were for fake-wanna-be-cinnamon-rolls-in-muffin-pans. Not gonna do it for me. So, last night I tried another google session, and came across this recipe on iamglutenfree.blogspot.com (who got the recipe from The Gluten Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg. I don't know who you are Roben, but bless you! :)). SCRUMPTIOUS. And easy. And full of ingredients that I already had in my pantry. I'm in love. Even the hubbie was in heaven, and he can taste "gluten free" a mile away. I'm not joking...these things rival Cinnabons. Enjoy!


Cinnamon Rolls
Serves 8 or 9

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons shortening

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 xantham 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 (I did it "my mom style" and brushed the dough with really soft butter before sprinkling the filling)
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped nuts - optional

GLAZE (This is the glaze recommended in the recipe, but I added 1/4 a block of cream cheese for a tasty tasty frosting experience....)
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 (I did the milk and yeast first, and then set it aside to let it work its magic for a bit).

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 (don't forget the soft butter trick mentioned above if you're into extra delicious calories). Use the bottom piece of wrap to lift the edge of the dough and start to roll it up forming a long cylinder. 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 (I use dental floss, wrapping it around the log, crossing it, and pulling. Works like a charm. Thanks mom.) Place rolls into a greased round glass pie pan (I used a square Pyrex).

Bake approximately 20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

Combine powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk to make glaze. (If you're doing cream cheese, mix it with beaters til it's smooth, then add powdered sugar to taste, about 1 tea vanilla, and milk til it's the right consistency). 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.

*I made these, put them in the pan, and then stuck them in the fridge for a couple hours while me and the hubbie went for a run. Still turned out great! The original poster said that she's done it overnight, with success!

Gluten Free in NYC

The hubbie and I headed to NYC for a weekend for our second wedding anniversary, and I have to say...a dream destination for those of us with Celiac. We arrived with a HUGE list of restaurants that not only offer gluten-free options, but are actually members of the Gluten Free Awareness Program (http://www.glutenfreerestaurants.org/). This generally means that they know about cross-contamination, and all those issues that can make those of us with actual Celiac disease sick. We didn't' make it through even half the list. But here's some places we DID try and love:

Blooms: It was close enough to the theater district that we walked to our show after even though it was a bit of a hike (Wicked at the Gershwin...unrelated, but AWESOME!!). I tried the grilled chicken sandwich, which is served on a gluten-free bun. It was very very tasty, even though there was no sauce. The chicken was seasoned quite scrumptiously. I also ordered the gluten-free fries. Mmmmmm mm. This is a great place to go if your loved ones don't have to eat gluten-free too. My husband enjoyed a delicious salami sandwich so much, that we ended up eating breakfast here one morning too. I had eggs, bacon, potatoes (which are french fries) and gluten free toast (made out of the same buns that the sandwiches are made on). All in all, very tasty, and absolutely no negative reactions...it felt very very safe.

Risoterria: This was my second experience at Risoterria, and again wasn't disappointed. I love the fact that you get gluten-free breadsticks while you wait (chewy breadsticks...not crunchy, typical gluten-free breadsticks). The pizza is yummy (I tried the mushroom one this time with a truffle oil sauce...mmmmmmm....). My husband ordered risotto and really enjoyed it. Be prepared for a really really little environment (you get to know your neighbors), and a moderately pricey menu. Still, I'd suggest it.

Tu-Lu's Gluten Free Bakery: We walked way out of our way one day to try a completely gluten-free bakery. I had a chocolate cupcake with cream cheese frosting, and a cranberry white chocolate oatmeal cookie. Both were delicious. There's just something about walking round a big city all day that makes you need a cookie. Not want a cookie...NEED a cookie. This is a great place to get one, although I must admit that I was surprised by how few options they had. For some reason, I expected lots more variety after seeing the website. Still...fun. And one of their walls is soooooooooo cutely painted. :)

Petit Cafe: We went here for breakfast one morning, and I was a bit sad we didn't make it back. I had originally thought I'd get a gluten-free bagel (they looked soooooooo normal), but then I saw the blueberry muffins, and had to have one. The hubbie ordered an omelet, and both were delicious. I believe they also serve gluten free pancakes, french toast, sandwiches, etc. Great little place. Delicious big muffins.

Grom Gelato: After Risotteria, we came across Grom Gelato. They had gluten and non-gluten listed right on their big wall menu, and I was pumped. However, I have to admit, I ended up being really scared eating it (probably shouldn't have eaten it, but for some reason was very un-Amber-like and did). I think there is probably a contamination issue at work here. Each flavor has it's own scoop, which is AWESOME. However, as I watched them dish up the ice cream into the cones (which the majority of people order), I saw them touching the cone with the scoop, and scraping excess ice cream off the side of the cone with the scoops, and then the scoops go back in the ice cream, leaving little cone crumbs. Like I said, I normally wouldn't eat something after observing something like this...but I did. And I had a mild reaction that night as a result (most likely...guess it could've been something else...).

Honestly, if you have Celiac, you have to go to NY just to feel like you're eating like a normal person on vacation. It was so much fun.