This amazing Paleo Cinnamon Bun Muffin recipe is the perfect shortcut for a healthy cinnamon roll and makes a delicious breakfast treat! One of my favorite readers Courtney recently suggested that I create a gluten free cinnamon roll recipe. She said it would be perfect for Christmas morning. Since we’re smack in the middle of Hanukkah that wasn’t something I had thought about. Thanks Courtney!
So, here’s my Paleo Cinnamon Bun Muffin recipe. I hope you all enjoy it during the holidays.
Cinnamon Bun Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- 1 cup blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ¼ cup grapeseed oil or palm shortening
- ¼ cup agave nectar or honey
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Topping
- 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil or palm shortening
Instructions
Muffins
- Combine almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl
- In a large bowl blend together oil, agave, eggs, and vanilla
- Blend dry ingredients into wet and scoop a scant ¼ cup at a time into paper lined muffin cups
Cinnamon Topping
- Combine agave, cinnamon, and oil in a small bowl
- Spoon topping onto muffins
- Bake muffins for 8-12 minutes at 350°F
- Cool muffins for 2 hours then frost with Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting
One of my favorite periodicals, The Christian Science Monitor just ran a Best Cookbooks of 2009 article mentioning The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, what a delight to find my book in there.
And in television news, I was on two shows today (demoing recipes from my gluten free cookbook) the first show was Good Day Colorado and the second, Daybreak on the Deuce. You can watch both appearances below.
Finally, to top these muffins off, stay tuned for my next post with my yummy gluten free Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.
Kristin says
I found these way too sweet, even for cinnamon buns. Next time I’ll cut the sweetener in half. I got 9 smallish muffins from the recipe. I used coconut oil instead of grapeseed oil and it worked fine. Regarding the question about replacing egg with applesauce, I have found that I can often sub 3T applesauce for an egg, but I have not tried it in this recipe.
Linda M says
These cinnamon buns work well as a coffee cake also – I made them this morning in an 8″ square pyrex cake pan. Increase the baking time a little and it’s done when browned and a knife comes out clean in the center. I was just too lazy to deal with muffin tins this morning so I thought I would try to make a coffee cake instead. Thanks for the great recipe! I am greatly enjoying your cookbook as well as the recipes at this site.
Laura says
Thank you for a delicious Christmas breakfast, Elena! We did use butter instead of oil in the cinnamon, and olive oil in the batter, but otherwise loved it just as you made it!
Look forward to making more of your delicious creations!
Laura
be says
Liat, could you please tell me how much applesauce you sub. for the eggs.
Thank you
janet says
i love all elana’s recipes. i would love to know if anyone out there has made any of her recipes using egg substitutes (ener g egg replacer etc,), and how they turned out. especially the cinnamon buns. living a vegan life. thanx…
Liat says
Sorry, just saw your comment. Wasn’t around internet for a while. A bit too late I guess but still – I use 1/4 cup applesauce with 1/2 tsp baking soda. I did try it at x-mas, but it didn’t come out very well although normally it does work well. I ended up making another batch that had 2 eggs instead of 3 and using some applesauce which worked out fine. I’m thinking of replacing some of the eggs with other things (like banana, linseed, or something like that) but that will change the taste as well. Hope you still got to make these for xmas.
brandy says
I made these tonight and the family loved them. Thank you so much for the recipe. I added chopped walnuts to the topping and used butter instead of oil just to customize it to our family and it was delicious. Thank you again.
Savannah at Kitchen @ 9th and 9th says
I am one of those people who will be devouring these on Christmas morning! I have a friend who must stick to the gluten free ways, and I will be sharing these with her! They look delicious!
Kim says
Thank you so much for posting this. I make cinnamon buns every Christmas morning and feel so terrible that my GF niece can’t enjoy them.
Now I can make these for her and she won’t feel left out!
Lenee says
I am interested in using only almond flour and omitting the coconut flour in this recipe since I have discovered I am sensitive to coconut flour. Does anyone know how much almond flour I should use?
I also have just purchased the 25 lb box of blanched almond flour. I used gallon ziploc freezer bags to store most of it in the freezer and I am leaving some in a glass canister in my refrigerator and also leaving a clear cookie jar full on my counter for daily use. Ahhh it’s so nice to have a good stock of it over the holidays!
Just purchasd a copy of Elana’s cookbook at my local Barnes and Noble as a gift for a new gluten free friend. I was elated to go there and find the cookbook on their shelf!
I refer to Elana’s recipes as my “gluten free bible cookbook” since I’m also a diabetic they work wonderfully for me!!
Happy baking everyone!
Bora Bora says
Hi Elana, congratulations on your book! We love your blog and hope you’ve had a chance to try the Bora Bora sample bars we sent you. We can’t wait to hear your feedback, thanks and have a great gluten-free holiday!
~The Villagers of Bora Bora
http://www.boraborafoods.com
Sara says
Thank you so much for this. Like everyone else, I was wondering what I was going to do since we just discovered this year that my husband is wheat-sensitive and we’ve removed processed foods and preservatives from our diet. This will be a WONDERFUL treat. I just got my almond flour in the mail yesterday and I am so excited to try a lot of your recipes. My only question is how do you deal with the expense of the almond flour if you like to bake a lot (I’m having to deal with that with all of the agave nectar I’m using too).
Bonnie Stone says
I know what you mean about the almond flour being so expensive! I don’t use agave but the alternative sweeteners I use are expensive too. I guess we just have to learn to enjoy them more while eating less?!
One thing that I’ve found to be helpful is to buy the big bag of almond flour (actually, it’s a box – 25 lbs?) It’s an investment, but once you know that you like working with the almond flour, it’s one that I feel is worth it (and the per pound price goes down). Thankfully, my sister-in-law and I usually split a box. When it arrives, I divide it into 2 lb portions and use a vaccuum sealer. Then I keep it in the deep freezer. I think gallon ziplock bags would also work.
I have also been experimenting with using more coconut flour (which is a little cheaper). I sub about 1/4 of the almond flour with sifted coconut flour (sift, then measure).