Cinnamon Rolls

Alright, Ellen from I Am Gluten Free posted this cinnamon roll recipe, and I was having a friend over for coffee this morning and I had to try it. Make it. It is yummy and worth the effort. And the effort wasn't even that much, it seems like it would be much more complicated that it is. Next time I would throw in a handful of ground flax seed for some nutritional value, and the only other thing I changed was adding softened smeared butter to the dough before putting the sugar mixture on. I also wonder if you sneak in a bit of brown rice flour, I wonder if that would ruin it or not? I may try that next time. Before gluten free I always upped the nutrition in my baked goods, I don't think it works the same with GF recipes. When I try it that way, I will let you know how it works.
Oh, and the original poster of this recipe says you can make them the night before, put in the fridge and bake the next morning. Perfect for holidays or company!!

Make, bake, and enjoy!

Cinammon Rolls
Serves 8 or 9

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons melted or softened butter
2 tablespoons softened butter
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup of milk, room temperature
1 packet yeast (about 1 tablespoon)
1 egg
1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or canola)
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
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped nuts - optional

GLAZE
¾ cup powdered or confectionary 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 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. Smear the 2 T. softened butter on the dough. Combine filling ingredients. Spread evenly across dough's surface. (Original recipe poster suggested leaving about a 1 1/2" sugar free edge because when you roll the dough all the sugar shifts and fills this in; otherwise all the sugar spills out).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.

(Person who wrote about this recipe included this note: These are lovely with coffee in the morning. They're very light and fluffy - not too heavy or dense. I've also discovered that you can make these the night before and stop short of baking them. Wrap them up in their pan or glass dish and leave them in the fridge for the night. The next morning you can take them out and bake them and they come out just the same! I've found that this is a great thing to bring to a friends house for brunch. I just pop them in their oven - and you've got a great GF contribution and you know there's no cross contamination!)