Classic AIP Cinnamon Rolls
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These classic AIP cinnamon rolls are the real deal without all of the typical ingredients! They’re grain-free, dairy-free, paleo, and AIP- compliant.
AIP Cinnamon Rolls
Every Christmas morning, I always looked forward to having either pancakes or cinnamon rolls! I ate cinnamon rolls a lot as a kid, and really, there’s nothing that replaces it. I was always intimidated to make them paleo and AIP, but decided to take it on this year. It took a bit of tweaking, but these are close as I’ve tasted to the real thing since I was eating them out of that Pillsbury tube that you slap on the table!
The Ingredients You’ll Need
- Tapioca starch, coconut flour & tigernut flour. Making such a classic recipe grain-free is hard to get right without using a very specific blend of flours! I have not tested any other flours in this recipe that I could guarantee to yield the same results.
- Coconut oil & coconut butter. These make the icing! You can use other icing or frosting recipes of your choice if you like something a little different on your cinnamon rolls.
- Coconut sugar & cinnamon. This is all you need for that classic cinnamon roll filling.
- Gelatin. You’ll need a gelatin egg for this recipe. Collagen will not work.
How to make AIP Cinnamon Rolls
- Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper lightly greased with coconut oil. (See notes about using a baking dish instead.)
- Using a large bowl, sift together the tapioca starch, coconut flour, tigernut flour, and baking soda.
- Combine the coconut oil and 1/3 cup warm water in a separate bowl and allow to sit for a few minutes before adding to the flour mixture. Stir in the maple syrup and gelatin egg.
- Add the gelatin egg to the dough and knead well until fully combined. The dough will be soft and sticky. See notes if the dough is too wet.
- Using either a clean surface or a sheet of parchment paper, coat the surface in tapioca starch as well as your hands. Add the dough onto the surface and press down into a rectangle that’s about 8″-12″. Sprinkle the coconut sugar and cinnamon over the dough and evenly disperse.
- Roll the dough from the long side up. Slice into 7-8 cinnamon rolls.
- Add to the baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes or until fully baked through. Carefully transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before topping with an icing of choice.
Can you make these cinnamon rolls ahead of time?
They’re best fresh, but you can for sure make them the night before. Store them in a glass container in the fridge, and heat them up either in the microwave or under the broiler just until they’re warm.
Can you use an egg instead of a gelatin egg?
I have not tried it, but if you were to try, you would sub one egg.
Can you sub arrowroot for tapioca?
The tapioca gives these the classic cinnamon roll texture, and I’m not sure arrowroot would work the same. I would stick with the tapioca!
Can you make this recipe coconut free?
I have not found a way to make these the right texture without using coconut flour and oil.
Can you use pre-made frosting?
Yes! I also had these with simple mills vanilla frosting and it’s amazing. It’s not AIP, but if you can tolerate it, it’s a great shortcut.
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Classic AIP Cinnamon Rolls
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
These classic AIP cinnamon rolls are the real deal without all of the typical ingredients! They’re grain-free, dairy-free, paleo, and AIP- compliant.
Ingredients
For the cinnamon rolls
- 1 1/4 cup tapioca starch (plus extra for coating your hands)
- 1/3 cup +3-4tbsp coconut flour (see notes)
- 1/4 cup tigernut flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup water + 1 tbsp gelatin
- 2 tbsp coconut sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
For the icing
- 1/4 cup coconut butter, melted (see notes)
- 3 tbsp coconut oil, melted
- 1 tsp coconut sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper lightly greased with coconut oil. (See notes about using a baking dish instead.)
- Using a large bowl, sift together the tapioca starch, coconut flour, tigernut flour, and baking soda.
- Combine the 1/3 cup coconut oil and 1/3 cup warm water in a seperate bowl and allow to sit for a few minutes before adding to the flour mixture. Stir in the maple syrup.
- For the gelatin egg, pour the water into a small saucepan and evenly sprinkle the gelatin over the water. Allow to sit for 2-3 minutes to allow to harden. Place on the stovetop set to low heat until the mixture comes to liquid. Remove from heat. Use a whisk or milk frother to blend the gelatin mixture until frothy.
- Add the gelatin egg to the dough and knead well until fully combined. The dough will be soft and sticky. See notes if the dough is too wet.
- Using either a clean surface or a sheet of parchment paper, coat the surface in tapioca starch as well as your hands. Add the dough onto the surface and press down into a rectangle that’s about 8″-12″. Sprinkle the coconut sugar and cinnamon over the dough and evenly disperse.
- Roll the dough from the long side up. Slice into 7-8 cinnamon rolls. Form each roll into circles.
- Add to the baking sheet (or dish) and evenly space. Bake for 18-26 minutes or until fully baked through. You’ll need more baking time if you’re using a baking dish, and less if you’re using a baking sheet. Carefully transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before topping with an icing of choice.
For the icing
- Combine the coconut butter and oil and mix well. Top the cinnamon rolls with the icing while still melted.
Notes
All coconut flours have different absorbancy levels. Start with 1/3 cup + 3 tbsp of coconut flour. If the dough is too wet, add another tablespoon.
You can also use a baking dish for the cinnamon rolls, but you’ll have to add extra coconut oil to the top of the cinnamon rolls to ensure they don’t stick. Cook time may need to be longer.
The best method for melting coconut butter and oil together is using a double boiler method.
All nutritional information are estimations and will vary. Estimations do not include optional ingredients.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Global
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 343
- Fat: 22.2g
- Carbohydrates: 31.6g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 2.8g
Keywords: cinnamon rolls
AIP
Low Carb
Paleo
Whole30
Hello!
This looks delish! Could I use arrowroot starch in place of tapioca starch? If so, would the measurement be the same?
TIA!
I haven’t tried so not sure if it would work as well!
Janice, did you try them with arrow starch?
hiii, so I tried to sub arrowroot flour with tapioca using the same measurements because you lot were all chicken to do soand it worked perfectly!!!
Thank you, Michelle, for posting this! Just what we have been waiting for! Love all of your recipes! My whole family is so thankful for you!
Thank you so, so much Cindy!! <3
Do these really taste like cinnamon rolls? I love cinnamon rolls and have been disappointed in alternative methods of other recipes I have tried. Thanks
Both my husband and I think they do 🙂
Omg! These are amazing. They truly do taste like the real deal. Thank you soooo much, you’ve made my AIP heart so happy
This feels like a silly question, but when you say “sift together” the flowers, does that just mean as you pour the measured amount of each flower into the bowl you pour it through a sifter? Thanks!
Yup! The flours can clump sometimes 🙂
Can you substitute anything for the tigernut flour? Thank you!
I haven’t tried anything else so can’t guarantee it would yield the same results.
Irene, did you have success with any other flour? I think my child has a sensitivity to tigernut. Thanks!
I just made these subbing finely ground almond flour for the tigernut; they turned out great!
★★★★★
Hi there! These look amazing!! I’m planning on making them for Christmas morning. Cinnamon rolls are a tradition in my house so these are perfect. Do you think I could make the dough the night before and bake them first thing in the morning? I know you said they are best fresh, I’m wondering how I can make Christmas morning a little easier. Thanks for your help!!
I’m wondering the same thing! I read through comments looking for this answer. It would be much easier to prep dough ahead of time then bake in the morning. I hope it works!
Looking forward to making these. Could I just use a regular egg???
I haven’t tried so not totally sure it would work out the same.
Tried the recipe with a regular egg and they were delicious 🙂
★★★★★
Awesome!! So glad to hear that it worked out! Thanks for sharing, Emily 🙂 always super helpful to hear successful swaps.
Hi Emily, thanks for sharing. How many eggs did you use?
could you use a flax egg instead?
these look great.
Thank you!! I haven’t tried so not sure it would yield the same results, but let me know if you try and it works out well 🙂
Can you suggest a vegan sub for gelatine or is it okay to simply leave it out? AIP friendly
You’d definitely need an egg substitute for this recipe for it to rise and hold together properly. I don’t know of an egg substitute that’s both vegan and AIP that would work for this.
My dough was super dry. I tried adding some more oil but I think I would have had to add a ton more. Any tips? I mixed exactly per recipe.
Yummy AIP cinnamon rolls! Thank you! I made these this morning toll for our quarantined Easter celebration. It was a delicious treat. My non-AIP son and husband thought they were delicious, too.
★★★★★
Hi,
I made these and they were delicious! I has to sub arrowroot flour for the tapioca and cassava flour for the tigernut flour. I made them a second time adding 1 t. cream of tarter and they were fluffy!
★★★★★
SO DELICIOUS! i needed to add in a lot extra flour but that was totally fine !
★★★★★
Yay1 Thank you so much, Monica! Coconut flour for sure has a lot of variances.
Has anyone used yeast in this dough? Is it possible to use cassava in place of the tigernut flour? Thank you!
I’ve made a ton of your recipes with success and this one didn’t work out. :/ it was super dry and wouldn’t even roll. I had to make cinnamon balls instead. Any reason why this happened?
★★★
U say to heat Oven to 375 in directions but where u explain the recipe first, it says 400. which one?
Can I substitute the gelatine egg with a regular egg?
Yes, that should still work just fine!
Quick question, have you ever cooked these in a cast iron skillet? I’ve heard they come out amazing that way but I hesitate to try it with these since you mentioned using a pan vs using a sheet. Thanks.
Cast iron gets a lot hotter so it may burn the cinnamon rolls!
The first part of the recipe says to preheat the oven at 400 degrees but the second part (recipe only) says 375 degrees, can you clarify that please ?
Sorry about that typo, follow the directions in the recipe at the bottom of the post to heat to 375.
I really wanted these to work out, but I could not get them to roll up. I will try again. Anyone have suggestions? The dough seemed a little too dry.
★★★
Coconut flours can vary quite a bit in how much they absorb. I write recipes with Anthony’s, but you may need to decrease the coconut flour a bit if using a more absorbent coconut flour.
I can’t do coconut. Can I sub another flour for the coconut?
Making such a classic recipe grain-free is hard to get right without using a very specific blend of flours! I have not tested any other flours in this recipe that I could guarantee to yield the same results.