Spring is definitely in full swing over here. Our elderberry and lilacs are blooming like crazy, we have new baby chicks, and we’ve planted vegetables, greens, and melons in our garden. I spent most of last week in Charlottesville for my friend’s wedding and came home to a different place, it was suddenly warm and green and the sun was shining. Everything is in bloom and the air smells amazing, I couldn’t be happier about it. We’re about to plant our berry patch and orchard, if you have any fruit varieties you’ve grown well I would love recommendations, there are so many to choose from.
So, we’ve had a bit of a baby chicken saga over here, I told my husband I was going to the store to get five chicks and came home with eight. We lost one of them (the transition is really hard on babies) so I went back and got a couple more. I mission impossibled those baby chicks into the garage where we keep the brooder without my husband noticing, then went to my favorite farm supply store in Seattle and picked up a few more…then went back and got a few more…suddenly we have 12+ chicks (they move around a lot and are hard to count…no I’m not kidding). They’re all growing and have reached that awkward teenage phase where they’ve lost most of their chick fluff but their big chicken feathers haven’t come all the way in yet, they look completely ridiculous and adorable.
Raising baby chicks is no joke. I recently took a conference call with a sick baby chick on a heating pad in a little box next to me, apologizing for the constant peeping that was happening while I was on the phone. She recovered, by the way, totally worth being that person. I’m quite honestly in baby chicken heaven. My friend introduced me to Chicken People, a documentary about people who raise ans show chickens, and I found myself terrifyingly in solidarity with these people. They are my people. “Chickens don’t judge you, they don’t judge me”. Truer words have never been spoken, crazy chicken dude. Thanks for reading, and I think I’ll start signing off ‘oh honey bakes, the chicken hoarder’.
On to cinnamon rolls, cause that’s what you’re here for, right?? I’ve been working on this recipe for a while, trying different varieties and combinations of flours, etc. It was honestly a pretty frustrating process, I knew there HAD to be a way to make gluten-free cinnamon rolls that were soft and fluffy and didn’t have the texture of an overbaked scone. I came across a recipe I tried and loved, I then tried a few different combinations of flours but honestly I couldn’t improve upon the existing recipe much. I made a few small changes in the ingredients and the process, but that’s it.
These are not the easiest cinnamon rolls to make, the dough is sticky and lacks the strength that wheat dough offers, but my advice to you is this: just get them in the pan. They will rise and expand and become even more attractive after baking, you’ll drizzle them in delicious icing, and any imperfections that were there will be lost and forgotten in cinnamon roll bliss. I like the texture best after letting them rise in the fridge overnight, I think the flours have more time to absorb the liquid. I’ve made them with candied kumquats and with meyer lemon marmalade, I’ll include the recipe for both depending on what you can find at your local market. Honestly, in a pinch, a decent orange marmalade would do, but taking the extra time to make your own preserves is so satisfying.
- ⅔ cup whole milk
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 packet (2¼ teaspoons) instant yeast
- ½ cup (83 grams) potato starch
- ½ cup (80 grams) brown rice flour
- ¼ cup (29 grams) almond flour, finely ground if you can find it
- ¼ cup (34 grams) tapioca starch, plus more for patting out and rolling the dough
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- pinch cloves
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons xanthan gum
- 2½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 6 tablespoons very soft unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 grams) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
- ¾ - 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 3-4 tablespoons candied citrus syrup, optional
- milk as needed
- Combine the milk, butter, and sugar in a small saucepan and heat to 110-115 degrees, or about the temperature of warm bathwater. Mix in the yeast and set aside to prove and cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients together well.
- In a small bowl, combine the egg, oil, vanilla and yeast mixture, then pour into the dry ingredients and beat for 1 min 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and refridgerate for about 15 minutes.
- Prepare your work surface. Lay out a couple sheets of overlapping plastic wrap and dust thouroughly with tapioca starch. Place a small bowl of water for your hands nearby. Use a spatula to scrape the dough onto your work surface, then wet your hands and pat the dough out to about a 12 x 9 rectangle.
- Combine the sugars and spices for the filling. Gently spread the butter over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle with the sugar and spice mixture, leaving a ½ inch border around the perimeter of the dough. If you made candied kumquats, I'd chop them up into ¼ inch sized pieces and sprinkle them in here, too. This is the slightly tricky part, but with some patience and a good bit of tapioca starch it'll all come together.
- Pick up one long end of plastic wrap and use it to guide the dough as you slowly roll it up. If it become sticky or won't separate easily, pat it with some tapioca starch and use your fingers to gently pull the dough off the plastic wrap. If at any point the dough becomes really difficult, pop it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes to help firm it up. Once it is rolled up completely, use a serrated knife rubbed with a bit of tapioca starch to cut the dough into 8 sections and place them in a buttered, floured pan or cast iron (my preference). There's quite a lot of filling in these, don't stress it if some falls out during the process. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and either let the rolls rise in a warm place for about an hour or put them in the fridge to be baked the next morning.
- When you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. If your rolls have been refrigerated, allow them to come to room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking. Bake for 30 minutes, then check for doneness. The rolls should be golden brown and bubbly, and if you have an instant-read thermometer it should read around 190 degrees. When they're done, allow them to cool slightly while you prepare the glaze.
- Beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth, then slowly add the powdered sugar, beating to combine. Add the vanilla and the salt and mix well. If you're using the citrus syrup, add a couple tablespoons at a time and taste, adding more if you'd like. If the glaze is too thick, add a little milk until it's a pourable consistency. Drizzle over the rolls and serve warm.
- 1 cup whole kumquats
- 1 cup water
- 1¼ cup (225) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 3 meyer lemons (recipe is easily scaled up if you want to make more)
- 2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup water
- 1 star anise
- pinch cloves
- In a small saucepan, cover the fruit with cold water and bring to a boil. Drain. Cover the fruit with cold water and bring to a boil again. Drain and set aside.
- In the same saucepan, combine 1 cup water and the sugar, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Pierce each piece of fruit 2 or 3 times with a paring knife. Drop the fruit into the sugar syrup and continue to simmer for 15 minutes for kumquats or 20 minutes for lemons.
- Remove from heat and leave the fruit steeping in the syrup unrefrigerated for 8 hours or overnight.
- Bring the syrup and fruit to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the honey, then cool and store in a glass jar. Fruit and syrup will keep in the refrigerator for 3 months.
- Using a mandolin or very sharp knife, carefully slice two lemons as thin as possible. Place in a small saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Drain and repeat.
- Add the sugar, water and star anise and bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced and thickened. Remove the star anise, squeeze in a slice of the last lemon, and allow it to cool. Will keep in the refridgerator for 3 months.
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