Sugar-free cinnamon rolls
Sugar-free cinnamon rolls
I’ve always been a coffee person. I was born in Melbourne, which is a place of outstanding coffee so I’ve grown up loving the ritual of meeting friends in the cafe for coffee.
Later in my life, when I had an irregular heart rhythm I was told that I wouldn’t ever be able to consume caffeine or alcohol for the rest of my life. Imagine that?!? My friends were devastated for me: “You can’t drink alcohol anymore? That is terrible! What are you going to do when you go out?”
But the reality was that I missed the coffee way, way more. After one year of abstinence, when I had a successful procedure and I was given the all-clear to enjoy what I wanted, everyone expected me to go straight down the pub. In fact the first thing I did was to go out and have coffee and some cinnamon rolls.
I still remember that moment vividly. This is why cinnamon buns and coffee have a special meaning for me, a celebration of a long drama ending but, more importantly, a celebration of coffee and the wonders that it brings! Today’s recipe is a sugar-free dedication to this wondrous urban ritual…
These sugar-free cinnamon rolls took us a few goes to get perfect. Initially we started using wholemeal flour but we just couldn’t get them to be fluffy or cake-like. They were OK, but they were a little bit dry and bread-like. On our third go we got the mix perfect, and, although we gave away most of the previous batches, we ate all of the final batch.
We’re really happy with this recipe because the natural sweetness of the dates gives the bun a large amount of its sweetness and it just needs a small amount of maple syrup in the mixture and glaze to make the buns perfectly balanced. I recommend enjoying them on a sunny terrace with a large mug of quality black coffee.
- 220 g / under 2 cups white bread flour OR wholewheat flour*
- 250 g / 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 10 g / 2 tsp salt
- 7 g / 2¼ fast-action / instant dried yeast
- 45 ml / 3 tbsp aquafaba**
- 30 ml / 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 255 ml / 1 cup + 1 tbsp almond milk
- 15 ml / 1 tbsp olive oil + a little for pan glazing
BUN FILLING
- 240 g / 1½ cups Deglet Noor dates, pitted
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- a few pinches of salt
GLAZE
- 30 ml / 2 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl.
- Add in the lukewarm aquafaba (if using) and maple syrup diluted in lukewarm almond milk and stir everything together with a large wooden spoon. Then add the olive oil and integrate.
- When the mixture has mostly stuck together turn the mixture out on to a work surface or bread board.
- Knead the mixture by holding one end of the dough in one hand and stretching it out with the other hand. You then reform the dough, turn it 90 degrees and start again. Repeat this for 10 minutes.
- When the dough is shiny and smooth, put it in a large mixing bowl, coat in a thin layer of olive oil and cover the bowl with a tea towel. Leave this in a warm place (but not too warm – ie not next to an open fire!) for between one and two hours (until it has doubled in size). While the dough is proving, make the filling (see below).
- Empty the dough out on to a work surface and push the air out with your fingertips.
- Roll the dough flat until it is 40-45 cm wide and 18-20 cm high.
- Spread date paste on the surface of the rolled out dough with the back of a spoon (photo 1 above).
- Starting from the bottom, roll the dough tightly so that at the end you have one horizontal “dough snake” (photo 2 above).
- Cut the dough into 12 segments, which comes out around 3-4 cm per segment (photo 3 above).
- Place the segments horizontally (like a tree trunk) on an oiled baking tray, leaving 1-2 cm between each bun. If you can fill the baking tray, this is ideal (photo 4 above).
- Leave the buns (covered with a kitchen towel) to prove again for another hour. During this time preheat the oven to 180° C / 350° F.
- Place the buns in the oven to bake for 18-20 minutes.
- While the buns are baking, create the glaze by combining maple syrup with ground cinnamon.Take the buns out of the oven when they are lovely and golden, and glaze them while they are still hot. Try and use all of the glaze, and let it seep into the buns and the gaps between them.
BUN FILLING
- Place pitted dates in a small bowl and cover with boiling water (you can skip this step if your dates are already very moist and sticky but most dried dates aren’t sticky enough). Let them soak for 10-15 mins.
- After soaking, transfer the dates (not the soaking water) into a food processor. Add a few pinches of salt and cinnamon and process until very smooth. You may need to add a few drops of warm water to achieve a smooth and spreadable consistency.
**These can be made with or without aquafaba. 3 tbsp of aquafaba substitues 1 egg that is often used in the traditional cinnamon buns and it makes them a bit more delicate. We have, however, made these many times before we learned about the wonders of aquafaba and they were also very good. If not using aquafaba, use 300 ml (45 ml instead of aquafaba + 255 ml as per the recipe) of almond milk instead.
Yes, it should work fine. Place the dough in the fridge and let it proof slowly overnight. Hope this helps! Ania
Can I substitute the aquafaba or leave it out? What could I use instead? I don’t have any on me right now.
Thanks so much!
That's no problem, you can replace it with more plant milk. Hope you'll enjoy these. x Ania
I just made this cinnamon roll.
It's so tasty, sweet and soft. Perfect recipe, thank you for sharing.
For the almond milk, do you recommend using unsweetened or sweetened? Also, did you use vanilla almond milk or regular?
I used unsweetened and regular, but sweetened and vanilla flavoured will be just as nice / work just as well (although technically it will make these buns no longer sugar-free ;) ). Hope you'll enjoy them either way. x Ania
Sorry, I am not entirely sure what you mean. If you are using plant milk instead of aquafaba, you need to use 300 ml (which is 20 tbsp, that's correct although it's better to use a measuring jug to measure as it's more precise than measuring out in 20 individual tablespoons) of plant milk in total (45 ml instead of aquafaba + 255 ml listed as almond milk in the ingredients) as per the note under the recipe. Hope this makes sense! Ania
I have not tried, I'm afraid, but if that type of dough has worked for your successfully in the past I don't see why it wouldn't work here. The sugar in the dough will help with getting a good rise too so it should be fine. Good luck! x Ania
No, I didn't have the chance to do that, I am afraid. Ania
Can't wait to try this recipe.
METHOD
BUNS
1. Mix the flour, salt, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Yes, it is a typo - so sorry (I copied the instructions from my earlier recipe and then amended them). I shall correct that now. Ania
Thank you
I converted it for you! Hope you'll enjoy these! Ania
Is 2.5 tsp of salt the accurate conversion from 10 g?
That seems high to me
1 tsp salt is 6 g, so this is more like 1.5 tsp. This is the standard bread formula, but you are welcome to use less if you prefer. Hope that helps! Ania
I used a chia egg instead of aquafava and it turned out phenomenal, as long as you're not concerned about little flecks in your rolls.
I saw in a comment from two years ago that you hadn't tried any alternative flours. Has that changed? If not I totally understand! I've switched to a mostly wheat-free lifestyle due to stomach issues, and while dairy and other substitutions tend to be fairly straightforward, wheat can be a pain. Either way, I will definitely be using the date filling recipe to fill my Christmas cinnamon rolls this year! Thanks!
I love your blog and have tried nunerous recipes.
Many thanks. 💝
Aw, thank you, that's lovely to hear. As for the date paste, simply enough to cover the rolled out dough, the thicker the layer the sweeter the buns will end up tasting. Ania
Using 50% all purpose flour and 50% bread flour will make these buns a bit softer and less bread-like so it's up to you. I would advise against using 100% wholewheat flour though. Hope that helps! Ania
Made a mistake making the date paste and it turned out too liquidy, but they turned out nice after all. No more cinnabon cravings!!
Out of curiosity, i had to calculate nutritional info for the whole thing based on 10 cinnabons, and they turned out to be either 196 calories per piece if used half the amount of dates mentioned (like my case, paste was runny so couldn't use more than half), or 225 calories if used the entire date paste mix. In comparison to the actua Cinnabon, that one has 800+ calories! I'd much rather enjoy my home made, cruelty free ones with zero guilt :D
I'm glad to hear that you have enjoyed these so much that they kicked your Cinnabon habit to the curb ;) Have a lovely weekend! Ania
Thanks, I am glad you like the recipe. I'm afraid I don't calculate nutritional info of my recipes, but I'm sure you could find out all the ingredients and their nutritional data online. Good luck! Ania
Thanks!
Yes! With a little careful handling, it can be refrigerated. This paragraph explains:
“All doughs can be refrigerated. Chilling dough slows the activity of the yeast, but it does not stop it completely. For this reason, it is necessary to punch down the dough a few times over the first few hours it is in the refrigerator. Once the dough has completely cooled, it needs to be punched down only once every 24 hours. A dough will last approximately three days in the refrigerator; however, it is best to use it within 48 hours.”
And it says the best time to refrigerate the dough is straight after kneeding. Good luck with it!
Thanks so much. We haven't tried any other flour apart from wholemeal wheat flour, which was fine but the buns were less fluffier and more bread-like, for sure. I reckon spelt flour will yield similar result, perhaps use 50% spelt flour and 50% white all purpose flour.
Hope that helps, Ania.