I awoke this weekend nostalgic as all get up for cinnamon rolls. Growing up, we rarely ever made them from scratch, instead used the dough boy’s (you know, in that tube you peeled to pop it open), often with orange frosting because my sister has a sweet spot for fruit in her sweets, and it’s good. And they were good. But, alas, my family eats no grains and we make most things from scratch now a days. The old days were good ones, but I’m happy here, too. And I have been working with almond flour like it’s nobody’s business–except I’m making it yours, now, too. Almond flour is divine. It’s simply magical!
After I got the senator up and running (you have to get the fire really hot first, before you can preheat the oven in our house), I began to make the dough. We typically find that almond flour works well in almost any dough setting if we use a blanket recipe (2 1/2 cups almond flour, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup oil or butter) adding a few bits here or there. So taking this blanket recipe, I adapted it for our cinnamon rolls.
Cinnamon Rolls
3 cups almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup melted butter (or oil of your choice, the flavor of coconut oil would work well for this recipe)
2 pastured eggs
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey!)
1 1/2 cup pecans and walnuts and raisins, coarsely chopped up
2 tablespoons maple syrup (or honey!)
1 tablespoon cinnamon (ground)
Preheat oven to about 350 degrees (almond flour cooks beautifully at lots of temperatures, I’ve even cooked biscuits in a jam at 200 degrees for 15 minutes longer than the recipe called!), so stand by.
Mix first three ingredients in a bowl. Add butter, mix. Add eggs one at a time, mix. Add maple syrup, mix.
Knead it with a spatula or your hands.
Spread a ball on parchment paper on a flat surface. Kneed a bit. Pat it down into a nice big squarish shape. You can use a second piece of parchment paper and use a rolling pin, but we like to pat it with our hands.
In a small bowl, mix together the nut and raisin combination with the maple syrup and cinnamon.
Spread thinly on your dough.
Use your parchment paper to help roll it into a long log. You will need the assistance of your parchment paper, because this dough is made from almond flour it’s not as stretchy and sticky as a wheat or other gluten flour.
Once you have a nice rolled log, wrap it up in the parchment paper and plop it in the freezer while you make your icing.
Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing
4 oz. cream cheese (you can make it by straining 12 oz of yogurt with a tight knit cheese cloth or tea towel for an hour or more–monitoring for consistency), softened
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (you could use milk, half and half, coconut milk, or almond milk, with extremely similar results)
1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey!)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Orange Cream Cheese Icing
Same as above, omit the vanilla, add 1/2 teaspoon orange zest and 1/2 teaspoon orange extract
Mix using a hand blender, hand beaters, or an immersion blender.
Scoop into a bowl. Set aside.
Retrieve your log from the freezer. Unroll the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet. Take the log (not frozen, only a little hardened from the cold) and cut two inch sections, evenly. Flip them (so the spiral is facing up) and spread on your parchment paper.
Bake for 15-25 minutes. Stay close, though, because they could cook faster or slower in your oven! You want the top to be lightly golden, the middle to be tender (not doughy), and the sides to be beautifully blonde.
Let the rolls cool slightly.
Ice them with your frosting. Enjoy!
It’s nice to be with Willa, with children. They are so imitative. Reminding me on a daily basis to continue seeking self-growth. Erich Gabert, in Education and Adolescence (which I found in the ever-compelling parenting book 
