Are your food allergies robbing you of your favorite treats? These glazed Allergy-Free Cinnamon Buns let you bite back at your sweet tooth cravings with satisfaction.
As a blogger I try to use all the tools at my disposable to build a genuine relationship with my readers. I love to get to know people and make friends. One way I can achieve this is by answering each comment I get personally. Sometimes there is a nice back and forth conversation with the commenter.
It was a chat with Gigi that gave birth to these Allergy-Free Cinnamon Buns with Extra Glaze.
When I posted this summer a Spatzle Salad recipe inspired by my summer holiday to Austria, I had great an exchange with Gigi Eats Celebrities. I said to her: any wishes the kitchen wizard can grant you? Gigi responded with: Oh man, make me a gigi-approved CINNAMON BUN with extra glaze! LOL!
Mission Impossible ?
That may seem like an innocent enough request on her behalf but if you know her at all she has a serious list of food allergies….like a long one. I made no promises but asked here to send me the no-no list again:
- Must be dairy free
- Contain no sugar
- Cannot use wheat/grains of any kind
- No gluten
- Not a nut in sight
- And NO fruit
Mission Impossible much?
About Food Allergies
Did you know that there are eight specific foods account that account for about 90 percent of all reactions? These foods are: Eggs, Milk, Peanuts, Tree nuts, Fish, Shellfish, Wheat and Soy. Well Gigi has a few of these and a few more. I had a really tough time finding a recipe that would work but I eventually found and heavily adapted this recipe. I made it work with squash purée, 4 forms of coconut (milk, flour, flakes and oil), stevia and tapioca flour.
There is a egg in here but I have included a substitute. This switch would also make the recipe vegan. Besides the egg, this recipe is indeed allergy free: it is dairy-free, sugar-free, grain-free, gluten-free, nut-free and fruit-free.
YES you can have a dairy-free sugar-free vegan icing!
I can hear you asking: how on earth does it taste? Well for sure it is nothing like a real yeasty cinnamon bun, I am not going to lie. But my allergy-free cinnamon buns are indeed quite tasty. The texture is a bit elastic but they are really delicious and quite healthy to boot.
A virtual wedding present
I was not necessarily planing on following through with my wish granting offer. The challenge of the ingredient restrictions was tempting I must admit, I have not dabble a whole lot in allergy-free recipes. But then I found out she was about to tie the knot this fall. Gigi is actually about to get married this very Saturday.
I decided to fulfill her wish (and push my baking limits) as a virtual wedding present from me to her. I wish you a fairy tale wedding day and a very happy and fulfilling life with your man.
So Gigi rub me three times and call me your Genie: here is an allergy-free cinnamon buns recipe WITH extra glaze that you can eat! I am stamping it Gigi Approved!
Allergy-Free Cinnamon Buns with Extra Glaze
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 to 18 drops liquid stevia
- 1/4 cup squash puree
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup coconut flour
- 1 large egg or 2 tbsp water + 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
- 1/2 cup squash puree
- 1/4 teaspoon liquid stevia
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 2 Tablespoon coconut milk
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon liquid stevia
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix tapioca flour, cinnamon and baking soda. Set aside.
- Put coconut oil, water, salt, stevia and squash puree in a small pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 30 seconds.
- Remove from heat and add the tapioca mix to the pan. Mix well until you get a sticky mass. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.
- Add the coconut flour and egg and mix well. It will look messy and may not stick well together. That is OK.
- Dump onto a piece of parchment paper and knead for 1 minute.
- Roll the dough with a rolling pin into a 7" x 11" rectangle.
- Mix the coconut flakes, squash puree, stevia and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Spread mixture evenly over the dough leaving a 1/2" strip free on 1 long side.
- Roll the dough into log and lightly press to pinch the seam.
- Cut off the ends clean and slice into 1" pieces, about 11 buns.
- Place the slices side down close together on a piece of parchment paper and bake at 350 for 30 - 40 minutes. Cool completely.
- Beat coconut oil, coconut milk, stevia and cinnamon with a hand blender until smooth. Refrigerate a bit if it melts too much. Frost the buns just before serving.
Notes
A couple of extra notes on the recipe
– When you add the coconut flour and egg to the tapioca mix, you may feel like it is just not gonna happen. Trust me just dump it on the counter and knead the dough. It will come together at this point. It is a weird stretchy dough but it works.
– The icing is also tricky temperature wise. At room temperature it will melt. Left in the fridge it will completely solidify. Better to keep it cool and let it come back to room temperature until you can spread it (or microwave no more than 5 seconds at a time and mix). Glaze the buns and consume within the hour. Place leftover glazed buns in the fridge and let them come to room temp before eating so the glaze can soften.
These look delicious and you can never go wrong with extra glaze!
Totally 😉
A wish granted from a kitchen wizard I would say. It’s amazing that you were able to come up with those alternative ingredients and being able to deliver such an appetizing recipe. 🙂
Thanks Eloize, it was quite the challenge lol
Now THAT my friend is incredibly creative, and sounds kinda yummy methinks. Living with allergies is a crappy reality that so many have, so lucky NOT to have too many allergies but there are some foods I no longer eat.
Thanks Anna, very tough recipe to think of but pretty good. So far no allergies for me but who knows. What are you allergies?
How sweet of you! And that really IS a long list of allergies!
Thanks Amy and yeah logn list, I would be lost to eat stuff.
What a lovely story! Love that you took the challenge on and created these very delicious looking buns!! That’s interesting to read the list of foods responsible for 90% of allergies. Well done and what a nice wedding gift. Your pictures had me drooling!!
Thank you so much Rosemary! It was a doozy of a recipe to create but quite good.
Love it that you made that connection and that you made the cinnamon buns. We have a peanut allergy in our house so we are a little conscious of food allergies, but this is a slightly longer list than what we have to manage. I always used to tell my allergy girl, “there’s always an alternative”, ie there’s always something else you can eat even if some things are off the list. And here you are, you have proved that true for Gigi as well!
Thanks Elissa. You should check out Janice’s blog below, she just posted a peanut free peanut soup! You are right there is always a way around. Sometimes you must be creative about it.
These look great. I have some fresh squash in the garden ready to use and friends coming over, one who is Coeliac I will have to give a try. Thanks so much x
Thanks Megan ad hope you will try the recipe! I still have so much of that squash left it was huge lol.
Wow these look great! I love that you made these for her. You’re a wish granted genie! 😀
Ha ha thanks Lorraine, I should not offer wishes to often thought, got me into a lot of work this time.
Wow this is really a super challenging recipe to come up with.. congratulations Eve, great job
Thanks Amira, I really got me out of my baking zone for sure.
Wow, what a challenge you took on, and you succeeded! Congratulations, I’m sure Gigi is super excited to try these.
Thanks Karyn! yeah it was a brain twister for sure and I think Gigi is very excited. Once she is back from the honey moon maybe she will give them a try.
What a sweet post! Love reading GiGi’s blog, and am always amazed at how creative she is in coming up with recipes that accommodate her allergies. SO nice of you to tailor one for her! This looks wonderful — something all of us would enjoy. Thanks!
Thanks John, I am always also so impressed with her recipes. Glad I could add one to her repertoire!
This looks fabulous! But… I should point out that nothing is ever allergy-free. Allergy-friendly, absolutely! I’ll have to swap out quite a few ingredients, including the cinnamon , but I’m excited to have something new to try!
Thanks Janice. As I mentioned, it is free of the 8 main allergens (except egg but gave a sub). Of course some individuals have even more specific allergies. Wow cinnamon is one for you? I hope you can adapt this recipe to your needs 🙂
Well done for getting this right. That’s a lot of things to be allergic to. Some people confuse allergies with intolerance. I’m sucrose intolerant in the same way people are lactose intolerant.
Thank you Tandy! Gigi is definitely allergic, she has spent a lot of time in the hospital. But yes many have intolerances only, which are just as bad to live with. Wow never heard of sucrose intolerant.
Awww, this is so lovely of you!! I would have given up, but here you successfully made a tasty treat. I didn’t know Gigi was getting married??? What perfect timing!!!
Thank Liz and yep she is walking down the aisle this weekend! It took a long time to gather up the courage to even try to make this happen lol
These allergy free cinnamon buns sound too good to be true. I love that coconuty frosting.
Dreams can become reality 🙂
I AM DYING! I am so emotional this week thanks to you know what, and NOW I am crying because this was so epic and so sweet and so awesome and I so love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to need to try this the SECOND I get back from the honey moon! Pinning it. Tweeting it. Facebooking it. OBSESSING OVER IT! Yep, that’s me!!!
OMG so excited to see your reaction. Tears of joy I hope! No, YOU are so sweet and awesome and love you to!!!!!!! I am sure you will find a way to improve on this recipe and do let me know how they turn out. Thansk for pushing me out of my baking comfort zone BIG TIME. Thanks for all the shares. Can you find a little room for me in your suitcase for the honeymoon lol. ONce at destination I will do my own thing till its time to take the plane back 🙂