This post is sponsored by Meyenberg Goat Milk – thank you for supporting brands who support VK!

Yes, this is the longest recipe name on my blog to date: The Best Fluffy Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting – and it is SO good, and very worth all the adjectives and words in the title!

To me, cinnamon rolls are synonymous with Christmastime. Growing up in Pennsylvania, my mom would bake a cinnamon-roll concoction loaded with sticky pecans every Christmas Eve that we’d enjoy on chilly Christmas mornings after diving into piles of presents from Santa. The sweet smell of cinnamon, yeasty dough, and butter bring me back to those special moments every single time.

This Christmas is filled with a whole bunch of firsts, for me. It’s the first time I won’t be spending Christmas with my parents, brother’s, and their partners in Arizona due to covid. It’s the first Christmas with our little baby Ella, and it’s the first Christmas we’ll be spending in our home. Naturally, I wanted to start initiating some first Christmas traditions of our own – like chopping down a Christmas tree after Thanksgiving and cooking steaks for Christmas dinner (why not?!)

There are a few family traditions that will be sticking around this year, and these cinnamon rolls are one of them! I’ve changed up the classic cinnamon roll recipe by making these fluffy rolls gluten-free. They’re also uniquely delicious thanks to the addition of Meyenberg’s Goat Milk Butter instead of traditional cow’s milk butter. Let me tell you – goat’s milk butter in baking is game-changing.

European style Meyenberg Goat Milk Butter has a rich, almost savory taste that compliments the spiciness of cinnamon and tones down, what can sometimes be, a very sugary bite of cinnamon roll. I love how creamy goat milk butter is, and that Meyenberg Goat Milk Butter is produced from happy goats who are not given antibiotics or growth hormones.

Why go goat?

For those who may have a sensitivity to dairy products (my husband being one of them!) goat milk is a heck of a lot more digestible than cow’s milk. Goat milk contains less lactose (a type of sugar that many individuals cannot digest) than cow’s milk – about 12 percent less per cup. Even more, goat milk contains smaller sized fat particles, which produce a smaller and softer curd in the stomach. These curds can be rapidly broken down by our stomach enzymes for ease of digestion.

Goat milk is also a wonderful source of protein, healthy fats, and prebiotic carbohydrates (called oligosaccharides), which help to nourish and feed the beneficial bacteria in our gut microbiome. A 2002 study published in the Journal of Dairy Science found that goat’s milk may enhance the body’s ability to absorb certain nutrients (iron and copper, namely) from other foods. In contrast, the study found that cow’s milk may actually interfere with the absorption those same minerals when consumed in the same meal.

Nutrition aside, these gluten-free cinnamon rolls are nourishment for the soul, and a delicious way to ring in Christmas morning. I hope you enjoy making them – and maybe they’ll come to be a part of your Christmas morning traditions for years to come. Enjoy!

The Best Fluffy Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting

Yields 9 cinnamon rolls

Prep time: 2 hours
Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Roll Dough:

1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 ¼ tsp (1 package) quick rise active yeast
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
½ cup Meyenberg Goat Milk Butter, melted and cooled
3 ½ cups gluten-free all-purpose flour*
1 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. sea salt

Cinnamon roll filling:

¼ cup Meyenberg Goat Milk Butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
1 ½ Tbsp. Cinnamon

Vanilla cream cheese frosting:

2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (8-ounce) package of cream cheese, softened
½ cup Meyenberg Goat Milk Butter, softened
1 1/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
2 Tbsp. Unsweetened almond milk

Directions:

1. Prepare dough: add almond milk to a large bowl and microwave for 30-40 seconds, or until warm – not hot! Stir in yeast and sugar.

2. Whisk in eggs, melted and cooled butter, and apple cider vinegar. Add flour, salt, and baking powder and use a wooden spoon to mix until a dough begins to form. Use your hands to gently knead dough in bowl for 7-9 minutes, or until dough is soft and pillowy. Dough should not be sticky – if so, add in another tablespoon of flour.

3. Transfer dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Place a clean towel overtop and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 60-90 minutes.

4. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to form a long rectangle (about 14×9). Top with softened goat milk butter. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon and spread on buttered dough. Use your hands to press into dough.

5. Roll! Tightly roll dough starting from 9-inch side. Trim the about 1/2-1 inch off the edges (they usually have the least filling and most excess dough) and cut remaining dough log into 1-inch sections using a very sharp knife. You should have 9 cinnamon rolls!

6. Place into a baking dish lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in refrigerator overnight. The next morning, remove rolls from fridge and let sit out on the counter for 45 minutes to warm and gently rise.

7. Bake cinnamon rolls for 22-25 minutes at 350F, or until edges begin to lightly brown. Remove oven and let cool for 5 minutes before frosting.

8. Frosting: beat together butter, cream cheese, almond milk, vanilla and sugar until fluffy. Spread over warm cinnamon rolls and devour!

Notes:

-Make sure your gluten-free flour blend contains xantham gum, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour. If it does not, simply add 1 ½ teaspoons xantham gum to dough when adding flour, baking powder and salt
-This recipe does not need to make overnight! When doing the second rise (once cinnamon rolls are sliced and nestled in baking dish), simply let sit out for 30-45 minutes, or until doubled in size. Bake!
-Find Meyenberg Goat Milk Butter (and other goat milk products) in stores near you, here!
-This recipe is adapted from cinnamon roll recipes from Ambitious Kitchen + 40 Aprons.