Recipe: Cinnamon Roll Muffins (easily GF and vegan!)

 

When I was younger I hated cinnamon. I had one of those mental food aversions to cinnamon thanks to a Harry Potter candy set I had. 

One of the candies you made with the set were cinnamon flavoured and those were the ones my sister and I were making just an hour or so before I was sick. My seven year old self automatically linked the cinnamon concoction to my upset stomach and from then on just the smell of cinnamon made me nauseous! 

A few years ago, I re-tried cinnamon after years of swearing it was horrible, and I fell in love. Now, I can't get enough cinnamon! 

 

The only thing I could handle a little bit of cinnamon in when I was younger was cinnamon donuts. They were a special treat that was bought as dessert when we caught up with friends for lunch but once I went gluten free, cinnamon donuts were no more! 

I decided that I wanted to recreate the flavour of a freshly baked, slightly dense donut in a Cinnamon Donut Muffin so I set out to experiment with different recipes until I found the perfect ratios that mimicked my once loved treat. Of course I had to healthify these muffins and make them into a gluten free treat that suited all of my food needs.

When I was playing around with the cinnamon sugar on top of the muffins I found that they swirled perfectly - and my cinnamon donut muffins quickly became cinnamon roll muffins!

These muffins have a slightly crunchy top with the fluffiest muffin innards - and just the right density of a donut. The flavours are spot on and you could never tell that they were even remotely healthy! 

I made these muffins using one of my favourite products, Almond Breeze.  Almond Breeze started as a US company but is now also being made and sold in Australia! It's a non-dairy milk which is gluten free, vegan and low in fat and calories. It's also low GI, egg free, peanut free and tastes amazing! 

It's available in both Original and Unsweetened (my favourite!) at Coles stores around the country and I think it's the best brand of non-dairy milk available in Australia! I swear by it, especially on days where dairy only makes my upset stomach worse as it's easily digestible. 

Almond Milk in Australia is produced locally in Taren Point, Sydney. That's just a short drive for me! It's a great source of vitamin D and E and is a good source of calcium which means it helps to keep your bones strong and your skin healthy.

They're low fat, vegan, gluten free (but can easily be made with regular flour) and can be vegan too! Now anyone can enjoy a delicious donut or cinnamon roll in a healthy muffin form. They're perfect for morning tea with a cup of tea or coffee and make a delicious snack or dessert.

But enough talking and onto the recipe, right?! So here it goes, A recipe for gluten free cinnamon rolls muffins.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins or Cinnamon Donut Muffins

makes 12 delicious muffins that are low fat and can be gluten free and/or vegan! 

2 cup flour* 

2 tbsp ground flax (I grind mine from whole flax in my magic bullet)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 cup cane sugar/brown sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup unsweetened almond breeze (i've used both almond milk and cows milk)  

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Cinnamon sugar mix:

2 tbsp sugar (cane/white/brown all work)

1/2 tsp cinnamon
 

Preheat oven to 180°C/355°F. 

Get out 12 silicone cases, paper cases or grease a muffin tin. 

In a large bowl combine flour, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. 

In a medium bowl mix sugar,  applesauce, milk and vanilla. 

Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix until combined.  

Pour muffin mix into muffin cases until they're around 3/4 full. 

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mix over the top of the muffins. 

For cinnamon roll muffins: swirl sugar mixture on top of the muffin with a toothpick.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer removes clean and the edges have pulled in from the sides. 

* For GF: use a gluten free flour mix or pancake mix (I use a buckwheat pancake mix) 

* For regular muffins: use plain flour or wholewheat flour (both work!)

So tell me, do you have any food aversions? 

I won't eat indian food thanks to a similar situation - just the smell of it makes me feel ill!