These cinnamon rolls taste so good, it's hard to believe they're healthy!
Yes, even cinnamon rolls can be made healthy while still retaining all that incredible, gooey goodness!
You will not feel as if you have sabotaged your diet at all when you indulge in these fragrant treats. Our delicious cinnamon rolls have fewer calories and less saturated fat than the traditional version. They are also made with whole, fresh ingredients, unlike the rolls available in the refrigerated canisters. If you love sweets, but you don’t love what sweets do for your waistline, our delicious cinnamon rolls are an excellent alternative.
You might also love some of our other deliciously decadent Dessert Recipes.
Cinnamon Rolls
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 packet of active dry yeast about 1 and 1/4 teaspoons
- 1/2 teaspoon honey
- 1/8 cup water warm, 100 – 115 degrees F
- 1 cup almond milk unsweetened
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil + a little extra on reserve
- 1 egg
- 3 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
For the Filling:
- 1 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 tablespoon cinnamon
Optional Topping:
- 1 cup pecans chopped
Instructions
- Note: This recipe will require 3 hours of total rising time. So plan accordingly.
- This will all be done in one large mixing bowl:
- Pour the yeast into the bowl and mix in the warm water and the 1/2 tsp. honey. Let sit for 5 minutes.
- Now, add the almond milk, 1/4 cup honey, salt olive oil and egg to the yeast mixture.
- Whisk gently until combined.
- Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour. When it’s partially mixed and too thick to mix with the spoon any longer, begin kneading by hand. This will be very sticky at first, but you’ll find that the more you knead, the more the gluten starts to pull everything together. In the end, you’ll have a fairly firm ball of dough. So keep kneading (about 10-15 minutes).
- Coat the ball of dough in a thin layer of olive oil and set back in the bowl. Cover with a towel and let stand for 1 hour to rise.
- Punch down the dough, and cover again. Let it sit for another hour.
- Punch down the dough one last time, cover and let sit for 10 minutes while you prepare the filling.
- In a medium mixing bowl, blend all your filling ingredients together. You should have a nice, thick, molasses-like filling when you are done mixing.
- On a generously floured surface, roll out your dough. Again, be generous with the flour. If you are not, the dough will stick to your counter making the rolling process a real chore. Roll the dough into a rectangle. Cut with a knife if necessary and place the cut offs in the center of the dough to be rolled back in with the rolling pin (no wasting good dough here!) In fact, if you look closely at the photo above, you can see the lines in the dough where I rolled my cut-offs back in.
- Pour the honey mixture onto the middle the dough.
- Smear on your filling. Make sure it only touches 3 of the four sides of your rectangle.
- Roll the dough, starting with the side that has the honey mixture up to the edge.
- When you get it rolled almost all the way, use your fingers to “paint” some water onto the edge of the dough that does not have any honey mixture on it. Give the dough one final roll so the dough will be “glued shut” by the water.
- Note: If you get to this point and feel like you should just throw the whole thing in the trash, you’re probably doing it right.
- Cut the roll into approximately 1 inch strips, and place each strip in an oiled baking pan or casserole dish. You want the dish to be big enough to give your rolls a little room for rising, but so that they fit tightly after rising. I used a 9X13 pan. But if you have something one size smaller, go with that. If the pan is too big, all the filling will run out.
- Cover the dish with a towel and let the dough rise, one last time, for 1 hour.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
- If using the pecans, sprinkle them on now. Place rolls in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes.
- Allow to cool and squeeze some honey over the top of the rolls.
Nutrition Information
Have you made this recipe?
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I'd love to try this recipe! It would be great to have such a special recipe to share with my family that doesn't wreck a diet.
I'm allergic to almonds and almond milk….so what would be a decent substitute? Thanks.
You should be able to use low fat milk.
Do you think this would work in a bread machine for the dough?
Can you substitute oat flour for whole wheat pastry flour? Cannot eat gluten.
I use bread flour
Imagine if you used maple syrup in the filling instead of honey! I'm thinking that would be pretty amazing!
These are yummy
I'm looking to make these xmas morning. Could I make these the night before and then bake them in the morning after allowing the appropriate times for rising???
Erica, They tend to fall if left out too long while rising. Not sure I’d chance it.
Also is whole wheat pastry flour REALLY necessary or is regular whole wheat flour ok?
Erica, Regular WW will work. WW pastry flour is finer with less protein. Or, you could use White Whole Wheat.
Would you be able to do this in a bread machine – the mixing and first rising?
Mary Anne, I never have but would think it should work.
Confused about the honey mixture. It first says to place in the middle of the dough, but then says to begin rolling on the side that has the honey mixture all the way to the end…Can you clarify for me?
Jill, Here’s are it should read (made the correction): Pour the honey mixture onto the middle the dough.
Recipe list one egg. In the directions it states to add "eggs". How many eggs are required.
Karen, It’s 1 egg.
Is their a light frosting recipe I could use for the top instead of honey? Maybe a cream cheese frosting.
Lauren, Try mixing 1/2 cup softened low-fat cream cheese, 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla extract. I think you'll love it!
Thank you so much! (Sorry for the spelling error above!)
Wondering if the final ties could be done over night in the fridge so they could just be popped in the oven in the morning?
Yes, you can do that Lydia.