Healthy Cinnamon Rolls
 
 
*Requires a little prep time a week before baking. See directions for details. // Because these cinnamon rolls combine healthy carbs with healthy fats, they are a crossover for Trim Healthy Mamas. // Use your own best judgement for serving size. I personally stick with 2 cinnamon rolls per serving.
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour
  • ¾ tsp. instant yeast
  • ¾ cup water
  • -
  • 1 T very hot tap water
  • 1 tsp. instant yeast*
  • ½ tsp. honey**
  • -
  • 2 tsp. Knox gelatin
  • 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • ⅛ tsp. THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
  • -
  • 2 oz. cream cheese, soft
  • 2 T salted butter, soft
  • 1 egg
  • -
  • Oat fiber for flouring the table
  • 3-4 T softened/melted butter
  • Cinnamon
  • THM Super Sweet Blend or other granulated sweetener of choice
  • -
  • YOU HAVE TWO FROSTING OPTIONS:
Cream Cheese Frosting:
White Buttercream Frosting (yields about a cup, so you'll have some extra to put in the fridge for a later use):
  • 8 T salted butter, soft
  • 2 T THM Gentle Sweet
  • 4 tsp. oat fiber***
  • Hearty dash of vanilla extract
  • Dash of maple flavoring, optional
  • 6 T full fat sour cream (I don't suggest substituting this with Greek yogurt)
  • 2 T heavy whipping cream
  • ⅛ tsp. xanthan gum
Instructions
  1. Mix the flour, yeast, and water together (all ingredients need to be at room temperature or warmer). Let this mixture set out on the counter for two hours, then cover it (I use a sealable plastic container). Refrigerate for 7 days.
  2. When you’re ready to make your cinnamon rolls, get the flour mixture out of the refrigerator and let it warm up to room temperature.
  3. Mix the hot water, yeast, and honey together and let it proof for 5 minutes (it will foam up if the yeast is active).
  4. Whisk the gelatin, baking powder, salt, and stevia together.
  5. Knead the flour mixture, yeast mixture, dry ingredients, cream cheese, butter, and egg together – either in a mixer with a dough hook or just with your hands – until smooth.
  6. Use the oat fiber to dust your counter so the dough won’t stick. Do not attempt to roll the dough out onto a greased surface; it will stick. Place the dough on the floured surface and roll all sides of the dough ball in the oat fiber. Re-dust the counter with oat fiber. Dust your rolling pin with oat fiber as well. Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 14 inches wide by 12 inches high. Brush the melted butter onto the dough. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and the granulated sweetener of your choice. Roll the dough horizontally to form a log. Use a piece of sewing string or dental floss to slice the log into 12 sections (see link below the recipe). Place all 12 sections into a greased 9-inch cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (or until they feel done in the center). Remove from the oven and let the cinnamon rolls cool down before frosting.
  7. I enjoy these cinnamon rolls warm or cold. Feel free to reheat for a few seconds in the microwave if you prefer them warm. Store in the refrigerator. Yields 12 cinnamon rolls.
  8. You can definitely make a larger batch than this if you like. I’m sure these cinnamon rolls would store just fine in an air-tight container in the freezer.
  9. CREAM CHEESE FROSTING INSTRUCTIONS: Whisk all the ingredients together until smooth. Use an offset spatula to frost the cinnamon rolls or put the frosting in a plastic bag and cut a small hole in one corner to pipe the cinnamon rolls with the frosting.
  10. WHITE BUTTERCREAM INSTRUCTIONS: Beat together the butter, Gentle Sweet, oat fiber, vanilla, and maple flavoring. Beat in the sour cream and whipping cream. Sprinkle the xanthan gum in slowly while beating the frosting (so the xanthan gum doesn't clump). Continue beating until the frosting becomes smooth and peaks form. Your frosting is now ready to use! If you refrigerate it, it will harden, but if you let it sit out on the counter for a few hours it will return to a spreadable consistency. Yields a little over a cup of frosting, so you'll have some left over for another use.
Notes
*You can use standard yeast for the cold fermentation portion of this recipe, but I recommend using instant yeast when making the actual cinnamon roll dough. These cinnamon rolls rely on baking powder as well as yeast for their rising capabilities (because cold fermentation eats up most of the sugars in the flour), so they aren't given a rising time. Therefore, instant yeast is best because it works quickly.
**Honey is usually frowned upon for weight loss on the THM plan, but this is an extremely small amount spread out over many servings and the yeast eats up some of the sugars.
***When using oat fiber in frosting, you definitely want to use a brand that you will not taste. NuNaturals brand is very strong in flavor and I don't recommend it. I use life source brand from Netrition.com (link below), and I've heard good things about the THM brand as well.
Recipe by Briana Thomas at https://www.briana-thomas.com/healthy-cinnamon-rolls/