This past weekend, I flew to Minnesota to attend a food photography workshop put on by Lindsay, who writes the blog Pinch of Yum. If you’re following me on Snapchat (@AmyBakesHealthy) or Instagram, you already saw a few sneak peeks of the event and what we ate—hello gorgeous cupcakes!—and I’m going to share more about my amazing trip in the next few days.
But for now, let’s just say that I felt a twinge of first-day-of-school jitters the night before. I tossed and turned for half of the night, too excited and slightly nervous to truly fall into a deep sleep. What will Lindsay be like? What will my classmates be like? What are we going to learn? Am I going to fit in?
I shot out of bed the moment my alarm rang on Saturday, and I quickly rode the elevator to the hotel’s fitness center to squeeze in a quick workout. Although most of my nerves had resolved overnight, a little exercise always helps me relax into a calmer state of mind!
After showering, I walked three blocks over to a different hotel, where I met two of the other bloggers attending. We drove over to the studio space together, and as soon as we spotted the pretty gold balloons outside of the door and checked in with Abby, I inhaled with excitement all over again. I made it! This was really happening!
Lindsay was even sweeter than I imagined, and she made all of us bloggers feel right at home. She started off the workshop with a long breakfast bar with lots of delicious options: coffee, orange juice, fresh fruit, DIY yogurt parfaits with nuts and granola, and…
Donuts. Big, soft, fluffy pillows of perfection. Old fashioneds, sprinkled, glazed, cinnamon sugared, pure chocolate, little holes… You name it! They were provided by a local family-owned donut shop, and seeing that big box of pastries reminded me of my favorite donut place back home, which offers a very similar menu as well as sticky buns and cinnamon rolls the size of my face.
And somehow, I started craving cinnamon rolls.
So when I arrived home after the incredible weekend away, that was the first thing I baked, and these Healthy Classic Cinnamon Rolls tasted even better than the ones from our California donut shop! My family walked in while the pan sat cooling on the counter, and although they know the drill—no eating until after the treats have been photographed!—they swooped in as soon as I finished, and 8 of the cinnamon rolls had disappeared in the blink of an eye. My family couldn’t stop raving about them!
Yes, I know. “Cinnamon rolls” and “healthy” in the same sentence? How can that be?
Unlike traditional recipes, this one contains no refined ingredients! Instead, we’ll use 100% whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose and substitute coconut sugar for granulated or brown. This is the coconut sugar that I buy, and it’s fairly easy to find in grocery stores in the US. Walmart and Target almost always stock it too!
Oh, and these cinnamon rolls contain a lot less butter than traditional recipes too. Just 1 tablespoon for all 12 rolls!
Now I know that this is a yeast-based recipe, but don’t be afraid! Yeast is actually really easy to work with. It’s just another leavener like baking powder or baking soda, but instead of reacting with acid to create air bubbles and make your treats rise, it’s activated with sugar and warm liquid. We’ll let the yeast sit in its bubble-bath-in-a-bowl until it looks a little frothy, and then we’re all set to make these rolls!
I have a secret trick to slicing the cinnamon rolls: I use dental floss! If you have unflavored, that usually works the best. Cut off a long piece of floss, and slide it under the rolled up log of dough. Bring the two ends of floss upward, cross them over the top of the log, and pull. Ta da! A nice, clean cut without squashing the rolls.
If you’re a visual person, watch my video demo here!
After a short rise and a quick trip to the oven, these healthier cinnamon rolls are all ready to be devoured. And if you don’t want to share… I don’t blame you one bit!
And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! ?) I’d love to see your cinnamon rolls and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Healthy Classic Cinnamon Rolls | | Print |
- for the dough
- ¾ cup (180mL) warm nonfat milk (100-110°F)
- ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tbsp (24g) coconut sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 ¼ tsp (7g or one ¼-oz package) dry yeast
- 2 – 2 ½ cups (240-300g) whole wheat flour
- for the filling
- 6 tbsp (72g) coconut sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tbsp (7g) unsalted butter, melted
- Lightly coat a 9”-round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the milk, butter, sugar, and salt. Sprinkle the yeast on top, and wait 10-15 minutes or until the mixture turns frothy. Mix in 1 ½ cups of flour. If the dough is still wet, continue stirring in flour 2 tablespoons at a time until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and knead for 3-5 minutes or until the dough springs back most of the way when you gently press your index finger into it. Let the dough rest while preparing the filling.
- To prepare the filling, stir together the coconut sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- On a clean, well-floured surface, roll the dough out into a 16x10” rectangle. Brush with the melted butter, leaving a 1” border on the two longer sides. Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar, leaving a 1” border on the two longer sides again. Carefully roll up the dough into a log, starting at one long edge and rolling towards the other one. Pinch the ends to seal. If the dough won’t stick together, gently brush the second longer edge with water before pinching to seal.
- Slice the log into 12 pieces using dental floss or a sharp serrated knife. Place the rolls into the prepared pan, and cover the pan with a clean towel. Set the pan in a warm, draft-free spot, and let the rolls rise for 30-45 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 18-22 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the sides feel firm. Cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before serving.
For the yeast, I used Red Star® Active Dry Yeast. It performs the best out of any yeast I’ve used, so I highly recommend it!
Brown sugar may be substituted in place of the coconut sugar, but the rolls will no longer be clean-eating friendly.
For more tips on kneading the dough and slicing the cinnamon rolls, watch my video here located above the recipe.
{vegan, clean eating, low fat, low calorie}
These are delicious! Thank you for this recipe. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cinnamon rolls Angel! 🙂
Hi, can I freeze these before baking? Would I do everything up to step 6, and the freeze? I just want to have these ready to bake fresh for guests 🙂 thank you!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe, Shelley! Unfortunately, I haven’t had good luck with freezing these before baking. However, they freeze really well after baking — and they reheat beautifully too! So that would be my recommended preparation/freezing method so your guests can still enjoy warm cinnamon rolls without you waking up at the crack of dawn. 😉 I can’t wait to hear what they think of these!
Hi Amy, I’m excited to try this recipe but am wondering how I can make it gluten-free. I have had success with your recipes in the past replacing the flour with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour. I also almost always have Brown Rice Flour stocked. Thoughts? Thank you!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Molly! Unfortunately, I haven’t had good luck with trying to make these gluten-free. Gluten is the protein that allows these cinnamon rolls to rise and hold their shape during / after baking, and since gluten-free flours don’t have that, they often fail to rise and turn out as fluffy. If you decide to try them with Bob’s Red Mill GF 1-to-1 baking flour, I’d love to hear how that turns out! 🙂
HI, just asking if these were as fluffy as using white flour?
I tried my own recipes with unbleached flour and they turn out pretty hard.
Would love to try yours!
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Audrey! For the fluffiest results, I recommend using Gold Medal whole wheat flour. It performs the best out of any whole wheat flour that I’ve tried, especially when paired with Red Star Yeast. Otherwise, all-purpose flour will yield equally fluffy cinnamon rolls. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these!
Can I use our breville bread machine to prep the dough? This sounds delicious.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Katy! I’ve actually never worked with a bread machine before, so I’m not sure and don’t want to lead you astray. I’d love to hear what you think if you decide to try these cinnamon rolls!
Thank you it’s delightful ❤
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cinnamon rolls Mariam! 🙂
Hi Amy! You’re an angel sent from Heaven! I just googled “cinnamon buns made with wheat flour“. Ta da! You’re recipe came up. Love the reviews and low fat recipe. QUESTION: Before I make these, can I add chopped walnuts and grated Granny smith apples in the sugar mixture? Thank you
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Josephine! That means a lot to me! 🙂 You can definitely add chopped walnuts to the filling mixture. However, I’d be a bit hesitant to add the apples, mainly because I can’t guarantee that they’d fully soften in the amount of time the cinnamon rolls take to bake. You may end up with apples that are still slightly crisp — but as long as that texture doesn’t bother you, then it should be fine! Also, I actually have an apple-filled version of this recipe here; perhaps that might be a better alternative if you’d really like to incorporated apples into the filling? 🙂 Whatever you decide to make, I’d love to hear what you think of the cinnamon rolls!
Can I replace the butter with coconut oil?
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Danica! Yes, you may replace the butter with coconut oil. The flavor will be slightly different, and the yeast won’t turn frothy in Step 2, but the texture should remain the same. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think of these cinnamon rolls if you try making them!
What do you say to preparing the rolls at night, refrigerating them and putting them in the oven in the morning for fresh cinnamon rolls at breakfast. I refrigerate my bread doughs very often and it never seems to hurt…most actually taste better I think.
I really appreciate your interest in my recipe Roz! I haven’t had the best luck with that method; these particular cinnamon rolls don’t rise nearly as high when prepared that way. However, they do reheat really well! So my first recommendation would be to bake them the night before and either (a) reheat individual cinnamon rolls in the microwave in the morning or (b) leave them in the pan, cover the top with foil, and pop that in the oven in the morning until they’re warmed through. 🙂 I’d love to hear what you think if you try these cinnamon rolls!