These gluten free cinnamon sticks are the perfect side or dessert for pizza night. They’re soft, sweet, and have the most amazing cream cheese icing for dipping.
Today’s recipe is brought to you in partnership with Freschetta. As always, opinions are 100% my own. Thank you for supporting brands that support What The Fork Food Blog.
Gluten Free Cinnamon Sticks
You guys are going to love me forever for today’s incredible recipe: gluten free cinnamon sticks; which are a must to go along with pizza. We paired our cinnamon sticks with Freschetta Gluten Free Pizza, which is one of the easiest and tastiest gluten free pizza options I can find at my local grocery store. We often get the cheese or the pepperoni and heat it as is or we sometimes add our own fun toppings to change it up.
While my husband is the only one in our house who needs to be gluten free, we all eat the Freschetta gluten free pizza and enjoy it. It’s got a great crispy, thin crust that we all love! Plus, it’s conveniently located in the freezer section at all of the grocery stores I shop at. Easy = awesome.
Also awesome? Gluten free cinnamon sticks. Before I dive into the ins and outs of these cinnamon coated gems, I need to give you the back story on why these MUST be served with pizza.
When I was in college, my roommate and I would often order pizza on the weekend. We usually slept too late to make it to the dining hall for brunch and then “dinner” at the dining hall was slim pickings… aka leftovers turned into something new to use up, sandwiches, or cereal.
So naturally, we did what college kids did best – pizza delivery.
Also, side note and TRUE STORY: our dining hall was called HURLEY HALL. No joke, Hurley was its ACTUAL NAME, not a nickname. The food was just as bad as you’re imagining.
Anyways, my roommate was obsessed with the cinnamon sticks that were on the menu so she always got an order of them. And she was obsessed for good reason, they were damn good. Better than the pizza actually.
Since going gluten free, delivery cinnamon sticks are out of the question so the only thing to do? Make them yourself for family pizza night to get that complete pizza and cinnamon stick experience.
This recipe is actually not difficult at all. While we are making a homemade dough from scratch, it’s all done in the stand mixer and is super easy. I really mean incredibly easy. (The hardest part about making these is not eating them all yourself!)
Since we’re making gluten free cinnamon sticks, there’s no kneading involved. Nada, none, zilch. That’s the second best part (second to eating, obviously).
So one thing to note though, I didn’t use an all-purpose gluten free flour in this recipe. Due to the nature of the dough, I needed a flour blend that is closer to a 50-50 blend of rice flour and starch. My regular blend is 2/3 rice flour to 1/3 starch so it wouldn’t work well here. That’s why you’ll see a breakdown of flours listed in the recipe this time around.
Recipes like this will be sure to help those of you who can’t eat the real thing feel like you’re eating the real thing. Plus, you know this is actually better 😉
If you’re looking for a salad to go with your pizza and cinnamon sticks, try my Easy Italian Salad or Strawberry Kale Salad!
Looking to “lighten” these up a bit? Use maple sugar in place of the granulated sugar, be sure to use palm shortening for brushing, and skip the icing.
If you guys are cinnamon fans or even just carb fans, you’re going to love these gluten free cinnamon sticks. Enjoy!
PS I’m giving away a $50 Visa Gift Card PLUS 5 Gluten Free Pizza coupons from Freschetta to help you get started on your next family pizza night! You can enter via the Rafflecopter form below the recipe.
BE SURE TO FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM AND HASHTAG #WHATTHEFORKFOODBLOG OR TAG @WHATTHEFORKFOODBLOG – I LOVE SEEING WHAT YOU MAKE!
IF YOU LOVE THIS RECIPE FOR gluten free cinnamon sticks, BE SURE TO FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA SO YOU NEVER MISS A POST:
| facebook | twitter | pinterest | instagram | youtube |
Gluten Free Cinnamon Sticks
These gluten free cinnamon sticks are the perfect side or dessert for pizza night. They’re soft, sweet, and have the most amazing cream cheese icing for dipping.
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 1 heaping tsp active dry yeast*
- ½ tsp granulated sugar
- ½ C milk (I used unsweetened coconut), heated to 110-115 degrees
- 1/3 C + 1 Tbsp white rice flour
- 1/3 C + 1 Tbsp brown rice flour
- ½ C arrowroot starch
- ¼ C tapioca flour
- 1 ½ tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ C granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp avocado oil (or canola)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
For the Topping:
- 2 Tbsp melted palm shortening, melted
- ¼ C granulated sugar
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
For the icing:
- 4 oz. dairy free cream cheese
- 2 Tbsp palm shortening
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- 1 ½ C powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 Tbsp coconut milk (more or less to reach desired thickness)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the yeast and ½ tsp granulated sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Gently pour in the warm milk and let sit for 15 – 20 minutes.
- While the yeast is proofing, add the white rice flour, brown rice flour, arrowroot starch, and tapioca flour to a medium bowl and whisk together. Whisk in the xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- When the yeast has proofed for 20 minutes, add the remaining ¼ cup granulated sugar, avocado oil, and egg to the yeast. Mix on low and gradually increase the speed to medium to mix.
- With the mixer off, add the dry ingredients then mix on medium-low speed to incorporate. Mix until combined then let the mixer run for 1 minute.
- Scrape down the bowl and form the dough into a ball in the center of the bowl. **Dough will be sticky but you should be able to form a ball like soft cookie dough.
- Sprinkle the prepared parchment paper with gluten free flour (all-purpose is ok for dusting) and transfer the dough to the center of the parchment paper. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour then cover it with plastic wrap. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into a rectangular/oval shape until its ½ and inch thick.
- Coat a pizza cutter with flour and cut the dough into strips, leaving it in place. Cutting it ahead of time will make for easy pull-apart pieces after baking. Bake the breadsticks at 350 degrees on the center rack for 15 minutes. Make the icing while the breadsticks are baking.
- To make the topping, mix together the ground cinnamon and ¼ cup granulated sugar together in a small bowl. When the dough comes out of the oven, liberally brush it with the melted shortening and then sprinkle on the cinnamon and sugar – you don’t have to use all of it. Serve with the icing while the breadsticks are still warm out of the oven.
To make the icing:
- Add the cream cheese, shortening, and vegan butter to a large bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat until smooth. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and coconut milk and beat until smooth. Use more milk for a thinner, runnier icing. Use less for a thicker frosting.
Notes
*Be sure your yeast is not expired. If your yeast doesn’t “bloom” and turn foamy, it isn’t good and you’ll have to start over with new yeast.
Leftovers are best frozen. To reheat, wrap in aluminum foil and reheat at 400 degrees until hot.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: Serves 4-6Amount Per Serving: Calories: 199Total Fat: 22g
Tricia
Sunday 9th of June 2019
These were amazing. I made them and my daughter picked them up on the way out with friends. A little while later, I received a text message that read, “Mom—what have you done? What is this creation you have made?” To which I asked, “why?” And she said, “It’s sooooooo good.” It truly is good. I will say that I replaced the shortening that goes on the top of it with salted butter, but only because I really like a little saltiness with the sweet. I understand not everyone can do this, but since we don’t have a dairy intolerance, it worked for us.
Shay
Sunday 30th of June 2019
Thank you Tricia, so happy to hear how much your daughter loved them!
Candace Peak
Wednesday 28th of June 2017
In my former life (before gluten free) I don't ever remember that they had cinnamon sticks with pizza, but I know they do now. This will be exciting to have a new experience.????
JLeBlanc
Saturday 18th of February 2017
These look amazing!! I'm wondering if the arrowroot starch can be subbed with tapioca starch. Thanks!
Sharon
Friday 10th of March 2017
I haven't tried it with all Arrowroot but let me know if you do and how it works out for you. I have tried it with potato starch though instead of Arrowroot with good results.
Nancy Loring
Thursday 29th of September 2016
Buffalo chicken wings and a frozen mudslide are the perfect sides to any pizza. I am now ready to go and have this for dinner.
Sharon
Thursday 29th of September 2016
oooh frozen mudslide?! I haven't had one in ages, now I want one so bad!
Megan @ MegUnprocessed
Thursday 29th of September 2016
Great photography.