A tasty gluten-free raisin (and/or cranberry, currant, cherries) cinnamon swirl bread.  It's nice and fluffy, and a bit easier than my other favorite cinnamon swirl-style breads: apple-cinnamon swirl bread, cinnamon swirl bread, monkey bread, monkey bread with drizzle, hearty-bread with cinnamon-raisin option, and pumpkin swirl bread. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Swirl Bread with currants, cranberries, and raisins. Yum!

Easy Raisin Cinnamon Swirl Bread!

Makes 2 large loaves, 6 mini loaves, or 3 mini loaves and 1 large loaf (it's versatile!)

Preheat oven to 375 F.  Line pans with parchment paper. 

In a mixer combine:

2 cups brown rice flour

1 cup white rice flour

1 cup potato starch

3/4 cup tapioca starch

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cinnamon

4 tsp rapid-rise/quick yeast

4 tsp xanthan gum

2 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

Add, and let beat 3-4 minutes:

2 cups warm water

6 eggs

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 Tbsp oil 

4 tsp apple cider vinegar

Fold in: 

1 cup dried fruit, like cranberries, currants, raisins, or cherries 

A combination of cranberries, currants, and raisins is my favorite, but I've done the following and it's also been delicious:

1/2 dried cranberries + 1/2 raisins

1/2 dried cherries + 1/2 currants

1/2 golden raisins + 1/2 currants

Batter ready to be scooped into prepared pans.

Scoop into prepared baking pans, filling about 2/3 full.  Smooth the tops with wet hands.  Let rise in a warm location until the dough has puffed up just above the sides of the pan.  

Mini pans filled and flattened with wet hands.

Large pan filled and flattened with wet hands, ready to rise.

Puffed nicely just over the edges, ready to bake!

Bake the loaves at 375 F.  Mini loaves will bake for ~30 minutes.  Large loaves will bake for ~45-50 minutes.   Let cool out of the pan.  Slice and enjoy!  These slice reasonably well even while still a bit warm.  We often have enjoyed this fresh with butter.  This bread will slice and toast nicely.  Delicious used in French toast, too.  Leftovers can be sliced and frozen.  Enjoy! 

Fresh from the oven.

Fresh from the oven and cooling.  These always smell so nice!

Golden raisins and dried cherries in this loaf! 

Easy Raisin Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

This gluten-free monkey bread with a drizzle on top is a fun treat.  Using egg whites only and a different blend of flours helps the dough be lighter and fluffier than my original monkey bread recipe, although we still like that recipe, too.  The bread can be pulled apart to eat when it's freshly made.  Once cooled, I love to slice it in thicker slices to freeze and toast for yummy breakfasts or snacks.  Enjoy! 

Monkey bread with drizzle added while the bread was warm so it melts into the top of the bread.  You can also let it cool and then add the drizzle.

A slice of monkey bread, toasted and ready to eat.  I love it sliced and toasted best.

Monkey Bread with Drizzle

Makes 2 loaves

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line two regular-sized loaf pans with parchment paper.  

In a mixer, combine: (It's important to mix dry ingredients first in gluten-free baking)

2 cups tapioca flour

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

1/4 c + 2 Tbsp potato starch

1/4 cup quick cook steel-cut oats (Make sure these are gluten-free if Celiac or sensitive)

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp xanthan gum

1 Tbsp rapid rise/quick yeast

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 baking powder

Add the following and beat 5 - 7 minutes, scraping occasionally: 

1 1/2 cups warm water (not hot)

7.5 oz (just under 1 cup) egg whites

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup oil (avocado, canola, light olive oil all work well)

1 Tbsp honey

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

While dough is mixing, prepare the following: 

Melt in a bowl: 

1/3 cup butter

Mix in a separate bowl: 

1/2 cup brown sugar 

1 - 2 Tbsp cinnamon (depends on how strong you like your cinnamon flavor)

Dip heaping teaspoonfuls of dough half into melted butter, then into the cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Using a second spoon, scoop the dough into the prepared large bread pans.  Repeat until the two pans are evenly filled.  I find I make two layers of dipped dough spoonfuls for each bread pan.  

You can use smaller sizes spoonfuls, if you prefer, but I find heaping Tbsp size scoops work well. 

Let bread rise, covered loosely - I find I need more space than just covering with plastic wrap for the rising.  I like to put a small baking pan upside down over the top of pans (you can have this resting on glasses or jars next to the pans if the pans don't have lips to rest the pan on top of).  If the bread is rising in a warm location, I find it rises in about 30 - 40 minutes.  If it is a cool day, it may take up to an hour to rise. It should be doubled in size.

Ready to cover with a upside down cookie sheet to rise.

It's always difficult to see the amount bread has risen in a photo, but if you look at the glass side of the dish on the left of the first photo compared to how the parchment paper is covered by the risen dough in the bottom photo, you can see now nicely it has risen.  

Bake bread at 350 F for 50-60 minutes.  You can cover the top of the bread loosely with aluminum foil for the last 10-15 minutes of baking if you don't want it to brown too much.   Let bread cool in pans for 5 minutes before carefully removing bread from pans (and removing parchment paper) and placing bread onto a cooling rack to cool.  

Fresh from the oven - let it rest 5 minutes before removing from pan and removing parchment paper.  

Once you place it on the cooling rack, mix together the following glaze: 

1 oz cream cheese, softened (optional)

2 Tbsp butter, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

milk, 1 tsp at a time until smooth consistency

You can glaze your bread while hot if you'd like the glaze to melt into the bread a bit, or you can wait until the bread has cooled a bit, and then glaze.  Once the bread has cooled a bit, it's ready to eat!  You can pull pieces apart to eat, which is fun.  When the bread has fully cooled, you can slice it into thick slices and freeze.   I find this toasts up beautifully in the toaster oven.  Yum! Enjoy! 

Monkey Bread with Drizzle by Successfully Gluten Free!

 So many beautiful fall apples are available this time of year fresh from the trees.  There are many varieties, and you can use a combination of ones that sauté up nicely and retain their shape in this recipe.  You'll want to have about 2 cups of cooked apples - but you can use less or more to your preference.  Because they're cooked before baking, they won't make the bread soggy.  Fresh from the oven, it's a tasty bread to pull apart.  Once it's cooled, you can slice it.  Leftovers freeze and reheat perfectly!  Enjoy!  

Such a delicious gluten-free fall treat.  Fresh, homemade apple cinnamon swirl bread.

All slices look a little different - a mixture of swirls of cinnamon and apples.  It's been so popular we've made it many times now.

Apple Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line 3 bread pans with parchment paper. 

Sauté over medium heat until apples have softened, but are not mushy: 

2-3 Tbsp butter

6 - 8 apples, peeled, cored and diced

1 Tbsp cinnamon

Add and cook 1 minute, then remove from heat: 

2 Tbsp maple syrup

Set apples aside to cool while you prepare the dough and filling. 

In a large mixer, combine: (It's important to mix dry ingredients first in gluten-free baking to avoid clumps)

2 cups brown rice flour

1 cup sorghum flour (use extra brown or white rice flour if you do not have sorghum)

3/4 cup arrowroot flour (or cornstarch)

1/4 cup potato starch

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1/2 cup sugar

1 Tbsp xanthan gum

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 tsp rapid-rise/quick yeast

2 tsp baking powder

Add and mix in slowly, then increase speed to medium or medium-high and let beat 4 minutes: 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup milk, warmed (not hot)

1/2 cup water, warmed (not hot)

3 eggs

While batter is beating, stir together: 

1/4 - 1/3 cup melted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 - 2 Tbsp cinnamon

Lay out two large pieces of plastic wrap, overlapping slightly.   Place the dough along the center of the plastic wrap.  Cover with another two pieces of overlapping plastic wrap.  Roll out dough until you have a large, long rectangle approximately 15" x 30".   Remove the top layer of plastic wrap. 

Have a small bowl of warm water available to dip your hands/fingertips in case of any sticky dough. 

Spread the brown sugar/melted butter mixture on the dough using the back side of a spoon.  Evenly spread the cooked apple mixture on top of the brown sugar/butter.  If desired, save a few of the apple pieces to tuck into areas of the bread that don't have as many pieces once it's been rolled up, sliced, and placed into the bread pans.  

Dough rolled out using plastic wrap to avoid sticking, then topped with brown sugar/cinnamon mixture and sautéed apples.  Ready to roll up! 

Use the plastic wrap to carefully roll up the dough into one long roll.   You can use wet hands to help with any sticky spots.

Divide the dough into 3 pieces.  Cut each of those pieces into 5-6 slices that you place upright in prepared parchment-lined bread pans.  Use wet hands/fingers to pick up and move the pieces.  Use wet hands to press the bread flat and even.  

Slices of dough pressed down with wet hands to make an even sized bread. 

Arrange an upside down cookie sheet over the bread, allowing room to rise.  I like to prop it up on the edges of the pans.  Let the bread rise for 45 - 60 minutes in a warm location until nearly doubled in size.  

Risen and ready to bake! 

Bake bread at 350 F for 50 minutes, until a nice golden brown.  Let rest 5 minutes, then remove bread from pans onto wire racks.  

Fresh from the oven - let them rest 5 minutes before removing from pans to a cooling rack.

Mmm.. Fresh apple cinnamon swirl bread, ready to drizzle and eat! 

Stir together to drizzle or pipe on (just put it in a ziploc bag and snip the corner) as a frosting: 

1 - 2 Tbsp butter, very soft

2 - 3 oz cream cheese, very soft

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

milk to consistency (~2-3 Tbsp usually works well)

After drizzling on the frosting, let the bread cool before slicing.  You can easily tear apart and enjoy this delicious bread while it's still warm.  I usually only end up slicing two of the three loaves for later.  This stores well in the refrigerator for a few days.  It also freezes well if you slice in advance.  Enjoy! 

Delicious gluten-free apple cinnamon swirl bread. Yum! 

Apple Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

King Cake - A Mardi Gras Tradition

My friend who hails from New Orleans asked me if I could come up with a gluten-free rendition of the traditional "King Cake" served for Mardi Gras.  This delicious cake is made with a bread-dough like consistency, filled with swirls of cinnamon and sugar and topped with a creamy, scrumptious glaze.  Colored sparkling sugar decorations in the traditional colors of purple, green and gold make for a fun, festive and delicious cake!  The best part is, while it looks fancy, it's easier to whip together than cinnamon rolls.  Enjoy!

Gluten-free King Cake!  Fun, Festive and Delicious!  

A slice of King Cake - I found everyone had a preferred color or color combination. 

King Cake
Makes one large King Cake

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixer, combine the dry ingredients:
2 cups brown rice flour
1 cup sorghum flour
3/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot starch
1/4 cup potato starch
1/2 sugar
4 tsp rapid-rise yeast
3 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp salt

Add in the following, mix slowly and then increase to medium/medium-high speed for 4 minutes:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk, warmed
1/2 cup water, warmed (plus additional 2-3 Tbsp, if needed)
3 eggs

While beating, the dough will change consistency, but if it's too thick, you can add an additional 2 Tbsp of water.

Roll out the dough between pieces of plastic wrap.  I lay out two large pieces, slightly overlapped.  Scoop the dough onto the plastic wrap.  Then, using another two large pieces, slightly overlapped, roll the dough out into a large rectangle.  You want to aim for something approximately 20" x 36".

Spread on the dough:
1/4 cup butter, melted

Sprinkle over melted butter the following, mixed together:
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Using the plastic wrap to help, roll up the dough.  If the dough is a little sticky, you can always use a little bit of water on your hands. 

The rolled up dough, ready to carefully transfer to the parchment paper-lined pan

Getting the roll of dough into a ring on the parchment paper-lined pan is the trickiest part.  To do this, roll the dough toward the edge of the plastic wrap.  Carefully pick up the roll (using plastic wrap) and place as best you can into a circle/oval shape on your pan.  Don't worry if it's not perfect!

Use very wet hands to move and reshape the dough into the desired shape.   I keep dipping my hands in water to adjust the dough on the parchment paper and smooth the tops and edges.

King Cake dough, having been shaped into a neat, smooth ring.  You can make it into a larger oval, too! Both work perfectly.

Let dough rise ~40-60 minutes in a warm location, until puffed up (it won't be quite doubled in size, but should look nicely risen.    You have two options for rising:
1. Let it rise uncovered.  This will have a tighter edge to the outside of the dough, but will give a sleeker look.
2. Cover the cookie sheet with another cookie sheet that's flipped upside down.  This will give a puffier, more moist cake.  It tends to help it rise faster, and usually ends up with more cracks throughout the top, but the taste is basically the same.

King Cake dough after rising, ready for baking! 

Bake your cake at 350 F for ~40 minutes, until nicely browned.  Let rest on cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes before sliding off and letting cool directly on the cooling rack. 

Freshly baked, and finishing cooling on the cooling rack.  Colored sparkling sugar sprinkles can be seen next to the King Cake.

While the cake is cooling, prepare the colored sugars:
In three small bowls combine:
decorating sparkling sugar sprinkles
with liquid food coloring as follows:
2 red drops for every 1 blue drop for purple
green drops for green
yellow drops for gold

Set aside, mixing occasionally to help the coloring dry on the sugar crystals.

Once your cake is mostly cooled, you can glaze it with the following glaze, then immediately sprinkle with colored sugar sprinkles.

Creamy Glaze:
Whisk together:
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 Tbsp butter, melted
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
2-4 Tbsp milk, to a thick glaze consistency

Spread the glaze overtop of the cake, spreading with the back of a spoon to spread evenly and get the dripping effect.  Sprinkle immediately with colored sprinkles.  It will set fairly quickly, and you can slice and serve!  Enjoy!

Immediately after spreading around the glaze. You want to put on the sprinkles immediately, while the glaze is still wet. 

A finished cake!  The glaze ends up looking polished once it cools/hardens slightly. 

Such a fun and festive cake! There were many happy little taste-testers around here! 

Monkey Bread!

There's nothing yummier than warm monkey bread.  This gluten-free version is easy to mix together, and then you can scoop with a spoon to dip in butter and then your cinnamon sugar mixture.  Drizzle a little frosting on top to turn it into 'gorilla bread'.  Once cooled, you can also slice thick slices and toast or use in homemade french toast.  Suggestions for a stickier/gooier monkey bread are at the bottom**.  This bread is similar to my popular cinnamon swirl bread -  but the monkey bread adds a fun dimension with pull-apart cinnamon-buttery goodness. Enjoy!

Homemade Gluten-Free Monkey Bread! 

Monkey Bread
Makes two large loaf pans or one 9 x 13 pan

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Butter 2 large loaf pans.

Mix together in a mixer:
1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
2 tsp xanthan gum
2 tsp quick rise yeast
1 tsp salt

Add, mix in slowly.  Increase speed and beat 3-4 minutes:
1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
4 Tbsp oil
3 eggs
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

While dough is beating, prepare the following:
1/3 - 1/2 cup melted butter

In another small bowl, mix:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 - 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Dip heaping teaspoonfuls of dough half into melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Using a second spoon, scrap into large bread pans.  Repeat until each pan is 1/2 filled.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm location until doubled in size.

Bake at 350 F for 35 - 40 minutes.  Let rest 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack to cool.   This bread can be pulled apart to eat or cooled and sliced.  Slice and freeze leftovers. Leftover slices reheat nicely in a toaster oven.

To turn your "monkey bread" into "gorilla bread" by whisking together a little cream cheese frosting and drizzling over the top of your bread once it's on the cooling rack.

Cream cheese frosting: 
Mix together until smooth:
1.5 oz cream cheese, softened
1 Tbsp butter, softened
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
milk, to desired consistency

**For a stickier/gooier bread, scoop spoonfuls into a buttered 9 x 13 pan.  Heat together an additional 1/2 cup butter + 1/4 cup brown sugar until sugar crystals have dissolved.  Drizzle over pan before baking.  Bake 30 - 35 minutes until nicely browned.   Serve warm and upside down for a nice sticky sweet bread. 

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Swirl Bread or Rolls - Refined Sugar-Free!

Just in time for Halloween! Another wonderfully successful cinnamon swirl bread recipe - but this time with pumpkin!  If you want more of a pumpkin pie type taste in your bread, you could add a pinch of nutmeg, ginger & cloves to the cinnamon swirl mixture.   It's delicious plain, and I love that it has no refined sugar, too!  It's also a great way to use up any pumpkin puree that you might have on hand (homemade or canned).  The roll form tends to be a bit stickier than the bread, but they both taste delicious!  Enjoy!

Lovely orange pumpkin swirl bread, ready to eat!

Pumpkin swirl rolls - great plain, topped with butter, or you could even top with a little cream cheese frosting for a pumpkin cinnamon roll type treat.

Pumpkin Swirl Bread or Rolls - Refined Sugar-Free!
Makes 12-15 rolls OR ~5 mini loaves (or you can adjust as desired so you have some of each!)

Preheat oven to 350F.  Butter 9x13 pan or 4-5 mini loaf pans, as desired.  (You can make this in 1-2 larger loaf pans, but will need to increase the cooking time).

In a mixer combine:
1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
3/4 cup potato starch
3/4 cup tapioca starch
1 Tbsp xanthan gum
1 Tbsp quick/rapid-rise yeast
1 tsp salt

Add and beat ~3 minutes:
1 cup canned 100% pumpkin puree or homemade pumpkin puree
1/2 cup warm water
3 eggs
1 Tbsp honey
1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
4 Tbsp oil 

Combine in a small bowl:
1/4 butter, melted
1/4 cup sucanat sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp cinnamon
* For a more pumpkin-pie taste, add slightly less cinnamon and add 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves 

Swirl briefly/gently into dough.

Scoop large scoops into 9x13 pan OR fill mini loaf pans just above 1/2 full.   Here I've made 12 rolls in the 9x13 pan and have enough to make 1 mini loaf pan.  But you could make 15 rolls or 5 mini loaf pans, so you can adjust as you desire.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm location ~30 minutes, until dough looks almost doubled and bread in pans has risen to be even with the top of the pan.

Before and after rise for the mini loaf 

Before and after rise for the rolls

Bake at 350F ~25-30 for both rolls and mini loaf pans.  Bread should look nicely browned on top and rolls should look lightly browned on top.  (You'll need to cook the bread closer to 45-50 minutes if you make it in larger loaf pans.  Personally, I find they brown too much for my taste on the crust in larger loaf pans, but it'll still taste great)

Remove bread from loaf pans to cooling rack to cool.  Slice and enjoy!  Wonderful plain, or topped with a dollop of butter.  Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Swirl Bread

One of the treats I absolutely adored growing up was toasted cinnamon swirl bread with butter.  The tricky thing about gluten-free bread making is that to make the bread light and fluffy when baked, the batter has to be gooey.  If you add too much flour, you end up with a loaf that looks and feels like a brick.  This made it tricky to think about how to add the cinnamon swirl into the bread.  Most gluten-free recipes I've found have only a line or two of cinnamon, but I wanted cinnamon swirl throughout my bread. The method of making a runny cinnamon paste works perfectly in this recipe, because you can fold it througth the batter, getting a swirl-like effect, so you end up with cinnamon throughout! Enjoy!

Delicious Gluten-Free Cinnamon Swirl Bread  - ready to eat! 

Gluten Free Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Makes 1 large loaf, or 3 mini loaves

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter 1 large loaf pan or 3 mini loaf pans.

Mix together the dry ingredients in a bowl:

There are 2 options for flour in this recipe – each gives you a slightly different taste in your bread, but both are delicious!

Option 1:

1 cup brown rice flour

¾ cup white rice flour

½ cup potato starch

¼ cup tapioca starch

2 Tbsp sugar

2 ½ tsp xanthan gum

2 tsp quick-rise (rapid-rise) yeast

1 ¼ tsp salt

OR

Option 2:

2 ½ cups Kristin’s gluten-free flour mix

1 ½ tsp xanthan gum

2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp quick rise (rapid-rise) yeast

1 ¼ tsp salt

In a mixer, combine the following:

1 cup milk (lactose-free works well)

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp vegetable or extra light olive oil

3 eggs

Add the dry ingredients to wet and mix on medium speed 3 minutes. Batter should look nice and smooth.

Combine cinnamon swirl mix in a small bowl: *You can double this mixture if you want MORE cinnamon  swirl in your bread

½ cup powdered sugar

1 ½ Tbsp ground cinnamon (I prefer Saigon cinnamon)

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp salt

2-3 tsp water

Drizzle half the cinnamon swirl mix into your mixer, fold in gently using a spatula. Add in the other half, and fold in gently. Don’t overmix or you’ll loose the lovely streaks of cinnamon in your bread.

 

Scrap the dough into your prepared loaf pan.  Let rise in a warm location just until the dough is level with the top of the pan (usually around 30 minutes).

Bake at 350F 35-40 minutes for large loaf pan or 25-30 minutes for mini loaf pans.  It should be nice and golden on top, and a hollow sounding when tapped on the bottom.

Remove from pan, you may have to use a knife to help remove it from the side of the pan since the cinnamon swirl mix can make it stick a little.   Let cool on a wire rack.

Slice and eat as is, or toast and butter.  Once cool, it freezes well if you slice and place in a freezer bag.  Enjoy!!!

Mmmm.. toasted with butter. Delicious!