Friday Foodspiration: Cinnamon Swirl Cakes

The tradition at our house for birthday’s, Christmas or any occasion requiring an extra special breakfast is homemade cinnamon rolls.  They are very time consuming to prepare, but I think the labor of love makes them extra special.  

The problem is . . . so much sugar, dairy, and gluten.  I desperately wanted to make a “healthy” cinnamon roll.  I have been successful making vegan rolls without the butter but they still are very high carb and full of gluten.  So, for these “rolls” I made my normal “healthy” baking substitutions.  

They turned out super yummy!  The problem is if you are expecting a fluffy, yeasty cinnamon roll you are sort of disappointed.  So, I decided to call them a cake. . . because if you are expecting a moist, sweet, cinnamony cake you can pull apart with messy fingers . . . you will be thrilled by these.  

Ingredients:

Dough –

• 2 cups Almond Flour
• 1/2 cup Coconut Flour
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted
• 2 Eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tbs Vanilla
• 1/4 cup Swerve Granular Sugar Substitute
• 2 tbs Coconut Sugar

Filling –

• 1/4 cup Swerve Granular Sugar Substitute
• 1/4 cup Coconut Sugar
• 2 tbs Ground Cinnamon
• 2 tbs Coconut Oil, soft
• 1/4 cup Pecans, chopped

Topping (optional) –

• 2 tbs Coconut or Almond Milk
• 1/4 cup Swerve Powdered Sugar Substitute
• 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 tbs Pecans, chopped

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat an 8 inch round cake pan with cooking spray.
2. Whisk all dry ingredients together until combined and lumps are removed.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk wet ingredients until smooth.  Then add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Chill dough for 20 minutes. 
4. Meanwhile, combine ingredients for filling.
5. Once chilled, place dough between two pieces of parchment paper and roll into a large rectangle.  Remove the top piece of parchment and cover dough with the filling mixture.
6. Using the bottom piece of parchment paper, roll the dough up into a log.  Cut the log into 8 equal pieces and place in the prepared baking pan.
7. Bake for 25 minutes until top begins to brown. 
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool on wire rack.  Whisk together the milk, sugar, and extract for topping and drizzle over the top of cooled cakes.  Top with chopped pecans.