Ive been doing a few trials with this new Timtana flour (for more on the flour, see my post from a couple of days ago), and while I don’t think its suited for more delicate baking, it works well in many of the yeast-raised breads and the more hearty quickbreads.
I tried some out a couple of days ago in the whole “grain”, gluten-free cinnamon buns that I make with sorghum. These are much heartier than your typical fluffy white cinnamon buns, but they still feel like you are eating something treat-like.
I decided to try the Timtana flour in these instead of garfava, and also decided to switch to light buckwheat flour for the usual sorghum flour. From the trials I have done, it appears that the optimal balance of starch:flour in order to have a somewhat open texture while boosting the nutritional value is equal parts of starch: flour.
These cinnamon buns are gluten-free, but also dairy-free and egg-free. These are NOT a super fluffy cinnamon bun, but they do have an open texture, and are quite moist. The addition of the Timtana flour appears to help create a nice moist dough that keeps fairly well over a day or two. These remained as moist a day later, and didn’t develop the typical crumbliness of many gluten-free doughs.
Timtana and Buckwheat Cinnamon Buns
- 1 1/4 cups light buckwheat flour (150 grams)
- 1 cup Timtana flour (120 grams)
- 2/3 cup tapioca starch (80 grams)
- 1/2 cup cornstarch (64 grams)
- 1/4 cup almond meal
- 1 Tablespoon xantham gum
- 4 teaspoons granulated yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well with a whisk
- 1 Tablespoon Ener-g egg replacer
- 4 Tablespoons cold water (60 ml)
- 2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- 1 cup vanilla soymilk at room temperature
Combine egg replacer with water and whisk or mix with a hand-mixer until very frothy, like egg whites. Add the remaining wet ingredients and then fold in the dry ingredients. Mix with the hand mixer for at least 1 minute, until the dough is smooth.
Place the dough on a cornstarch dusted silpat mat, and place a piece of plastic film overtop. Roll out to a rectangle approx. 18 inches by 12 inches.
- 1/3 cup Earth Balance buttery flavoured shortening or other vegan shortening
- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the softened butter over the dough, leaving a 2″ border on one side. Spread the sugar, cinnamon and raisins over the dough. Roll up like a jelly-roll from the long-side. Cut into 6-8 slices and place in a greased 9″ cake pan. Cover loosely and let rise for 60 minutes, or until doubled in size. Bake for 50-60 minutes, tenting with foil if they appear to be browning on top too quickly. Glaze them if you like yours glazed.
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Those are amazing!! I can’t get over the loft on them. Do they have any of that slightly sandy texture that gluten-free baking so often has?
Not at all. The Buckwheat flour I have is quite finely milled, and the Timtana flour has more of a fluffy texture — I think the texture helps retain the moisture in the final product. In my experience, the gritty texture often comes from the coarser grinds of rice flour, sometimes sorghum and millet.
Is the texture a little thicker than typical gluten free bread dough which is like thick pancake batter? Any tricks to rolling like a jelly roll when the dough is like batter? Thanks
The texture should be like a thick muffin batter — thicker than regular gluten-free bread dough, but not as thick as wheat-based bread dough. I’ve had best success rolling out the dough on a gluten-free flour dusted silpat mat, with a piece of parchment or plastic wrap on top. I just use the silpat (kind of like rolling up a jellyroll using a teatowel) to help roll it all up. Sometimes I need a spatula to nudge sections into place. Just don’t try and hurry!