Raw Cinnamon Buns
I have come across a couple of raw cinnamon bun recipes on the web but none seemed close enough to traditional cinnamon buns. What a great challenge. Almond flour, flaked spelt (yup, you heard me right) and ground flax were the perfect medium for these. A bit of time in the dehydrator provided the perfect consistency. Wanting to get away from only using cashews for cream fillings, I also added almonds and raisins. The crowning glory is the maple cashew icing! I wouldn’t suggest having these for breakfast every morning, but for a Sunday brunch, or a weekend treat, they are perfect.
Spelt is a grain that is related to wheat but contains much more protein and less carbohydrates than wheat. It is high in B vitamins, iron and potassium. I got this raw, flaked spelt from Sunrise Flour Mills. You can read more about them here. You can replace it with raw, flaked oats if you wish. But you know me, I like to mix it up a bit!
Raw Cinnamon Buns
MAKES 12
Buns
- 5 dates
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1 cup Ground Flax
- 1 1/4 cups Almond Flour
- 1 cup Spelt Flakes
- 1 cup Chopped Pecans (chopped fine)
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup Agave
- 1 cup Water
- Soak dates. Blend with 1/4 cup water to make a smooth date paste. Set aside.
- Combine flax, almond flour (I use the dehydrated almond pulp left over from making almond milk), finely chopped pecans, and Spelt flakes.
- In a separate bowl, combine date paste, olive oil, 1/4 cup agave and 1 cup water. Mix wet ingredients into dry.
- Spread in a rectangle on a non-stick dehydrator sheet. You want this to be a little less than 1/2 inch thick. Dehydrate at 145 for 30 minutes. Flip onto screen, peel off dehydrator sheet and dehydrate at 115 for another 20 minutes. While the bun is dehydrating, you will want to prepare the filling.
Filling
- 1 Young Thai Coconut (the white part)
- 1 cup Cashews
- 1/2 cup Almonds
- 1/4 cup Raw Agave
- 1 tablespoon Vanilla (not raw)
- 1/2 cup raisins
- Soak Almonds and Cashews for at least 3 hours to soften.
- Place in food processor with remaining ingredients except raisins, process until smooth. Stir in raisins.
Icing
- 1 cup Raw Cashew Butter
- 3 tablespoons Maple Syrup (not raw)
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- 3-4 tablespoons Water
- Mix all ingredients except water.
- Add water 1 tablespoon at a time to desired consistency.
Assembly
- Place “bun” on parchment paper.
- Spread filling on bun. You can spread to the edges on the long sides but leave an inch or two on the short sides.
- Gently roll up the roll.
- Slice and top with icing.
Margaret wrote on April 19, 2012
Kerstin: You could try cashew flour (cashews ground really fine) instead of the almonds. They have a pretty suttle flavour. My gluten intolerance went away after a while on a high-raw diet (not sure how long, but less than a year for sure). I don’t know if it would have been considered an “allergy”, but it was definitely a very significant intolerance. Even a small amount of soy sauce containing wheat would give me stomach pains… Not anymore though! 😀
Lyndee Reese: Susan says you can replace the spelt for oats. They are naturally gluten-free, but the way alot of them are manufactured contaminates them with gluten. You just have to find a good source that confirms they are gluten-free.
Judy wrote on March 31, 2012
Agave is high in fructose. Coconut Secret coconut nectar is low in fructose and has minerals, and they say it’s raw. As for using something instead of the spelt, how about walnuts or pecans or buckwheat or chia seeds?
Kerstin wrote on March 14, 2012
I want to try to many of these recipes but I can’t use almond flour due to food allery. Any other suggestions? I can’t stand the overwhelming taste of coconut when using coconut flour. I’f be curious if anyone noticed allergies disappearing when going raw.
HippyDaisyChick wrote on March 13, 2012
If you are gluten intolerant…try some sprouted buckwheat flower….there is no wheat or gluten in buckwheat.
Lyndee Reese wrote on March 6, 2012
Hi this recipient sounds amazing! But I’m allergic to gluten and my research says that spelt flakes are not gluten free. So I was wondering if you might have any suggestions for a substitute. I’m new to raw foods and so I’m not sure I know enough about the different textures and flavors of things to make find a substitution. Oh and thank you much for your website, it has helped me immensely!
korean wrote on March 5, 2012
If i don’t have a young thai coconut. What can i use, instead of it?
I’m a beginer for rawfood, so I have a lot of things to know.
Patti Star wrote on February 18, 2012
This truly looks amazing — all except for the agave. Seriously — we used to think it was cool. But now, we know that this product is usually never organic, is processed, and spikes the glycemic over the top… Need to use something else — even honey is not the answer — too sweet….. maybe grapes, but wrong consistancy…. hummmmm
Susan wrote on February 18, 2012
Patti, there are very high quality, raw, organic agave nectars available.
Juniper Rain wrote on November 19, 2011
these look fantastic! i might make them for thanksgiving this year. 🙂
Lana wrote on October 20, 2011
Wow! That looks absolutely amazing!! Too bad I don’t have a food processor or a dehydrator 🙁