Cinnamon Rolls

Since I suggested using the caramel sauce as a delicious addition to the turnover recipe I posted a few days ago, I thought I'd give you the cinnamon roll recipe next. It's adapted from Cafe Gratitude's I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude cookbook. Cafe Gratitude is the place that got me started on my own raw food journey years ago when they first opened. I'd go to San Francisco every year for a yoga retreat. When the restaurant first opened, a friend from SF took me there. As someone with food sensitivities, it was so amazing to me that I could eat everything on the menu. I mean everything. I had never had that experience in a restaurant before.  I'd be lucky if I could find a salad that I didn't have to have most of the ingredients removed in order to eat. (Since when did salads come with everything but vegetables, anyway?) Well, I had a great time eating at Gratitude that first time, and though several of them are gone, and the menu has changed, they still have a sweet spot in my heart. Sweet, literally, when you taste this recipe. It is really sweet, really indulgent, but I guarantee you will not be missing those traditional ( and not so good for you) cinnamon rolls when you taste these. You really can have your cake and eat it, too.  But even too much of a good thing is too much. You won't need a lot of these rolls. They pack a wallop in a small bite.

Cinnamon Rolls:
Pastry:
1/2 c. soaked and drained almonds
2 c. almonds ground into flour (Vitamix works great)
1/3 c. flax meal
7 pitted medjool dates
2 t. vanilla
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1/2 - 1 c. coconut milk

Filling and Topping:
2 c. pecan pieces
1/2 c. agave
1 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. vanilla

 For the pastry dough:
Mix all ingredients together except coconut milk. Slowly add as much coconut milk as needed to form a dough that is dry enough to roll out but wet enough to stick together. (You don't want it to be runny.)  Roll out the dough on a Teflex sheet to about 1/2 inch thickness. To do this, press out the dough flat with your hands until it is relatively even.  Then place another Teflex sheet (or parchment paper) over the dough and use a rolling pin to make it smooth and rectangular. You can shape the uneven rolled edges into the rectangle with your hands or push them in with a knife.

Next, place about 3/4 of the filling on one half of the dough. You want to reserve some of the filling for the top of the cinnamon rolls. Use your judgment for how much you want in the rolls and how much you'll put on top. With a spatula carefully pick up the side of the dough that doesn't have the filling and flip it over the side with the filling.  Press the edges together on all sides. Slice the long roll into 1" slices to help the dehydrating process. Later you can cut the slices into smaller pieces if desired. Top the rolls with the remaining topping. Dehydrate at 105 degrees until rolls are semi- soft. This will take about 6-8 hours, give or take a few.

Caramel Sauce:
1 c. macadamia nuts
1/3 t. salt
1/4 c. coconut milk
1/2 c. agave
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. yacon syrup

Blend all ingredients in a Vitamix. Macadamia nuts are hard and will take awhile to break down. Drizzle sauce onto your cinnamon rolls after removing them from the dehydrator. You will have more than you need for the rolls, so use the rest on ice cream, in the apple turnover recipe, on the sweet crepes, or any other way you'd like.

These rolls are pretty dense and quite sweet, so a little goes a long way. They freeze really well if you'd like make them last.

Enjoy!