Einkorn Cinnamon Rolls

Yes — my recipe calls for half maple sugar and half coconut sugar in the filling, but you can absolutely swap in brown sugar if you prefer.

I don’t recommend replacing the sugar in the dough with refined sugar, though. The granulated sugar is important for supporting fermentation and improving dough elasticity.

Yes, you will want to use regular yeast, not fast acting, and then follow my freezer cinnamon role instructions- see below.

Bake 12 rolls in a 9×13 glass or ceramic dish for even heat distribution and softer edges.

I often make these cinnamon rolls with regular organic bread flour for family and friends, and they turn out wonderfully! My family always says these are the best cinnamon rolls they’ve ever had.

Note: You may need to knead the dough a bit longer than with einkorn to develop the gluten, but otherwise it’s a perfect 1:1 swap for einkorn flour. Keep in mind the dough will be more elastic and less delicate than einkorn.

Tip: If you’d like your einkorn cinnamon rolls to be a bit more stretchy and elastic—more like traditional rolls—try adding 1–2 cups of bread flour along with the remaining einkorn flour. The extra gluten from the bread flour gives the dough more stretch while still keeping that classic einkorn flavor.

Both Jovial and Farm2Flour einkorn flours were extensively tested for this recipe, and they produce consistent, reliable results. When switching to freshly milled einkorn, the dough can behave very differently—and the reason comes down to gluten.

Gluten gives cinnamon roll dough its stretch and ability to rise, and it behaves differently in fresh flour versus packaged flour. Freshly milled einkorn hasn’t had time to naturally oxidize, so its gluten proteins are more active and the texture courser unless sifted. This makes the dough stickier, more delicate to handle, and more unpredictable in how much liquid it absorbs—often leading to rolls that bake up denser or slightly chewy. Freshly milled flour may also contain more bran depending on your sift, and those tiny bran particles can interfere with gluten development and limit how tall and soft your rolls can rise. In contrast, store-bought einkorn is finely milled, sifted, settled, and naturally aged, which creates a more stable flour with predictable hydration. The result is a smoother dough, a more reliable rise, and a tender, pillowy texture—exactly what you want in cinnamon rolls.

Freshly milled einkorn can absolutely be used, but it almost always requires adjustments to the liquid and handling, and it simply won’t behave the same way as commercial All Purpose einkorn flour. If you’d like to try this recipe with freshly milled, I recommend a small reduction in liquid, 10-20% and a short rest period after kneading so that the flour can absorb some of the liquid properly. 

If you want to learn more about the differences in freshly milled einkorn, check out my Einkorn Flour Recipe: Beginners Guide.

If your cinnamon rolls turned out dense, a few things could be the cause:

• Too much flour was added.

• The dough was over-kneaded.

• They over-proofed — this happens easily, especially during the second rise.

• Liquid measurements were off. Be sure to measure wet ingredients accurately, preferably in grams.

Arrowroot starch helps bind the coconut sugar and maple sugar together, keeping the filling from melting out and pooling in the bottom of your pan. It works as a natural thickener, holding the sugars in place during baking. This step is especially important when using coconut sugar, since it doesn’t have the same moisture-binding properties as brown sugar and tends to leak more easily.

If your einkorn cinnamon rolls crack on top, don’t worry — that’s completely normal. Einkorn has a weaker gluten structure than modern wheat, which means:

• Weaker gluten → the dough can’t stretch as far, so it sometimes splits.

• Less elastic → once baked, the dough firms up and contracts unevenly.

• More delicate → steam and filling push through more easily.

With regular wheat flour, gluten stretches to keep rolls smooth and puffy. With einkorn, little cracks, separations, or split tops are just part of its character — and they don’t affect the taste one bit! If you prefer a bit more stretch in your einkorn cinnamon rolls simply replace 1-2 cups of AP einkorn flour with regular AP bread flour. 

I developed this recipe to be as close to classic cinnamon rolls as possible, where the rolls pull apart a bit. But einkorn behaves differently than modern wheat, so the rolls will always be a little more tender and “short” (almost pastry-like) compared to regular all-purpose rolls. Here’s why:

• Weaker gluten → Einkorn has a different gluten structure (fewer elastic bonds). Instead of developing long, stretchy strands that give a “tear-apart” pull, the crumb is softer and more delicate.

• Absorbs liquid differently → It doesn’t take up as much water, so if you add too much flour, it tips quickly toward dry/cakey.

• Rich doughs (with buttermilk, eggs, oil, butter) mask this a bit, keeping them moist, but the structure is still more fragile than modern wheat.

So compared to a classic cinnamon roll made with bread flour:

• Regular = chewy, stretchy, strands when pulled apart.

• Einkorn = soft, tender, almost melt-in-your-mouth.

If you’d like more of that traditional pull-apart texture, replace 1–2 cups of the einkorn flour with all-purpose bread flour. The extra gluten helps strengthen the dough and adds elasticity.

The most common issues for this are:

Flour balance → You may need about ½ cup more flour than expected, depending on humidity and your flour’s grind. The dough should be tacky, not sticky. Many assume einkorn dough is supposed to stay sticky, which makes sense in theory—but in practice, it shouldn’t be.

Pan support → Place rolls close together in the pan, but not touching so they help each other keep shape while rising and baking.

Less common-Tighter shaping → When rolling, roll them tight to keep the filling in and the dough tight which helps it hold its spiral.

Over-proofed- If cinnamon rolls collapse during baking, it is likely that they were over-proofed on the counter. See below for how to tell when your cinnamon rolls are done proofing. 

Poke the side of the cinnamon rolls to check if they’re properly proofed:

• Springs back fully: Underproofed → needs more rise

• Springs back halfway: Perfectly proofed → ready to bake

• Leaves an indent: Slightly over proofed → bake immediately. 

The outer edges will be golden brown and the internal temp should be between 195-200 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Yes! I love to do an overnight rise for my cinnamon rolls especially for Christmas morning. You can pretty much freeze any homemade cinnamon roll recipe as long as you use dry active yeast and not fast acting. Here’s how to do it. 

To Freeze:

1. After the first dough rise, assemble the rolls and slice them.

2. Line the rolls on a parchment-lined sheet tray, ensuring they are not touching.

3. Skip the second rise at room temperature. Instead, freeze the rolls for 2 hours or until solid.

4. Transfer the frozen rolls to a freezer-safe bag. I like using a food saver on the gentle setting, stopping halfway through the suction so the cinnamon rolls don’t get squished. This removes air and helps prevent freezer burn.

5. Store for 4-6 weeks in the freezer.

To Bake from Frozen:

1. The night before baking, remove the rolls from the freezer.

2. Place them in a 9×13 parchment-lined baking pan, about 1 inch apart from each other. 

3. Cover with a saran wrap and let them rise overnight on the counter (8–10 hours). By morning, they should be puffed and quite large. If your kitchen is warmer than 65–70°F, they may proof more quickly, so shorten the rise time. Ten hours is about the maximum before they risk over proofing. If you poke the cinnamon rolls and it springs back half way its perfectly proofed and ready to bake. 

4. Bake as directed in the recipe the next morning.