Gluten Free Maple Cinnamon Bread is a small batch and refined sugar free recipe made with an almond flour blend and maple syrup. The mini loaf is incredibly moist and highlighted with a cinnamon sugar swirl in the middle and a maple cinnamon glaze on top!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time33 minutesmins
Total Time48 minutesmins
Course: Breakfast, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cinnamon, Gluten Free, Maple Syrup, Mini Loaf, Natural Sweetener, Small Batch
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Grease a mini loaf pan (3 x 5.5 inch) and line with a strip of parchment paper long enough to hang over the sides of the pan.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, sweet rice flour, tapioca flour, coconut flour, baking powder and salt.
In a medium mixing bowl, add the butter and maple syrup. Using a hand held mixer and medium high speed, beat until the mixture is combined. It may look a little curdled and that's ok. Add the egg, sour cream, and vanilla extract and beat until combined. Tip - You can also use a tilt-head stand mixer with a smaller 3-quart mixing bowl to make the batter.
Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until no dry streaks remain. Tip - If using a stand mixer, sprinkle the dry ingredients over the wet and mix on medium-low speed until no dry streaks remain.
Let the batter rest in the mixing bowl while you make the cinnamon swirl filling.
Cinnamon Swirl Filling
In a small prep/mixing bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. It will seem like a lot of cinnamon sugar, but we want a noticeable swirl inside the bread.
Pour half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon sugar over the top of the batter. Pour the remaining batter on top and spread out evenly with a spatula if necessary. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon sugar over the top of the batter and gentle swirl into the batter with a knife or toothpick.
Bake the bread for 33 to 35 minutes, or until the bread is golden brown, the sides of the bread are pulling away from the pan, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out mostly clean.
Cool the bread in the loaf pan set on a wire cooling rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Gently lift the bread out of the loaf pan using the parchment overhang and cool on the cooling rack completely. Tip - I find gluten free bakes taste much better when they have cooled completely.
Maple Cinnamon Glaze
When the bread has cooled and you are ready to serve, make the glaze. In a small mixing bowl, add the powdered sugar, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Stir until the powdered sugar is moistened. Depending on how thick you prefer your glaze, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of milk (or water if you prefer). If you want an even looser glaze, add another 1/4 teaspoon of milk. A little milk goes a long way to loosen the glaze!
Pour the glaze over the top of the bread, and allow it to sit for about 5 to 10 minutes for the glaze to set. You can even place the glazed bread in the refrigerator to speed up the process. Slice and Enjoy!
Notes
Serving Size - This recipe makes 1 3 x 5.5-inch mini loaf. You could also try using a cupcake/muffin pan - fill 2/3 full - and may yield 3 to 4 muffins. Or a square cavity brownie pan for cute super mini loafs - fill 1/2 full - and may yield 3 to 4 mini loafs.
Stand Mixer vs. Hand Held Mixer - A hand held mixer works great. But, if you have a tilt-head stand mixer, you can also use a smaller 3-quart mixing bowl on the mixer. It works perfectly to make small batch batters, and it works with the standard attachments!
Cinnamon - It may seem like a lot of cinnamon in the filling and glaze. This is by design so the cinnamon flavor comes through. You can certainly adjust to your preference.
Glaze - A little liquid goes a long way to make the glaze. Adjust the amount of powdered sugar and/or milk to suit your preference on how thick you like the glaze.