I get asked a lot how we handle the holidays being gluten-free. Let’s face it, most holiday memories include big fat crescent rolls, sugar cookies, casseroles, pies and many more gluten filled items.
My new motto: simplicity.
I simply do not try to recreate all those items…I find that all that does is stress me out, leaves me in carb and sugar shock and a lot of the items will never compare to their gluten- filled counter parts. So instead, my husband and I came up with a simple holiday menu that included items that we could prep the night before.
I thought I would share what our Christmas day menu looked like. It was fresh and not over-loaded with carbs, but yet included items like a paleo date-pecan cinnamon roll that my three boys absolutely loved. We ate a late breakfast and an early dinner, cutting our meals down to two instead of three. And I ran out Christmas Eve afternoon to our local Earth Fare to get any remaining fresh ingredient. We has ordered their holiday deal that featured a beautiful cut of fresh standing rib roast, so we had to run in already to pick that up.
Breakfast was fully prepped on Christmas Eve and included a breakfast casserole and paleo cinnamon rolls.
Potato-Egg Breakfast Casserole:
The breakfast casserole was made with shredded potatoes, instead of bread. I first boiled the potatoes, chilled them and ran them through my food processor with the shredder blade. I layered the potatoes on the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan and topped with 12 whisked eggs, 1 cup of almond milk, 2 cups of shredded cheese, bacon pieces and chopped green onions. All I had to do Christmas morning was pop it into the oven at 350 for about 45-50 minutes.
this is what my youngest son, thought of the cinnamon rolls!
Paleo Date-Pecan Cinnamon Rolls:
*Recipe below.
We also made these the night before and had them on a baking sheet in the fridge ready to pop into the oven.
Dinner Menu:
- Standing Rib Roast
- Grilled Zucchini and Asparagus
- Roasted potato wedges with Italian herbs
- Sparkling cider just for fun
We have made it a tradition to buy a nice cut of meat; either steaks or prime rib and either grill veggies or roast them (depending on Indiana weather). It makes dinner, simple, yet full of flavor.
- Dough:
- 2 cups of almond flour
- ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp. coconut flour
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 2 Tbsp. honey or maple syrup
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- pinch of sea salt
- Filling:
- 6-8 large Dates, Soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
- ½ cup finely chopped pecans
- 1 Tbsp. cinnamon
- Soak your dates in hot water for about 30 minutes.
- Add hydrated dates a few teaspoons of date water and cinnamon to a mini food processor and puree. Set aside.
- Whisk together the wet ingredients (egg, coconut oil & vanilla) in a medium bowl.
- Add the combined dry ingredients (almond flour, coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt) and stir well to combine.
- Roll out the dough on parchment paper and create a long rectangle.
- Spread the date and cinnamon mixture evenly across the rolled out dough and sprinkle with finely chopped pecan pieces.
- Using the parchment paper to help, carefully roll up the dough into a log.
- Using a sharp knife cut 1-inch thick rolls.
- Preheat oven to 325
- Place sliced cinnamon rolls on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
- Bake for about 15-18 minutes until begin to lightly brown*
- Remove from oven and drizzle with glaze and more finely chopped pecans. (For the gaze, I just whisked a little almond milk with coconut sugar).
- Best served warm!
- *Our rolls took a little longer to bake, because I refrigerated them over-night and put them into the oven still cold.
- **These will not rise and puff up like a traditional cinnamon roll.
