Delicious and Simple Gluten Free King Cake
After living in New Orleans for a few years, I developed a serious love for king cake. So when I decided to go gluten free, I knew I had to find a great recipe for gluten free king cake. This yummy recipe is perfect — all the flavors of traditional king cake with non of the gluten! It’s a great way for me to celebrate the carnival season at home with my family.
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Going to college in New Orleans was amazing! I earned my bachelor’s degree from Tulane University and some of my favorite memories are from the Mardi Gras season each year. While you can enjoy delicious food in New Orleans throughout the year, there’s something about Mardi Gras that makes these yummy dishes so much more special.
My Mardi Gras Memories
Every year, we had a blast attending parades, catching beads, and eating some truly delicious food. Whether it was a late night breakfast at Trolley Stop Cafe or free red beans and rice on Lundy Gras at Donna’s, Mardi Gras was a delicious time of year!
And since I live in Illinois now and can’t take a trip to Central Grocery for a classic muffaletta today, I decided I’d bring my own taste of Mardi Gras home. King cakes are one of my favorite Mardis Gras treats. They’re fun, festive and packed with flavorful memories!
But these delicious little treats are also full of gluten, which means I can’t eat a traditional king cake! Luckily this gluten free king cake recipe is as close to the real thing as possible. You’ll see that making your own gluten free king cake is sort of an involved process, so scroll through the pictures and read the instructions carefully. You’ll be happy you took the time to make your own gluten free king cake this carnival season!
Gluten Free King Cake Dough
To make your own gluten free king cake, start by mixing the dough. In a large measuring cup, whisk the milk, eggs, and butter together. Then, pour the mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer.
Next, add the dry ingredients to the bowl. This includes the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Using a spoon, carefully stir the mixture until it’s just combined.
The dough should look soft and clumpy, like the picture above. After you have combined these ingredients, attach the dough hook to your stand mixer. Mix the dough on medium speed for 10 minutes.
When the dough is mixed, it will be soft and sticky. Grease your hands and remove the dough from the stand mixer bowl. Work the dough into a ball and place it in a greased bowl. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for one and a half to two hours.
After the dough has risen, preheat your oven and get ready to make your gluten free king cake! A gluten free king cake is very similar to a cinnamon roll. So, to start, you’ll need to roll your dough flat on a lightly floured surface. The dough should be around one-quarter inch thick in a rectangle shape.
Gluten Free King Cake Filling
This delicious gluten free king cake recipe has a yummy brown sugar and cinnamon filling. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir until it’s all mixed up.
Spray the dough lightly with a little bit of water to make sure the filling sticks. Then, sprinkle the dough with the filling liberally. And use your fingers to press the filling into the dough.
If you would rather make a traditional gluten free king cake at this point, simply roll the dough into a loaf and form a large circle by securing the ends together. You can then place the king cake in the oven to bake. For individual mini gluten free king cakes, cut the dough in half lengthwise, then cut two-inch strips.
Peel up each individual strip and roll it into a small log. Form a circle with the log and secure the ends by squeezing the dough together.
Place each rolled gluten free king cake into a greased mini Bundt cake pan. Be sure to place the seam side up when you put the dough in the pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Your gluten free king cakes will be a deep golden brown when they’re finished baking.
Gluten Free King Cake Glaze
Allow your gluten free king cake to cool completely on a wire rack while you prepare the glaze. This sweet glaze will go on top of your gluten free king cake, allowing the fun Mardi Gras sprinkles to stick to the top.
Making the glaze for your gluten free king cake is easy. Just combine powdered sugar and milk in a medium bowl and whisk until a smooth glaze forms.
Drizzle the glaze over each gluten free king cake until the top is completely covered. I loved how the glaze made pretty drips down the side of my gluten free king cakes. If you would rather have a solid covering over your gluten free king cake, you could also dip the top of the king cake in the glaze.
After pouring the glaze over the gluten free king cake, immediately pour the sanding sugar on top. Traditional king cakes use purple, green, and gold –Mardi Gras colors. You’ll want to pour the sprinkles on top of the glaze before it sets to ensure they stick. So, you’ll need to work fast on this part
And that’s it! You’ll love how delicious this gluten free king cake recipe is. It’s so good, you won’t mind taking the extra time to make them absolutely perfect!
Gluten Free Mini King Cakes
These delicious gluten free king cakes are packed with Mardi Gras flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 3 eggs
- 1 stick butter melted
- 4 ½ cups gluten free baking flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 packet rapid-rise yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- For the Filling:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- For the Glaze:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons milk
- Additional Items Needed:
- Mini Bundt Cake Pan
- Purple green, and yellow sanding sugar
Instructions
Make the Dough:
- Whisk the milk, eggs, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Stir with a spoon until just combined.
- Using the dough hook, mix the dough with an electric mixer for 10 minutes.
- Remove the dough from the stand mixer bowl and transfer to a greased bowl. Cover with plastic and allow to rise for 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Add the Filling:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix to combine.
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle until dough is around ¼ inch thick.
- Spray the dough lightly with water and sprinkle the brown sugar mixture all over the dough, pressing it into the dough with your fingers to ensure it sticks.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough in half lengthwise. Then cut the dough horizontally into 2 inch strips.
- Roll each strip lengthwise, then form a circle with the rolled dough and seal the ends together. Place each roll into the basin of a greased mini Bundt cake pan with the seam of the roll facing up. Continue rolling each strip until each space is filled.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the mini king cakes are a deep golden brown.
- Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the Glaze:
- While the cakes are cooling, place the powdered sugar and milk in a bowl.
- Whisk the ingredients together until smooth.
- Spoon the glaze over the top of each cake. Immediately sprinkle purple, green, and yellow sanding sugar on top of the cake.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 323Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 72mgSodium: 293mgCarbohydrates: 55gFiber: 1gSugar: 41gProtein: 4g
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Emily is a midwestern mom of two boys. She loves all things DIY — from home renovations to kids birthday party planning. Whether she’s making a new farmhouse craft for her home or helping her kids with a cool activity, you can bet she’s in the middle of some kind of DIY project (or three) right now!
I struggle with finding good gluten free desserts, but this one looks so yummy! Can’t wait to try it out!
These little king cakes look awesome! I’ve never tried making it before, so it will be fun to try! And I’m gluten free, so yay!
These are gorgeous to look at, and I bet they taste just as good! Can’t wait to try this soon 🙂
This looks so delicious! I love that it is Gluten Free! I will have to share this with my Mom!
Super fun! I love king cake!
Love this recipe and will try it. What brand of color sugar do you use ?
Hi Carla! I used Wilton sugars to decorate the cakes. While they’re not labeled as gluten free, I’ve never had an issue with any Wilton brand decorations.
Is there a specific gluten free flour that you recommend?
I always use Bob’s Red Mill 1-for-1 gluten free baking flour. You can find it on Amazon!
CAn I use this recipe to make one large cake?
I haven’t tried making a full-sized cake with this recipe, but I think it would probably work in a Bundt pan. Let us know how it turns out if you try it!
This was not a dough, it was a runny mess. I had to make it like a cake, not a bread because it was so runny, not at all like picture. The taste was ok. Followed recipe exact.
I’m sorry the dough didn’t turn out for you! What kind of flour did you use? Gluten free flour blends can be so different, maybe the type of flour used made a difference in the consistency.
Do these need to be refrigerated? I’m baking them now and excited to see how they turn out!
I hope you love them! The don’t need to be refrigerated. You can keep them in an airtight container at room temperature.
I’m disappointed. Mine turned out pretty dry. Any thoughts or tips?
What brand of gluten free flour did you use? The brand can make a big difference sometimes! I’ve found that some brands turn out drier than others when baking.
Looks delicious and so fancy. I have never made King cake. thanks for sharing at Love Your Creativity. I am happy to feature your gluten free King Cakes on Sunday.
Thanks so much for the feature!