I grew up making Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread. It’s one of the first things I remember making. I would open a can of biscuit dough, cut each circle into four pieces, dip each in butter, roll them in cinnamon sugar, and put layers of them in a bundt pan. After I got married I became a Paula Deen fan. Her Gorilla Bread is basically my Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread marrying a Cheesecake. Amazing.
Like every other delicious recipe I have memories of from back in the day I just had the make this one healthier. I used the same dough from my Cinnamon Rolls and Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns but stuffed each piece with cream cheese. I was afraid the cream cheese would ooze out but it didn’t. Each piece of the gorilla bread is lightly sweetened, flavored with cinnamon, and filled with cream cheese.
Move over Paula Deen. This cream cheese filled cinnamon Gorilla Bread is low carb, sugar/gluten/grain free, THM S and just as delicious as yours!
This is a basic mozzarella based dough. The trick to these is to have the cheese super gooey before mixing in the other ingredients. If not it can taste cheesy.
The list of ingredients isn’t as long as it seems because there are a lot of repeats. You use butter and cream cheese in each part. Traditionally this is baked in a bundt pan but I was afraid my bundt pan was too big. I really want one of the 6 cup, 8 inch bundt pans to make this recipe in. So I just went ahead and baked it in a pie plate. It worked fine but I do think bundts are pretty.
The caramel sauce is optional. I’ve made this with and without it. Without it is lightly sweetened like a breakfast pastry. With it it is more like a dessert. Scroll down slowly for a printable version of this recipe.
Dough Ingredients:
8 oz mozzarella
1 tbsp butter
3/4 cup Trim Healthy Mama Baking Blend or 1 cup of my Local Baking Mix (equal parts almond flour, coconut flour, golden flax meal)
1 oz cream cheese
1 egg
1 tbsp Trim Healthy Mama gentle sweet sweetener (or my copycat)
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking powder
Caramel Sauce Ingredients: (this is optional)
2 T. butter
2 T. heavy cream
1/4 cup THM gentle sweet sweetener (my version)
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
Other Ingredients:
1 tsp butter
1/2 cup Trim Healthy Mama gentle sweet sweetener (or my copycat), divided
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans, optional
7 oz cream cheese
2 tbsp melted butter, divided
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Spread 1 t butter in the bottom of a pie plate. Mix the 1/2 cup sweetener with the cinnamon. Sprinkle 1 tsp of this in the buttered pie plate. Set aside the rest. Sprinkle the pecans on top (if using).
(optional sauce) Combine the first three sauce ingredients and cook over medium low heat until bubbly, slightly thickened, and lightly browned. This will takes about 5 minutes. It will thicken further during baking. Remove from the heat and add the salt and extract. Set aside.
Put the mozzarella and one ounce of cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave one minute. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds. Stir. At this point all the cheese should be melted. Microwave 30 more seconds until uniform and gloopy (it should look like cheese fondue at this point). Add the rest of the dough ingredients and the cheese to a food processor. Mix using the dough blade until a uniform color. If you do not have a food processor you can mix in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon but you may need to dump it onto wax paper and knead it by hand to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients. Once it is a uniform color wet your hands and press it out into a 9×12 ish rectangle on a piece of parchment.
To assemble: Cut the dough into 24 pieces. Cut the cream cheese into 24 pieces. Sprinkle each piece of dough with 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon sweetener. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each, wrap and seal the dough around the cream cheese. Dip the dough ball in butter. Roll it in the cinnamon sweetener. Put it in the prepared pie plate. Repeat with all 24 pieces. (If you have extra sweetener sprinkle it on top. If you run out of the sweetener before you are done just mix up a little more).
Drizzle the sauce over the top, if using.
Bake at 350 45-50 min until the rolls are golden brown and the sweetener is bubbling. Cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate. Try not to eat all of them by yourself.
Leftovers are best warm. I ate this for breakfast for almost a week. I would microwave a few pieces in the microwave for 30 seconds and enjoy with my coffee.
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| Nutrition Facts |
| Amount Per Serving, 8 per recipe (included caramel sauce and pecans) |
Calories 316 |
%Daily Value |
Total Fat 27.9g 43% |
Saturated Fat 16.1g 81% |
TransFat 0.0g |
Cholesterol 92mg 31% |
Sodium 339mg 14% |
Total Carbohydrates 4.5g 1% |
Dietary Fiber 1.9g 7% |
Sugars 0.5g |
Protein 12.4g |
Vitamin A 14% Vitamin C 0% |
Calcium 7% Iron 11% |
- 8 oz mozzarella
- 1 tbsp butter
- 3/4 cup Trim Healthy Mama Baking Blend or 1 cup of my Local Baking Mix equal parts almond flour, coconut flour, golden flax meal
- 1 oz cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp Trim Healthy Mama gentle sweet sweetener or my copycat
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 T. butter
- 2 T. heavy cream
- 1/4 cup THM gentle sweet sweetener my copycat version
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 350. Spread 1 t butter in the bottom of a pie plate. Mix the 1/2 cup sweetener with the cinnamon. Sprinkle 1 tsp of this in the buttered pie plate. Set aside the rest. Sprinkle the pecans on top (if using).
- (optional) Combine the first three sauce ingredients and cook over medium low heat until bubbly, slightly thickened, and lightly browned. This will takes about 5 minutes. It will thicken further during baking. Remove from the heat and add the salt and extract. Set aside.
- Put the mozzarella and one ounce of cream cheese in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave one minute. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds. Stir. At this point all the cheese should be melted. Microwave 30 more seconds until uniform and gloopy (it should look like cheese fondue at this point). Add the rest of the dough ingredients and the cheese to a food processor. Mix using the dough blade until a uniform color. If you do not have a food processor you can mix in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon but you may need to dump it onto wax paper and knead it by hand to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients. Once it is a uniform color wet your hands and press it out into a 9×12 ish rectangle on a piece of parchment.
- To assemble: Cut the dough into 24 pieces. Cut the cream cheese into 24 pieces. Sprinkle each piece of dough with 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon sweetener. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each, wrap and seal the dough around the cream cheese. Dip the dough ball in butter. Roll it in the cinnamon sweetener. Put it in the prepared pie plate. Repeat with all 24 pieces. (If you have extra sweetener sprinkle it on top. If you run out of the sweetener before you are done just mix up a little more).
- Drizzle the sauce over the top, if using.
- Bake at 350 45-50 min until the rolls are golden brown and the sweetener is bubbling. Cool for 10 minutes. Invert onto a serving plate. Try not to eat all of them by yourself.
The caramel sauce is optional. I've made this with and without it. Without it is lightly sweetened like a breakfast pastry. With it it is more like a dessert.
Leftovers are best warm. I ate this for breakfast for almost a week. I would microwave a few pieces in the microwave for 30 seconds and enjoy with my coffee.
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