Gluten Free Apricot Cream Cheese Roll Ups Recipe
When I was in grade school (way before my gluten free days) my favorite time of day was when I would get home from school. Not because I was happy to be released from my studies for the day, although that may have played a small part, but because I would have some alone time with my mother. My older sister was still at school, my younger sister was down for her nap and it was just mom and me for a little bit. We would have “tea” together; a cup of tea for her, a glass of milk for me and a sweet treat for the both of us. This early ritual is something I have continued to this day.
These Gluten Free Apricot Cream Cheese Roll Ups are the perfect afternoon treat; light, sweet and as easy as can be to prepare. I love the fact that all the ingredients for the dough can be dumped in a food processor and after chilling out in the freezer for a few minutes, it is super easy to work with.
I roll the dough out, cut it in strips and spread it with Simon Fischer Apricot Butter – I had a really hard time choosing between the Solo Apricot Cake & Pastry Filling and the Simon Fischer Apricot Butter but ended up using the Simon Fischer – the apricot flavor just bursts through, the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and when rolled up with the cream cheese pastry, magic happens! Simon Fischer apricot butter is so thick that it does not melt away when baked, and is of course, gluten-free.
This gluten-free dough is very forgiving; I love that in a dough! It rolls out easily, you can push it together if needed and if it gets too soft to roll out, you can just pop it back in the freezer for a few minutes.
When I use the food processor to make the dough I just toss everything in cold, if you don’t have a food processor you can prepare the dough with a mixer but the cream cheese and butter needs to be at room temperature and the chilling time will be longer. And if you don’t have a food processor, you better jump over here quickly and enter to win one!
Gluten Free Apricot Cream Cheese Roll Ups Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 4 tablespoons butter - (half a stick)
- ½ cup superfine brown rice flour - plus more for rolling the dough
- ¼ cup superfine sweet rice flour
- ¼ cup potato or tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon raw sugar plus more for sprinkling - (or use regular sugar)
- ½ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- 1 (10.5 ounce jar) apricot butter
Instructions
- Place the cream cheese and butter in a food processor fitted with a steel blade, pulse several times to combine. Add the 1/2 cup brown rice flour, sweet rice flour, potato or tapioca starch, xanthan gum, baking powder, 1 tablespoon sugar and the salt, process until it forms a dough. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, flatten into a disk shape and put in the freezer for about 15 minutes. Alternately you can refrigerate for 2 hours or even longer.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.
- Lay a piece of plastic wrap (about 18 – 20 inches long) out on a work surface and sprinkle with a little brown rice flour. Sprinkle more brown rice flour on top of the dough, cover with another piece of plastic wrap and roll into a rectangle approximately 6 inches by 16 inches. Remove the top piece of plastic wrap and cut into eight 2 inch by 6 inch strips. Spread about 2 tablespoons of apricot butter on each strip; do not spread all the way to the edges of the dough. Roll the dough up and place on a prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle a little raw (or regular) sugar on top of each roll up. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition
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Of course, these do look like the most unbelievable after school treat! My boys would be in heaven if this was what was waiting for them instead of a green smoothie or my usual tray of veggies, LOL! I might just have to surprise them soon!
Well I don’t know, maybe your kids prefer their green smoothies and veggies :)
These look scrumptious! I just received a review copy of your new book and am loving it. I have made the Black Bean Brownies and the Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins and they were both wonderful. I am planning to write about my positive experiences with the book and put pictures up in the next week or so.
Thanks Valerie!
These look gorgeous, Carol! Love the filling popping out the rolls, mouth watering!
Yep, I love that too – it’s all about the filling to pastry ratio for me :)
Beautiful! Looking at these we want to try them.
Thanks Helene!
A. Those look amazing!
B. They could easily be converted to a stevia recipe…
C. I haven’t had cream cheese in the longest time, but supposedly it’s okay on my low-amine diet, so I think I need to give these a try!
You know I have not tried cooking with stevia but I bet you are right – they dough is pretty versatile, I even sometimes just put it in a square baking dish, layer some fruit on it and bake it up. No rolling out that way.
My dear Carol – you’ve done it again! These practically brought tears to my eyes. For me, seeing this post and the beautiful picture of the Apricot Cream Cheese Roll Ups made me think of two things: my grandmother (may her memory be for a blessing), and that they sort of look like rugelach (which I haven’t had since going GF). I don’t eat dairy but I bet this dough would work with a vegan cream cheese. I will have to give it a try. Thank you girlfriend!!!
best, Ellen
Yes, I think vegan cream cheese should work just fine. You are so sweet! love ya!
What a sweet little story Carol. I’m going to remember that, sometimes all our kids want is alone time with us. Thanks for the reminder, and a GREAT recipe to go along with it.
Yes, when you have siblings, alone time is special. It is hard as parents to carve out that time but I cherish my alone time i had as a child with my parents. Thank you!
These look so very inviting and just perfect for an afternoon pick me up with a cup of tea. Yumm…
How very lovely, Carol, both the roll-ups and the memory. They are making me smile. :-) The photos are great, of course, and I love the sound of easy-to-use dough. ;-)
My support group members and I watched your QVC feature last night. Everyone loved you and they were blown away by your desserts! Your cookbook got passed around and folks were smiling then at the thought of all the gf goodies they could make. :-)
xo,
Shirley
Yay, glad to have been there at your support group, if only in the written form! Thank you.
xo,
carol
Being a fan of apricots and cream cheese this is a perfect recipe for me. Can’t wait to get em in the oven.
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Thanks and Regards
Mike
blenders and food processors
These look beautiful. Almost like a more do-able version of rugelach. I will have to try this! Thanks!
Warm regards,
Nicole
Love those kinds of heartwarming stories about times that Mother’s share with their kids. I too surprised my kids with the occasional tea party when they got home from school. Those kinds of times seem so simple at the time but they are cherished memories for our kids!
I made these yesterday only I used black cherry preserves because that’s what I had on hand. Of course the preserves melted more than the butter would. They tasted phenomenal, but the dough was hard for me to work with — it was hard to get good and even. I think it’s because I am still a newbie when it comes to working with gluten free doughs. All in all it was doable. I think with some practice and patience I can yummy treats that look nicer than my first batch.
Oh. My. Goodness these look good. I love apricots. This is definitely my new favorite recipe.