Gluten-free Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls {dairy-free option}
Gluten-free Dinner Rolls that taste like grandma’s holiday rolls! We enjoy these gluten-free rolls at the holidays and year-round! Be sure to read through the post for my tips! I think you’ll be adding these gluten-free buns to your go-to list of gluten-free bread recipes!
After I had to give up gluten, I tried making my own dinner rolls at home, using my old favorite recipes, just substituting gluten-free flour, and each time they failed miserably.
Thankfully, just a few months after my celiac diagnosis and transition to cooking & eating gluten-free, my local gluten-free store brought in Rachel (former owner of Gluten Free Mama) for a baking class. I sat there amazed as she whipped up super easy gluten-free dinner rolls, then when I got to sample them, I couldn’t believe it.
They actually tasted like real homemade dinner rolls! These don’t taste like cardboard, crumble like sawdust, require a knife to saw through, or need to be toasted to be palatable. What a relief, right?! I knew I had to make these!
Look at that texture:
After learning how to make these from Rachel, and buying her fabulous cookbook, In the Kitchen with Gluten Free Mama (now out of print, but sometimes used copies show up on Amazon here), I started making these at home regularly. These really are my family’s favorite gluten-free dinner rolls, and you will find them on our table at every holiday meal and at least once a month at dinner throughout the year.
While Rachel’s original recipe is no longer available online; you’ll find my adapted gluten-free roll recipe below, used with her permission.
I’ve cut the amount of time that the gluten-free rolls need to rise by about half by using instant yeast.The instant yeast I use is SAF Instant Yeast. You can buy Saf Instant Yeast from Amazon
and you might even find it at your local store. I love using this product to cut the rising time down in some of my yeast bread recipes. When using instant yeast, you do not proof the yeast in water. You add the instant yeast with your dry ingredients, and the water with the liquid ingredients. My directions in the recipe card below reflect this change.
If you haven’t worked with gluten-free yeast dough much yet, it is important to note that it is very different from regular yeast doughs. When making gluten-free yeast dough, the end result is typically a very wet, sticky dough. Do not be tempted to add extra flour! You will not be kneading the dough by hand at all. Your mixer does all the work mixing the dough well.
Once it is done mixing, then you use a large cookie scoop (about 2″ diameter) to scoop the dough in mounds in your baking pan. I recommend using a #16 scoop or a #20 scoop.
Another important thing to note is that your pans will actually help you shape your gluten-free dough. For example. if you were making regular dinner rolls, you could get by having the balls of dough spread out on a big baking sheet almost like cookies. If you did that with gluten-free dough, you would end up with very flat breads.
So here in this recipe, I definitely recommend you grab yourself a metal 9″ round cake or metal pie pan to bake your rolls in. I’ll talk more about your pans helping shape your dough when I share my french bread and hamburger bun recipes.
Here’s a pic that shows how the gluten-free rolls look at the different stages:
While some might like to brush their unbaked rolls with an egg wash, I prefer leaving them plain for baking, then after baking I brush on melted butter. Mmmm!
Here’s a look at the ingredients I use every time I make these gluten-free rolls:
Notes on Ingredients and Substitutions for these gluten-free dinner rolls:
- While I recommend you use SAF Instant Yeast to cut the rising time, yes, you can use regular, active dry yeast in this recipe. Use the same amount of yeast called for, but go ahead and proof the yeast in the warm water with a bit of sugar. Then you are going to need to extend the rising time for the rolls by at least double what I have listed here.
- I do not recommend using any flour blend with coconut flour in it!
I tried this recipe with Gluten Free Mama’s Coconut Flour Blend as well, but alas I didn’t have good results. I wouldn’t recommend using any flour blend with coconut flour in it for this recipe. The problem is that coconut flour really absorbs the liquids in a recipe, and mine turned out like hockey pucks. - Yes, you can make this egg-free if you need to. I have tried GFM’s egg free option and it worked well & tasted great! Gluten Free Mama recommends this egg free option: ¼ cup water + 1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed. Simmer water and flaxseed over medium low heat for about 5 minutes until thickened. Stir frequently. Allow to cool. This is equal to one egg.
- Yes, you can make this dairy-free if you need to. Substitute the 2 Tablespoons of butter for a good dairy-free margarine or Spectrum organic shortening, melted. You can also either not brush the finished rolls, or brush with a good tasting dairy-free margarine.
I tried this recipe with Gluten Free Mama’s Coconut Flour Blend as well, but alas I didn’t have good results. I wouldn’t recommend using any flour blend with coconut flour in it for this recipe. The problem is that coconut flour really absorbs the liquids in a recipe, and mine turned out like hockey pucks.If you need to make other substitutions to make this recipe suitable for your diet, feel free to try them. I always recommend making only one new change at a time so that if things go wrong you can isolate the problem and refine from there. If you do make successful substitutions of any kind, please do come back and let us all know!
Which gluten-free flour blend should you use in these rolls?
I’ve tested many flour blends and the three that work best for these gluten-free rolls consistently are:
- Gluten-free Mama’s Almond flour blend – used in the recipe as written. This one is harder to find lately under the new ownership (no longer in any of my local stores), and even Amazon keeps running out of it. When it is available on Amazon, you’ll find it here. This is not the same as almond flour. This is a gluten-free flour blend that includes some almond flour, which helps the rolls have a great texture.
- Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour – It has xanthan gum already in it, but I recommend adding an additional 1/2 tsp. xanthan to the recipe. This is the flour blend that I’ve been using recently for these rolls and it works very well! I don’t notice any difference in results, and would highly recommend. I haven’t had any problems finding it in stock from Amazon here.
There are so many gluten-free flour blends out there, that I simply cannot test them all. I can’t say whether your homemade blend or your favorite store blend will work in this recipe. Using any other gluten-free flour blend means you are bringing in a different combination of flours & starches, and I can’t guarantee that will work well.
That said, please feel free to play with this and see if it works well with your favorite blend. I would recommend you be sure to measure your flour by weight, and be sure to use the same weight I have listed in the recipe.
Read through the reader comments below to see what flour blends have worked well for other readers! Also, if you are using a blend that already contains xanthan gum, try adding an additional 1/2 tsp when making this. Note that some people have had great success using their favorite flour blend, and just removing 1/2 cup of the flour and replacing it with 1/2 cup of real almond flour. This makes it similar to the original Gluten Free Mama’s almond flour blend that I use.
**UPDATE 4/2015. I tested these with Pamela’s artisan flour blend and they turned out okay. Not as fluffy as with GFM, but they worked. Cup4Cup also worked okay – again, not quite as good, but an okay choice for sure! Also tested with MANINIS Gluten Free Multi-Purpose Flour Mix
and boy oh boy did that dough rise! Super big, then collapsed after baking! But they tasted great and had great texture, so I would recommend that one too.
Update: 11/2018: My friend Chrystal uses Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and says it works well in these. She says to be sure to measure by weight, with a scale, just as I recommend! Several commenters have said that has worked well for them too.
Update 5/2019: I do not recommend Namaste Flour blend for these. I do not recommend Pillsbury for these. Flour Farm worked pretty good for these I’d give it a B+. My friend gfJules flour does not work well in my recipe as written. If you’d like to use gfJules flour, go use gfJules rolls recipe here. I made this with Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour and it worked very well! This would be one I would recommend for sure!
If you’re using your own flour blend, if it doesn’t have xanthan or guar gum in it, use the 1 1/2 tsp. xanthan that I call for. If your blend already has xanthan or guar gum in it, use just 1/2 tsp. additional xanthan gum. These rolls just need more xanthan than what the default amount is in most flour blends.
If you would like to use a different flour blend, please read through the reader comments below to see what flour blends have worked well for other readers! Make sure you measure the flour by weight!
Common mistakes that would cause your rolls not to turn out well:
- Cutting out all of the sugar. I know some of you are avoiding sugar. I would not recommend cutting the sugar in these, but if you really think you need to, don’t cut down to less than 2 teaspoons. It is needed for helping activate the yeast.
- Not checking the temperature of your hot water before adding. Use a thermometer like this one that I have to be sure it is 105-110 before adding. Too cold and it won’t activate the yeast, too hot and it can kill the yeast.
- Not measuring the flour correctly or used a blend that just doesn’t work well in this. Please try again!
- Not mixing for a full 3 minutes – don’t guess; use a timer. Also a medium speed means not slow but not so fast your mixer is shaking and scooting!
- Using too much water to shape the rolls. I just wet my finger to smooth the rolls, actually less than in the video (sorry!).
- Not letting them rise enough. I depend less on the time and more on the actual look of the rolls. If your rolls haven’t risen fully at 45 minutes make sure you have it in a somewhat warm place but not too hot. I use my oven’s proof setting which puts it at 100 degrees. Before I had an oven with a proof setting, I would turn my oven to the lowest setting, let it warm up, then turn it off and my oven thermometer showed it was 100 degrees, I would put the covered rolls in to rise. Some of you live in more humid climates, and your rolls will likely rise quicker, and even just on the counter.
- Not using an oven thermometer to ensure the correct temperature of your oven. Many ovens are off by 25 degrees or so and you need to adjust accordingly. Or like my new oven, it beeps that it’s ready at the correct temperature about 5 minutes before it actually is. My oven thermometer showed me that!
- Not testing the finished rolls with a thermometer. Check them at the 24-25 minute mark really quickly and pull out if done. If not done, continue baking and check every 2 minutes until the finished rolls measure 200 degrees in the center.
Okay, enough details, I hope! Are you ready to grab one and dig in yet?
What should you serve these gluten-free rolls with:
We honestly like these with any gluten-free meals, but I definitely like making them when we have soups, stews and casseroles like these:
crockpot gluten-free beef stew
gluten-free cheeseburger soup recipe
gluten-free chicken rice casserole
I hope you and your family enjoy these gf dinner rolls as much as my family does!
If you make these and love them, please come back and give this recipe a 5 star rating in the recipe card! Feel free to comment with tips or to share any successful substitutions you made.
Gluten-free Dinner Rolls Recipe:
Gluten-free Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls
Gluten-free Dinner Rolls that taste like grandma’s holiday rolls! We enjoy these gluten-free rolls at the holidays and year-round!
Ingredients
- 2¾ cups (11½ oz.) very good quality gluten-free flour blend
- 1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
- 2 tsp. SAF instant yeast
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 cup warm water (105-110°)
- 2 Tbsp. butter, dairy-free margarine, or Spectrum shortening
- 1 egg (preferably room temp)
- 1 tsp. cider vinegar
Instructions
- In the mixing bowl of your electric mixer, mix together flour, xanthan gum, instant yeast, sugar, and salt.
- With mixer running on low speed, add in the hot water (be sure to test temperature with thermometer, melted butter (or substitute), egg, and cider vinegar.
- Mix on medium speed 3 minutes.
- Spray 8" or 9" round cake pan or pie plate with cooking spray. Using a 2" scoop or 1/3 cup measuring cup, scoop dough into 9 mounds in the pan. I place one mound in middle, then scoop 8 mounds of dough side by side all the way around the pan.
- Dip your fingertips into warm water and use to smooth out the tops of the rolls, continuing to wet fingers as needed.
- Cover with a dry towel and let rise in a warm place 45 minutes to 1 hour.
- During the last few minutes that the rolls are rising, preheat the empty oven to 400°. (if you were rising your rolls in the oven, remove and place on counter during oven preheat).
- Bake in 400° oven for 25-28 minutes. Tops should be golden brown and if you measure temperature of dough, it should measure 200°.
- Brush rolls with additional 1/2-1 Tablespoon of melted butter.
Notes
Please see blog post for information on egg-free and dairy-free substitutions. If you would like to use a different flour blend, please read through the reader comments below to see what flour blends have worked well for other readers! Make sure you measure the flour by weight!
I've tested many flour blends and the two that work best for this are Gluten-free Mama's flour blend - used in the recipe above as written, or Authentic Foods Multi-Blend Flour works very well in this as well. It has xanthan gum already in it, but I recommend adding an additional 1/2 tsp. xanthan to it. This is what I used recently and it worked very well!
If you're using your own flour blend, if it doesn't have xanthan or guar gum in it, use the 1 1/2 tsp. xanthan that I call for. If your blend already has xanthan or guar gum in it, use just 1/2 tsp. additional xanthan gum. These rolls just need more than what the default amount is in most flour blends.
Old photo:
If you love these dinner rolls, make sure to try my new recipe for gluten-free garlic Parmesan rolls. They’re so good with Italian style meals. Take a look:
Make sure you check out my gluten-free pull-apart cinnamon rolls recipe! Perfect for holiday brunch!
Also, at Easter time, you can make my gluten-free hot cross buns recipe too!
Happy Baking!!
Mine were very dense as well, I used Cup4Cup flour which I LOVE and use for all of my baking needs. Has anyone else used this flour? Will it make a difference weighing the flour at 11.5 oz. instead of the cup value? I am allergic to nuts so couldn’t use the almond flour. I liked the taste and want to give it another try, but don’t want to waste all of the ingredients again with another batch of dense rolls.
I am gluten free and soy free I have other food problems I do want to make these rolls I miss home made rolls so much thx Cindy
HOLY COW. I didn’t want to go out and buy anything so I just kind of used a hodgepodge of all the flours I already had on hand. So they didn’t turn out quite as light or fluffy as I see they can, but this is the most bread-tasting bread product I’ve had in the 2 years since I went gluten free. This is amazing. I used 1/4 c measure 4 measure, 1/2 c tapioca flour, and 3/4 c nature eats blanched almond flour, and the remaining flour I used Pillsbury gluten free. I also used the full amount of xantham gum even though the measure 4 measure and Pillsbury already contain some. Also I used quick rise yeast and I’m not sure if that’s the same as instant but just in case I let them rise a bit longer. My kids are not gluten free and my 8 year old LOVES these. My 8 month old is just beginning to eat people food and he hollered angirly very loudly several times when he had eaten all of his roll. I can’t wait to play with this and get a good mixture of flours, and of course to eat bread that tastes like real bread again!!! If there is any way you could tweak this recipe for actual loaf bread I would be forever in your debt, more than I already am!
Tried these today …
TOTALLY DELICIOUS !!!!
These turned out fabulous and I have a very happy husband! He told me not to lose the recipe lol! It’s replaced buttermilk biscuits for us by far.
For the flour I used 1 cup brown rice flour (Bob’s Red Mill), 1 cup millet flour (same company), and 3/4 cup of corn starch and added the recommended amount of xantham gum. I then used bread machine yeast (Fleischman’s) and substituted the sugar for raw honey. I mixed the whole thing in my bread machine on the dough setting, however, I only let it mix for half the time since gluten free doesn’t need to kneeded as long as regular dough. I put it in an 8” pan and got six good sized rolls. I let them rise for 20 mins at most over top of a hot pan I had taken out of the oven.
Hope that helps! Cheers!
Hi. My son is going off to a 7 week summer camp, and has just been gluten free for 2 weeks! I am scrambling to send him with with food like his peers are eating. Can these be frozen? If I send up 3 batches and it goes in the freezer within 48hrs of cooking, I was thinking he could have them on trips and during meals.
Thank you
I made a batch of these, but I did not have any plain Almond Flour. I substituted Hodgson Mill Almond Flour/Meal. They turned out great. my wife, who has no gluten issue, loved them. I have since made a batch using plain almond flour and find using the combination flour/meal makes a significantly better product. Try it, you will love it!
Thank you, thank you, thank you. These are a revelation, mine weren’t as pretty as yours because of an embarrassing snafu, the next batch will be presentable. I had to stop eating them after checking the calorie count on the flour. Which leads to my only criticism, they are heavy. If there was some way to lighten them up they would be amazing.
I changed the flour and used the Nameste which several have said they had success with it. But they literally turned out inedible dense doesn’t cover it, they wewete like softballs. So hard. I think it’s because i tripled the recipe and it just didnt turn out at all right. It never rose, it wasnt wet. Im going to try again i need these rolls. Any suggestions?
J
This recipe makes DELICIOUS rolls!!!! I am so excited. Was able to have bread that could be dunked in olive oil again Yay!! Yesterday had a meatball sandwich Yay!! I used df butter and added 1 TB olive oil. I also used the Betty Crocker GF rice blend and Sosebee almond flour. Thank you so much for posting this recipe – it had been years since I had bread that’s like bread. Yay!!
I just made these with great success! Sooo good. just as good as a reg bun. I had to tweak it because I used a different flour blend (cloud9 flour blend). Another commenter mentioned dryness in gf baked goods so I doubled amount of oil/butter, and just to make sure they rose I used a whole packet of yeast and doubled the amount of sugar. I also added a 1/2 tsp of agar powder bc I didn’t have xanthan gum. delicious fluffy sweet yeasty buns.
The first try on these, they came out really dense. Second try with a few changes-Perfection! I used King Arthur’s “Measure for Measure” Flour (so I was able to omit the Zanthum Gum). Second time, I went with Instant Rise Yeast and swapped out my dairy free butter for Spectrum Shortening. They rose beautifully and were much lighter/fluffier. Will definitely use this recipe again.
I tried this recipe as a run through before Easter and it turned out amazing! I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t had a yeast roll in over ten years but they are melt in my mouth and make me drool, kind of good, lol!! I did substitute my flour for 8.6 oz Bob Red Mills baking 1 to 1 flour and 2.9 oz of Almond flour, as read in previous comments and it worked perfect! I also made my portions smaller, like a 1/4 cup or about 13-14 rolls and the size was perfect!
These are fantastic! I made them last night for my daughter and myself! They were delicious and easy! Even my gluten eating daughter loved them. I used my GF blend that has xanthan gum in it but added 3/4 tsp. I also used 1/2 tsp kosher salt. They reheated beautifully in the microwave. I can’t wait to try freezing them.
Thank you so much for this recipe. We were just about to give up on having a delicious roll!
Hi thanks for sharing the recipe,Imade it few minutes,it didn’t turn out what the photo appears but the taste is very good,,I used baking powder and baking soda and 2 tsps. Of cider vinegar because we don’t have gluten free yeast,I also used the1 on 1 flour if Bob’s reD mill .
Guar gum. I have tried mKing these twice. Each time I substituted guar gum for xanthum gum 2-1 because my husband has crohns and xanthum gum is on the no list. Each time its been batter instead of rolls. Any thoughts or suggestion?
Also I used my kitchen aid and the standard beater.
Thanks.
I am experimenting with gluten, dairy, and nut free recipes to use for Communion, and tried this with the following substitutions:
– Krusteaz Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
– egg replacement: 1 Tbl flaxseed, ground, and combined with 3 Tbl water and whisked until viscous
– rice vinegar (because I ran out of cider vinegar)
– traditional yeast
– margarine
I did not have xanthan gum, so did not add extra.
I proofed the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water and 1 tsp sugar. I added it with 3/4 cup warm water (to make up 1 cup from the recipe) when I added all the other wet ingredients.
The dough rose beautifully. I only needed a little more than an hour for it to rise. It’s very chilly in my apartment, so I did rest my pan over a bowl of warm water, which probably helped speed the rise time.
The rolls did not turn out as golden as in the photo, but they smell just like bread, and they have a pretty good flavor and texture. There’s a slightly acidic aftertaste. Its not terrible; maybe it’s the rice vinegar? The only complaint is that the bottom crust is definitely crusty. More like how a pizza crust would be. Perhaps I over-sprayed the pan. Next time I might line it with parchment instead. Overall, a good result! Definitely better than those terrible gluten free wafers!!
I used all recommended ingredients and mine came out perfectly! These were the best rolls I’ve had since I’ve been gluten free. I will adjust the sugar down next time since I found the rolls to be a little sweeter than I like. I think this is just a personal preference since I like salt more than sugar. Thanks!
Has anyone used Krusteaz GF All purpose flour in this recipe? I have a ton of it and want to use it up. Would love to perfect the hot rolls.
This was an excellent recipe. I used Red Mill Gluten free flour, coconut oil instead of butter and maple syrup instead of sugar and they turned out fantastic! This recipe was SO easy. My guests loved them. It made me think of all those years I slaved over making whole wheat bread….kneading…rising….and the mess! And all the while it was making me sick. Thanks for sharing.