Gluten Free Dairy Free Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe
Updated Nov 16, 2020, Published Nov 18, 2011
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For the last week and a half I have been working on a gluten free recipe for dinner rolls. And not just gluten free dinner rolls but SOFT gluten free dinner rolls.
You see for several years now I have prepared and served completely gluten-free Thanksgivings. Not a pie crust, cracker or bread product with a speck of gluten has graced my feasting table. My family, friends and I have been very happy – no complaints. My gluten free cornbread stuffing is fabulous (she says modestly), I’ve mastered gluten free pie crusts, and gravy and creamed spinach is wonderful gluten free and a breeze to make. But the one thing missing was dinner rolls. The bread basket was not empty, I have served cornbread and biscuits; all fine but not the yeasty, warm, SOFT dinner rolls I remember from way back when. I missed them. I know they are in no way the star of the show, in fact they are barely a supporting character but still, I missed them. But it was my own fault; I never took the time to figure it out – to get them right.
For the most part cooking gluten free is no more complicated than regular cooking but gluten free baking poses challenges. I find that when I take the time to understand a subject it is easier for me to conquer the challenges. And of course I like to pass along what I have learned along the way.
Gluten is sticky, it holds things together (remember mixing flour and water together as a kid and getting paste? That’s the gluten.) So we need to add sticky stuff to our flours to make up for the lack of “glue.” The sticky stuff comes in the form of starches (such as tapioca, corn or potato starch) and gums (xanthan and guar). I wanted traditional, soft dinner rolls so I stuck with rice flours instead of the heartier ones like Millet and Sorghum. All rice flours are not created equally; the gritty texture people associate with gluten free baked goods made with rice flour is due to the way it is milled. Whenever I use rice flours, I use Superfine or Asian rice flour. But don’t use Asian potato starch as it is usually made with sweet potatoes and that’s not what you want. I also made these with my own ALL PURPOSE, Pastry Quality Flour blend and they were fabulous. (If I do say so myself!)
Gluten is a protein molecule; it adds structure to baked goods – helps them stay put. When you add yeast to flours that don’t have protein this is especially a problem. Imagine that you tried to pump air into one of those big bouncy houses and there weren’t enough sides or walls in the bouncy house – it would fall down right? So we need to add protein to our dough to act as the structure. Eggs provide the perfect solution.
Just as with flours, not all eggs are created equally. I tested this recipe using generic supermarket eggs and eggs from Nature’s Yoke – egg producers who use only pastured eggs from small, local farms where the chickens are all free roaming – no horror house cages-and-eggs factories. All their hens are free of drugs and hormones and are fed vegetarian diets. Studies have shown that eggs from free-roaming chickens are higher in nutrition than eggs from caged hens. I think that anyone, including chickens, will produce better, higher quality products if they have happier lives! And since we are adding eggs to the this recipe, they should add flavor as well – the rolls made with eggs from Nature’s Yolk were not only better tasting, they had a better texture and a more beautiful brown color.
To make soft, yeasty, risen rolls we need, of course, to add yeast. Yeast must be “active” to work. If the yeast doesn’t foam up while “proofing” it isn’t active – get new stuff!
This roll recipe is dairy-free. I don’t personally have to be dairy-free but others in my family do. However, since I was testing I made a few batches with dairy products and guess what? It was unanimously agreed upon that the dairy free rolls tasted better. There wasn’t a huge difference and if you want to make your’s with dairy, go ahead. But I will tell you this – the rolls made with rice milk and Earth Balance were more tender and the flavor of the honey shone through better without the dairy masking the flavor.
As I explained with my gluten free French bread recipe, gluten free baked goods need a little extra help with structure. They should be risen, baked and cooled in muffin tins to get them that little extra help. I also made a few batches in cake pans – I scooped the batter into the cake pans with an ice cream scoop and let them rise, bake and cool in those. These were very soft and made “pull apart” rolls. I personally like the aesthetics of the individual rolls better but it is just an option. There was no difference in rising and cooking times.
If you, like me, don’t relish the idea of making your rolls while trying to cook an entire Thanksgiving meal I have good news! I made several batches ahead, I let them cool in the muffin pans, covered the pans with plastic wrap and then refrigerated for up to 2 days, reheated for a few minutes and they were just as fantastic! In fact they are even good cold so if you have left-overs, save them for gluten free turkey sandwiches the next day!
Click here to see my cooking demonstration of this recipe on Daytime TV!
Gluten Free Dairy Free Soft Dinner Rolls Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons dry active yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 cups rice milk or milk, (warm but not hot)
- 1½ cups superfine or Asian White Rice Flour*
- ½ cup superfine or Asian Sweet Rice Flour, (also called glutinous rice flour)*
- ¾ cup potato starch, (not potato flour)*
- ½ cup tapioca starch*
- 3 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher or fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 3 large eggs, divided
- ¼ cup butter or non-dairy butter substitute (Earth Balance recommended), (plus more for brushing the pans)
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Combine the yeast, sugar and warmed milk in a small bowl and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Let sit for 6-8 minutes or until the mixture is foamy and has increased in volume.
- Combine the flours, starches (or all-purpose gluten free flour blend), xanthan gum, salt and baking powder in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix for 30 seconds on medium-low to combine and break up any lumps in the potato starch.
- Add the yeast mixture, 2 eggs, melted butter substitute (or butter), honey and vinegar. Mix on medium low until combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, turn the mixer on high and mix for 3 minutes. You should have a very thick, smooth batter.
- Brush 2 standard muffin pans with melted butter (or butter substitute) or spray with gluten free, non-stick cooking spray. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling about ¾ full. Alternately, you can use a small (#60) ice cream scoop and place 3 scoops in each muffin tin (like a clover leaf). Cover with a clean kitchen towel and place in a warm, draft free place to rise. Let rise for 35 minutes or until the dough has almost doubled in size.
- Beat the remaining egg with 1 teaspoon of water very well with a fork. Gently brush the tops of each roll with the beaten egg.
- Bake for 17-18 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes.
- The rolls can be made ahead – bake them, let them cool in the pans, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Warm for a few minutes in a 350 degree oven.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I found your website and was excited about all the recipes. I was trying to download the one for soft gluten free rolls and could not get it. I was not able to retrieve any of the recipes. Did I miss something. Each time I click on the name of the recipe, I was sent to a blog of response by other readers.
Hi Brenda – I am not sure what’s happening there. I just tried the dinner roll recipe and when I clicked on the “print this recipe” link (under the second photo before the recipe title) it worked just fine. If you haven’t tried getting the recipes that way do so and report back. I will also see if I can get some tech help to see what’s happening. Thanks!
Just made it this evening with egg replacer – turned out great!! Super soft and very delicious. My son ate 3 1/2 rolls for dinner. ^_^. Guess I will have to bake again soon!!.
Thank you soooo much for such a great recipe.
Thanks Linda – so happy you enjoyed it!
Thank you so much for the recipe! It’s so hard to find a dairy free roll option to make. I was wondering, though, could I make this recipe be just dairy free, not gluten free (as I don’t need it to be)? Could I just use regular flour instead of gluten free flour? If so, how much to use? I really don’t need to have Asian White Rice Flour or Asian Sweet Rice Flour (also called glutinous rice flour). I am new at this and just found out that I could have milk allergy. Thanks so much! Looking forward to be trying this out for Easter dinner!
I am pretty sure you can convert these to gluten rolls instead of gluten free, just use 3 1/4 cups of all purpose whaet flour in place of the various flours and starches. You may need to adjust the liquid slightly as sometimes gluten free flours can be more absorbant than regular flour, I would start with just about 1/4 cup less liquid and see what your batter is like, it should be thick and smooth but spoonable. If too thick, add some more liquid. Good luck and please let me know how it worked out – it has been a lot of years since I baked with wheat flour.
So impressed! I made these last night for dinner (used your flour blend) and I couldn’t be happier. These are awesome! My non-GF hubby said that if he didn’t know they were GF he couldn’t have guessed. He said they are ever so slightly denser than regular gluten rolls but he only noticed because I asked him to taste-test them and my non-GF picky teenage daughter who eats like a bird gobbled up a few too.
I sent the recipe and page to my brother and sister-in-law. My brother is definately GF and my sister-in-law is Dairy Free. Cooking for those two is hard! Anyway, these are just Fab! (I write this as I am munching on a couple I rewarmed as suggested in the oven with a little butter and Blueberry Preserves for breakfast with my morning cup-o-Joe.)
Thanks for all the effort!
Heather
Aww thanks Heather! So glad you and your family enjoyed them and thanks so much for the feed back!
xo,
carol
Just tried these with egg substitute and goat’s milk. I am lucky, looks like the bulk white rice flour at my local Fred Meyer’s is fine, after reading around, thought they might turn out gritty. Nope! Thank you so much for going through the hassle of testing and retesting for the GF community!
Yay! Glad it worked with what you could easily get and so good to know they work well with goats milk too!
Carol,
Thank you so much for this recipe. I have never made rolls before, and just found out I have a boatload of other allergies in addition to gluten and dairy. Boo! However, this recipe was easily adapted to fit my needs. They are awesome. I’ve made a post and recommended that people visit your site. I also posted the changes that I made in order to make them gluten, dairy, soy, and egg free.
I cannot thank you enough!
Nikki
https://goodbyegluten.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/gluten-dairy-soy-and-egg-free-dinner-rolls-allergy-friendly/
It is my pleasure Nikki and I am so gratful you made these even more allergy friendly!
Hi Carol
I just opened a commercial gluten free kitchen in Dubai,I’ve been baking for people who are gluten intolerant ,have Celiac or other allergies for many years,I always look for new recipes and this one sounds great ,will definitely try it,thank you ,warm regards from Dubai.
Areej
Thank you Areej. Are there a lot of gluten intolerant people in Arabic countries? I really want to go to Dubai someday and when I do, I will visit your bakery!
I made these rolls because I just recently found out I needed to go gluten free. My family LOVES them.. More so than most of the rolls we used to use. Thank you so much!! I love your site/
So happy you and your family enjoyed them Jody. Thanks for reporting back!
Carol, Can these be made in a bread machine, to which it will obviously be a loaf of bread. I’m looking for a “Great” recipe for the bread machine as it is in the 80’s here and cooking in the oven doesn’t work.
Hi Nadine – I haven’t tried in a bread machine. I am not certain as I formulated them for cooking as rolls but I would say it is worth a try. I would put the liquids in first, then the flour then the yeast on top. If you try and it works, let me know!
Hi Carol — I tried it in the bread machine. It tasted sooo good, but it baked heavy on the bottom and was real sticky. I don’t know if it would be the recipe not being a bread machine recipe, or the bread machine. Do you have any suggestions for bread machines or breadmachine recipes?
Hi Nadine, unfortunatley I am not a bead machine expert. I find that it is just easier for me to bake without a machine but let me do a little reseach and get back to you on this.
I am newly gluten free & learning. I can’t have honey, molasses, brown sugar, maple syrup, or agave. Is there a substitute for the honey?
Can you do coconut palm sugar? The yeast needs something to help it proof. Is there any sweetener you can do?