Get Living Without's FREE Recipe of the Week
Delicious allergy-friendly recipes for you and your family
Bread
October-November 2012
Gluten-Free Soft Dinner Rolls
MAKES ABOUT 24 ROLLS
© Carol KicinskiThese delicious gluten-free dinner rolls are soft and fluffy, ideal for your holiday dinner. This recipe can be made ahead to save time (and lower stress) in the kitchen on Christmas day. Bake rolls and let them cool in the pan; wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Warm for a few minutes in a 350°F oven and serve. This recipe can be made egg-free with good results (see instructions below).
2 tablespoons dry active yeast
2 teaspoons sugar
2 cups warm unflavored milk of choice (105°F-110°F)
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/flour*
3 teaspoons xanthan gum
1½ teaspoons kosher or fine sea salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 large eggs**, + 1 egg (optional) for brushing tops
¼ cup butter or dairy-free butter substitute, melted, more for brushing pans
¼ cup honey
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1. Combine yeast, sugar and warm milk in a small bowl and whisk to dissolve the sugar. Let sit 6 to 8 minutes or until mixture is foamy and has increased in volume.
2. Combine flours, starches, xanthan gum, salt and baking powder in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix for 30 seconds on medium-low to combine and break up any lumps in the potato starch.
3. Add the yeast mixture, 2 eggs, melted butter, honey and vinegar. Mix on medium-low until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Then turn the mixer on high and mix for 3 minutes. Batter should be very thick and smooth.
4. Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush 2 standard muffin pans with melted butter or spray with gluten-free, non-stick cooking spray.
5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans, filling about ¾ full. Alternately, 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. Let rise for 35 minutes or until dough has almost doubled in size.
6. If desired, beat remaining egg with 1 teaspoon water until thoroughly blended. Gently brush the tops of each roll with egg mixture.
7. Place rolls in preheated oven and bake 17 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in the pans for 15 minutes.
Each roll contains 125 calories, 3g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 33mg cholesterol, 227mg sodium, 22g carbohydrate, 1g fiber, 3g protein.
*TIP In place of flours and starches, use 3¼ cups of a good-quality, all-purpose gluten-free flour blend. If your flour blend already contains xanthan gum and salt, omit these ingredients from the recipe.
**For Egg-Free Soft Dinner Rolls, omit 2 eggs. Combine 1 tablespoon flax meal with 3 tablespoons warm water; let sit for 5 minutes until thickened. Add mixture to yeast mixture in step 3. Add 1 tablespoon arrowroot to dry ingredients.


Comments (13)
I did as Colleen D. posted in December, using half millet and half sorghum, the taste is wonderful not gritty at all. I did make the rolls into hamburger bun size and that worked out well. They were a little dry tho. What could I have done to not have that happen? Except for that change everything else was the same. Thanks, Alma
Posted by: Alma G | March 2, 2013 4:49 PM Report this comment
I use half millet, half sorghum for better nutrition and fiber. Delicious!
Posted by: Colleen D | December 29, 2012 9:20 PM Report this comment
Delicious! I used the egg substitute in the recipe as my son cannot have eggs, and the flax gel, arrowroot worked great. Also, I made the rolls with half of the recipe, then put the rest of the batter on a cookie sheet, spread it out and sprinkled with melted Earth Balance, cinnamon and sugar. It all turned out great!
Posted by: jenny g | December 27, 2012 2:47 PM Report this comment
Janis, maybe the milk was too warm and killed the yeast? That is my only thought. :) And Oh. My. is all I can say. I made a double batch, my first time around... simply because the picture looked so darn good. I made rolls with the first half, and monkey bread with the second. WOW!!!! I did add the egg wash to the tops, then sprinkled some with sesame seeds, some with poppy seeds, and some with italian seasoning. UNREAL how good these are. I am new to a GF life and honestly thought I would be eating cardboard breads for the rest of my life. THANK YOU for this recipe!!! I have 3 sons, one with a gluten sensitivity, as well as my gluten issues. So, we are all going GF to make it easier on the 4 year old. Now we can have bread and rolls, and won't miss a beat! Just follow the directions, you won't believe it!
Posted by: Momof3boys | December 24, 2012 2:39 PM Report this comment
I have made this recipe several times and it is fantastic to say the least!!! The trick is to use the Asian flours it calls for, we have an Asian food store here and it is worth it to do it. I tried them with regular white rice flour when I did not have enough of the other and really regretted it, turned out heavy and grainy. Also use a thermometer when heating the milk and yes use active dry yeast, it does make a difference!! NOW, here is a real treat for those of you like my daughter that miss Crazy Bread!!!! Take a cookie sheet and put a good heaping soup spoon for each "crazy bread", space them apart a bit, I usually get about 8 on a cookie sheet. Do not egg wash them like for buns, bake till brown and when you take them out brush them with garlic butter and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, not exactly the same as the original of course but my daughter says it has taken her craving away!! The first time she had a bun she said "Oh mom, these are so good I just might cry"!! Follow the instructions and ingredients and you can't go wrong!! Enjoy!!
Posted by: Pat S | December 24, 2012 2:26 PM Report this comment
Just made these for Christmas dinner. They are awesome. Already ate 2. So nice to find a good GF Roll recipe!
Posted by: lynndian | December 23, 2012 4:10 PM Report this comment
It's spelled differently from gluten (there's an 'i' instead of the 'e'). Glutinous means sticky, and in fact, is often called sticky rice.
Posted by: Zoe H | December 19, 2012 10:50 AM Report this comment
Just made a batch of these and they came out FABULOUS! Since I already had a flour mix on hand (the pastry blend from the latest Living Without issue) I used that and kept everything else the same. As far as using them for hamburger buns, interesting idea. I think I will try that sometime. All the commercial buns are too dense.
Posted by: Keri G | December 18, 2012 2:26 PM Report this comment
I tried this recipe. I didn't have any Active yeast, so used my Bread Machine Yeast I had on hand. (I Googled it and various sites said they were pretty much the same.) When I put the yeast an sugar in the milk (almond milk), it never bubbled. I knew the yeast was good because I use it in my bread machine all the time. I went ahead with the recipe anyway. The recipe described the mixture as batter. Well, it wasn't batter, but like really thick cookie dough. Nevertheless, I rolled hunks of it into balls and put it in my muffin tins and placed it in a warm place to rise. If it did rise, it was only an 1/16th of an inch. Still, I went ahead and baked them. My experience was total failure. I'd like to try it again if I know what I did wrong. I think if they would have raised, they would have been fine. Any comments about why it wasn't batter, but thick dough? And why they didn't rise?
Posted by: JANIS H | December 18, 2012 12:51 AM Report this comment
So why is sweet rice called glutinous if it doesn't have gluten?
Posted by: Unknown | December 13, 2012 7:37 PM Report this comment
Oh, they look heavenly! Can someone modify this recipe so that I can make them with NO YEAST? Or like a reasonable roll-like food? Thank you!
Posted by: Andrea | December 13, 2012 5:35 PM Report this comment
Drucilla - I had the same thought, also to experiment using as focaccia with lots of spices, Garlic, olives, etc. as well as pizza dough by adding some cooked short-grain brown rice and/or bit of the whole corn meal (Bob's red mill) for texture & taste. Thanks for this good base recipe!!
Posted by: Shirley M R | December 13, 2012 3:04 PM Report this comment
I wonder how this recipe would work for hamburger buns? Seems like it would work well, unless they were too fluffy. Too fluffy might be better than the commercial GF buns I've used. Haven't found a satiffactory one yet.
Posted by: Drucilla E | December 13, 2012 12:43 PM Report this comment