IAdeenas Gluten-Free Hearty Rosemary-Thyme Dinner Rolls
Gluten-free rolls or bread of any kind traditionally have been some of the most difficult recipes to conquer for those on a gluten-free diet. Rolls and breads are not as easily converted to gluten-free; thereby discouraging many who have tried. The feeling of being limited because you are eating gluten-free needs to be overcome: For you will discover that when cooking and baking gluten-free there are a plethora of options. Now you can finally let yourself be free to experiment with various recipes. But if you are not so adventurous below are some of the tried and true gluten-free dinner roll recipes from various experts:
Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls
Recipe courtesy of Gluten Free Girl, Shauna James Ahern
One of the keys to these rolls is this particular combination of flours. We have worked and changed them and tried other groupings. You're not going to go wrong with other flours, but this one is the best combination for us. You'll see that I have put the ounces behind each measurement, in case you want to substitute other flours. Part of the key to the success of these rolls is the almond flour. Elana, from Elana's Pantry, has inspired me to start playing with it more. High in protein and fluffy in texture, almond flour makes gluten-free baking far more fun. Elana just put up a useful guide to why she uses almond flour, which you should read too.
I know that many of you might ask about substitutions. I don't know. I tried some, and I found that flaxseed and water worked as a good egg replacement in one batch. I've seen soy milk powder and goat's milk powder at our local grocery store. The original recipe calls for instant potato flakes, but I just like quinoa flakes better. There are options. Feel free to leave questions here and maybe other readers can answer them. You won't make the same rolls with different ingredients. However, once you make these rolls, they're yours. If you can eat each of these ingredients, please do try this recipe exactly as written. Then, feel free to play!
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup water, heated to about 110°
3/4 cup (3 ounces) almond flour
1/2 cup (3 ounces) millet flour
1/3 cup (2.25 ounces) potato starch
1/2 cup (2.25 ounces) tapioca flour
1/3 cup (2.25 ounces) sweet rice flour
1/3 cup (2 ounces) cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 teaspoon guar gum
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
handful of sesame seeds
Activating the yeast. Combine the yeast and a pinch of sugar. Turn on the hot water in your faucet and run it over the inside of your wrist. When the water feels the same temperature as your skin, you're ready. Pour the water into the bowl with the yeast and sugar and stir gently. Set aside the bowl in a warm place and allow it to bubble to double its size, about 15 minutes.
Making the dough. Pour the almond flour, millet flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, potato starch, sweet rice flour, and cornstarch into the bowl of a stand mixer. (You can also mix this by hand, if you don't have a stand mixer.) Mix on low speed to combine the flours. Add the salt, sugar, xanthan gum, guar gum, dry milk powder, and quinoa flakes. Mix everything together until the dry ingredients are combined well and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add 6 tablespoons of the softened butter, the egg, and the yeasty water. Mix until everything has combined well, about 3 minutes on medium speed.
The dough will be soft, softer than a traditional roll dough would be. Do not add flour to compensate. The dough at this stage should have the consistency of cookie dough.
Waiting for the dough to rise. Put the dough in a warm place in the kitchen, covered, and allow it to rise to twice its size, about 1 hour. If you have a cold kitchen where you know dough rarely rises, set the bowl on a wire rack, and the rack over a large bowl of hot water. Replenish the hot water every 30 minutes or so. Or, you can heat the oven to 200°, put in the rolls-to-be, put a pan of ice cubes on the rack below the rolls, close the door, and turn off the oven. They will rise well that way too.
Shaping the rolls and rising again. Grease a large cake pan or casserole dish, lightly, on the bottom. Grab a hunk of the dough, about the size of the palm of your hand (like a golf ball on steroids), and roll it into a ball. If the dough is sticky, use a little sweet rice flour to grab it. As best you can, roll the ball of dough and shape it until each piece is smooth and whole. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Set the baking pan in a warm spot and allow the rolls to rise again (see the photographs above to see this process).
Baking the rolls. Preheat the oven to 375°. Melt the butter. Brush the top of each roll with the melted butter, then scatter the sesame seeds over the top. (An egg wash would make the top of the rolls shiny, but I prefer the taste of butter here. Up to you.) Slide the pan into the oven and bake until the rolls are firm and browned on top, about 20 minutes. (You can also take their temperature — about 180° internally.) Take the rolls out of the oven and let them cool, about 10 minutes. Remove and put them onto a wire rack. As soon as you won't burn your mouth, eat a roll.
Makes about 12 rolls
Sesame Oatmeal Rolls
Recipe courtesy of Annalise Roberts and The Food Philosopher
Makes 12 rolls
2 2/3 cups Bread Flour Mix A*
1/3 cup gluten-free stone-ground or quick-cook oats
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon flax seeds
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1½ teaspoons salt
2 packets (¼ oz. each) dry yeast granules (not quick-rise)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1½ cups water (110°F)
Corn meal
Additional sesame seeds to sprinkle over tops
1. Spray a 12-cupcake baking pan with baking spray and sprinkle with corn meal.
2. Lightly grind oatmeal in a bender or small food processor to form a course flour. Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl of electric mixer. Pour warm water (110°F) and olive oil into mixing bowl; mix until just blended. Scrape bowl and beaters, and then beat at high speed for 2 minutes.
3. Scoop dough for rolls into prepared cupcake pan with an ice cream scoop. Cover with a light cloth and let rise in a warm place (about 80°F) for 40-50 minutes, until dough has slightly more than doubled in size.
4. Place shelf in center of oven. Preheat oven to 400°F while bread is rising (do not use a convection oven).
5. Lightly spray tops of rolls with baking spray (this will help rolls to brown slightly) and sprinkle with additional sesame seeds. Bake in center of preheated oven for 15-25 minutes. Rolls should have a hollow sound when tapped on the sides and be light golden in color. Instant read thermometer should register about 205-215°F. You can bake them longer to make a thicker crust; the color will deepen, and the internal temperature will continue to rise. Remove rolls from pan and cool on a rack. Rolls can be stored in refrigerator for up to two days or freezer for up to three weeks; wrap well in plastic wrap and then foil. Refresh rolls with a sprinkle of water and rewarm in 350°F preheated oven; wrap in foil if you do not want a crisp crust (but open the foil for the last five minutes). Or microwave rolls for 15 seconds and then lightly toast.
* This recipe makes 3 cups of Bread Mix A:
1 cup millet flour, ½ cup sorghum flour, ½ cup corn starch, ½ cup tapioca flour (also called tapioca starch), ½ cup potato starch. Find directions for mixing and measuring gluten-free flours in our Gluten-Free Philosophy.
Adeenas Gluten-Free Hearty Rosemary-Thyme Dinner Roll Recipe 
Recipe courtesy of The Book of Yum
Ingredients
3 eggs - use Extra Large!
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp. salt
1 TBSP xanthan gum
1/3 cup potato starch (NOT flour)
1 cup white rice flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup tapioca starch
1/3 c. GF teff or buckwheat flour (M’s modification)
1 TBSP active dry yeast
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
For rosemary thyme variation, mix chopped fresh thyme and rosemary, and dried onion flakes with a dash of olive oil and reserve.
If desired, minced sundried tomatoes, to taste
Garnish: More fresh, chopped rosemary (or dried), fresh thyme, chopped, black or kosher/gourmet salt (large crystals are key), dried onion flakes, and anything else you feel like.
Directions
Preheat Oven to 380 degrees.* Note: I actually started these at a higher temperature, more like 450, and then turned the temperature down, in the attempt to get a crunchier crust. Try experimenting with the temperature and see what you like. I’ll be trying different things the next time I make this recipe. :)
Beat eggs in heavy duty mixer and then add oil, vinegar, and sugar, combining. Add dry ingredients. Warm milk in the microwave (or on the stove) and add to the bowl, gently folding it into the flour. Add your rosemary thyme mix. Turn on motor, let ingredients combine thoroughly then turn power to medium and leave for 4 minutes while it stirs. If you want sun dried tomatoes, add for the last minute or so of mixing.
Spray baking pan (cookie sheet type) with nonstick cooking spray and/or line with parchment paper.
Flour your hands with gluten free rice flour and grab a ball of dough from the mixing bowl. Gently shape it into a roll. Place it on the prepared cookie sheet. Make another roll, continuing until all dough has been used for rolls. (This part is fun!)
Brush with whisked egg. Sprinkle with garnish (fresh herbs, salt, onion), poppy seeds or sesame seeds if desired.
Let it rise in a warm place until doubled.
Five minutes before you put the rolls in the oven, put ice cubes (in a pan) in the bottom rack of your oven and let them evaporate into steam. Open oven, put in your rack of rolls and let bake for 20-25 minutes. (Halfway through baking time, you may wish to turn over your rolls for even browning.)
Alternatively, place a pan w/ 1/4 to 1/2 inch of boiling water on the lowest rack in the oven 5 minutes before you put the bread in and leave in there until bread is done.
These two baking methods should result in a crunchier outer crust
Gluten Free Bread: Sourdough Herb Rolls
Recipe courtesy of Gluten-Free Bread World
Ingredients: Dry
2 1/4 cups Gluten free all purpose flour
3/4 cup teff flour
1 cup buttermilk or 4Tbs buttermilk powder plus 1 cup water
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
2 tsp yeast
3/4 tsp dough enhancer (0ptional)
Ingredients: Wet
2 large eggs
1 cup sourdough starter
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup honey or agave nectar
1/4 cup melted coconut oil or butter
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Mix all wet ingredients well. Mix all dry ingredients well. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Pour into greased 9″X5″ loaf pan. Bake 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until it sounds hollow. When you take the bread out of the oven you can sprinkle shredded cheddar or Parmesan cheese on the top (optional.)
Take the bread out of the pan and place on wire rack to cool. Slice and freeze if you want to use as sandwich bread.
I serve this with anything that garlic bread would go with. Sometimes we use it as dipping bread for olive oil and balsamic vinegar. This makes awesome grilled cheese/tomato sandwiches. I also like to toast it and serve with fried egg and grated Parmesan cheese.
Bread Dipping Oil Recipe
Ingredients
•olive oil (enough to cover plate)
•Parmesan cheese (little, or a lot, whatever you like… the good stuff is the best, but needs to be grated into the oil)
•cracked pepper (not to much, maybe 1/5 of Parmesan cheese)
•balsamic vinegar (this is the “secret” ingredient… but don’t use too
much just about 5-7 drops is enough)
Directions
1.Combine in shallow bowl or plate.
2.Enjoy! Trust me the vinegar gives it a kick and it is great!
Option: I have made rolls out of the dough instead of bread. They don’t rise too much bigger than what they start out so keep that under consideration when making them.
Gluten-Free Honey and Flax Yeast Rolls
Recipe courtesy of Flour Arrangements Gluten-Free
These taste just like whole wheat rolls, but they're gluten free.
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
• Makes 8 rolls
• Yeast mixture:
• 2 ¼ tsp yeast
• 1 ½ TBSP sugar
• ½ cup warm milk (microwave for 30 secs on high)
• Flour mixture:
• ½ cup white rice flour
• ½ cup sweet sorghum flour
• 2 TBSP ground flax seed
• ¼ cup corn meal
• ¼ cup potato starch
• ¼ cup tapioca flour (I used Ener-G)
• ¼ cup more white or brown rice flour
• 2 ¼ tsp xanthan gum
• ½ tsp sea salt
• Wet Ingredients:
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 ½ tbsp canola oil
• ¼ cup cold/room temp milk
• 2 large eggs
• Extra Supplies and Ingredients:
• 1-2 tbsp honey for drizzling
• 1 tbsp more ground flax seed for sprinkling
• ½ tbsp melted butter for brushing on top of rolls
• white rice flour and damp towel for hands
• Pastry brush
• 1 9" cake pan, round
• 1 large bread loaf pan
• Enough water to fill that loaf pan about ½ way**
• **I got the 'use boiled water' tip from Carol Fenster's book 1000 Gluten Free Recipes .
Directions
Combine yeast mixture in small bowl and set aside while you combine flours. (It should bubble and be slightly frothy on top before you add it to the mix later.)
Combine flour and all dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
Combine the ‘Wet Ingredients’ (not the yeast mixture!) in another small bowl.
When all three separate bowls have ingredients in them, turn your oven on to the warm setting and also begin boiling about 2 ½ cups of water.
When the flours are well combined, make a small hole in the middle of the flour, so that the flour makes a doughnut shape on the inside of the bowl (as if you were making pasta). Begin to fold in the egg mixture, until ? of the flour is combined with it; now begin to add the yeast mixture. Use your hand to gently kneed the dough, just for a few seconds until everything is well combined.
Get a small handful of dough in your hand, roll into a ball shape and place each roll in the greased 9” cake pan. Wipe your hands off after rolling each one and dust them with flour (it’s easier like this).
Melt the butter and get out the honey and flax seed. Brush the butter on top of the buns with pastry brush and then drizzle the buns with honey. Now finish them off with a sprinkle of flax seed.
Turn the oven off completely now. Pour the hot water into the bread pan and place bread pan filled with water on the last shelf in the oven, making sure the middle rack is reserved for the rolls. Now place the rolls on the rack directly above the hot water. Your oven should feel slightly moist and warm, at this point.
Let the rolls rise for about 40–45 minutes; they should be ‘puffy’ and doubled in size. After the rolls rise, Leave them in the oven (while the oven is preheating) and turn the oven on to 350; leave the rolls in the oven for about 16–18 minutes to bake until they are light golden brown on top.
Cover the rolls with foil immediately after removing them from the oven, so that the rolls don’t dry out.
When rolls are cooled, place in an air-tight container to preserve freshness; I also recommend refrigerating them after the first day, because they don’t have preservatives.
Easy Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls Recipe
Recipe courtesy of A Gluten-Free Guide
While gluten-free dinner rolls were one of my most elusive achievements, the recipe that I developed was so complicated and required such difficult to attain ingredients that I never even posted the recipe to this blog. Gluten-free bread that tastes as good at gluten-filled bread is tough to make or find — and rolls, they require even more exceptional skill and care. While I had had success making cheese rolls with theChebe roll mix, they weren’t really the type of dinner rolls that I craved. At Thanksgiving this year I decided to give the Chebe bread all-purpose mix a try with a few adaptations. They were so tasty 
and unbelievably easy - I feel as though I’ve conquered the unconquerable!
Makes 12 small rolls
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons sweet cream butter, softened
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 package Chebe all-purpose gluten-free baking mix
5-6 Tablespoons whole milk
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
In a medium mixing bowl, using a fork or spoon, mix butter with sugar, add eggs and the Chebe all-purpose mix. Stir until the mixture forms even-sized crumbs. Add 3 tablespoons milk and mix. Add 2-3 more tablespoons milk and continue to stir with spoon. Once the mixture is almost even, work with your hands until smooth. Divide dough in quarters and then break into three pieces and roll into balls. Place each roll onto a lightly greased cookie sheet.
At 10 minutes, rotate cookie sheet. After another 8 minutes remove from oven and gently top with a bit of butter (I just use a stick of butter and glide it over the top). Return to oven and continue to cook for 2-7 minutes or until very-lightly browned.
As you are getting ready for more holiday dinners and celebrations, these will please your guests and no one will ever suspect how easy they were to make or that they are gluten-free!
For more info:
Gluten Free Girl, Shauna James Ahern
Annalise Roberts
The Book of Yum
Gluten-Free Bread World
Gluten-Free Flour Arrangements
A Gluten-Free Guide
Elana’s Pantry
Savory Palate, Carol Fenster
Chebe Bread
Jamie Oliver Gluten-Free Recipes
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