The holidays can be amazing again with these pull-apart gluten-free dinner rolls. The rolls are light, fluffy, and buttery and they’re perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and all occasions where dinner rolls are accepted. This post is sponsored by Happy Egg Co and may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosures.
One of the trickiest things to make when it comes to gluten-free baking is bread. You’ll notice that I don’t venture into the bread zone often, but when I do, I need the recipe to be just right. I don’t want to lead you astray.
As Thanksgiving approaches, my hankering for doughy, butter bread grows. I’ve always loved a doughy dinner roll (and even those delicious soft-baked crescent rolls). In fact, I indulgently enjoyed them every Thanksgiving until, well, I couldn’t eat gluten anymore.
Trust me. There’s no woe-is-me here because I’ve figured out how to make a delicious, doughy dinner roll free from gluten, and I’m sharing the recipe with you today.
In fact, I made these buttery and doughy pull-apart gluten-free dinner rolls with little bread-making skills under my belt… that’s how easy they are to do. I’m just praying you love them as much as I do!
How to Make Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls
To start your dinner roll-making adventure, gather all your ingredients. You’ll need:
- Milk, warm but not hot
- Honey
- Active dry yeast
- Butter, melted
- Eggs (I used Happy Egg Co’s Heritage Breed Eggs)
- Apple cider vinegar
- Kosher salt
- Gluten-free flour blend (I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten-free flour blend)
- Xanthan gum (use only if your gluten-free flour blend does not already contain it. The Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 flour already contains xanthan gum)
Now combine warm milk and honey in a large bowl and then sprinkle active dry yeast over the top.
You want your milk mixture warm (but not hot). If you have a thermometer, you want the milk to be between 95-115º F, which is the temperature that will perfectly activate the yeast. Use your microwave or heat a small saucepan to warm the milk.
Let this mixture sit for a minute and then gently whisk together to combine. I like to let the yeast work for about 8-10 minutes before I add any more ingredients. If your yeast is fresh and active, your mixture with bubble and look frothy. If it doesn’t, it’s time to get new yeast.
Once the yeast is activated, add to the mixture the melted butter, large eggs, apple cider vinegar, Kosher salt, your choice gluten-free flour blend, and xanthan gum (if your gluten-free flour blend doesn’t have it already).
Tip! For the best results, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level it off. Do not directly scoop the flour with the measuring cup as it will result in a denser roll.
Then, using a standing or hand mixer, mix the ingredients together for 4-5 minutes, until smooth and airy.
Once the dough is ready, use a cookie scoop or large spoon to divide the dough into 20 equal portions. The cookie scoop helps create uniform, rounded scoops.
Place each scoop of dough in a greased 9×13 baking dish (five rows of four each). Remember, the dough is sticky and should not be kneaded. In fact, the only reason wheat bread is normally kneaded is to activate the gluten, which we don’t have any to worry about anyway.
To get that beautiful look, use wet hands to smooth out the top of the dough, then cover it with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Let the dough rise for an hour. Make sure the spot where the dough is rising is warm and free from drafts. The dough should double in size.
Once the dough has doubled in size, and all sides are touching one another (remember these are pull-apart rolls, they need to touch), preheat the oven to 400º F.
As the oven preheats, create an egg wash in a bowl (combine egg + water) and then gently brush the egg wash over the top of each dough ball, being extra careful not to deflate the dough.
The egg wash will give the pull-apart gluten-free dinner rolls a beautiful brown sheen on top once baked.
Tip! Use a pastry brush to apply the egg wash to the rolls. Do not put pressure on the rolls – you want them to stay fluffy.
Bake the pull-apart gluten-free dinner rolls for 18-20 minutes or until the bread has reached an internal temperature of 210º F and the tops are browned. Let cool before serving.
Now stand back and look at your beautiful creation. Hello Thanksgiving! It’s a no-brainer that these dinner rolls will be a HUGE hit!
The rolls are doughy on the inside and have a soft-yet-crisp buttery crust on the outside (especially if you brush some melted butter over the top before serving – optional but suggested).
They make the perfect rolls to enjoy alone, or to help soak up that extra turkey gravy (or both)!
Tip! Remember, oven temperatures vary so check the internal temperature of the rolls to check for doneness. The dinner rolls should reach 210º F in the center. Also, if the rolls are browning too fast, cover them with aluminum foil until the rest of the bread catches up.
Additional Recipes
- Gluten-Free Gravy Mixes – Tested for Hidden Gluten
- Gluten-Free Apple Pie
- Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie
- Better than Stove Top Stuffing Gluten-Free Stuffing
Pull Apart Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls
Ingredients
Dinner Roll Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups warm milk in between 95-115 degrees Fahrenheit, I keep mine between 105-110F
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- 4 Tbsp butter melted
- 2 large eggs I used Happy Eggs
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 Tbsp Kosher salt
- 4 cups gluten-free flour blend
- 2 tsp xanthan gum if your gluten-free flour blend does not already contain it
For the Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp water
Instructions
- Combine warm milk and honey in a large bowl. Sprinkle active dry yeast over the top.
- Let sit for a minute and then gently whisk together to combine. Let sit for 8-10 minutes until the yeast blooms. The mixture will bubble up and look very frothy. If it doesn’t, your yeast may be dead because your milk mixture was too hot or your yeast is too old.
- Once the yeast is activated, add the melted butter, eggs, apple cider vinegar, Kosher salt, gluten-free flour blend, and xanthan gum (if needed).
- Using your hand or standing mixer, mix together for 4-5 minutes or until smooth and airy.
- With a cookie scoop or spoon, portion out the dough into 20 equal parts. The cookie scoop helps create uniform scoops.
- Place each scoop of dough in a greased 9×13 baking dish (5 rows of 4). Smooth out the top with wet hands or a wet spatula, if needed.
- Cover dish with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise for an hour in a warm environment free from drafts. Once the dough has doubled in size, preheat the oven to 400º F.
- In a small bowl, beat an egg and water to create an egg wash. Carefully brush the egg wash on the top of each dough ball, making sure not to deflate the dough.
- Bake at 400º F for 18-20 minutes until the bread has reached an internal temperature of 210º F and the tops are browned. Let cool before serving.
- *Optional: For an extra buttery roll, brush the tops again with 1 Tbsp of melted butter after they come out of the oven.
Notes
- It is best to have a thermometer to make sure that the milk mixture is the correct temperature. You want it to be between 95-115º F. If it’s any lower, it will not activate the yeast. If it’s higher, it will kill the yeast. I like to keep my milk around 105-110º F. You can heat the milk in the microwave or heat in a small saucepan on the stove.
- For this recipe, I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour, which already contains xanthan gum. If your flour blend does not contain xanthan gum, you’ll need to add it.
- For best results, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and then level it off. Do not directly scoop the flour with the measuring cup. It will create a heavier, denser roll.
- This recipe uses active dry yeast, which needs to be activated before using. If you have instant yeast, you can use that instead. You can add the yeast right into the bowl with the rest ingredients without letting it sit in the warm milk mixture first.
- Typically when making bread, you knead the dough for about 10 minutes and then let the dough do a first rise before shaping and proofing. Gluten-free dough does not work quite the same way. It’s best to not let the dough rise before shaping. Instead, you’ll shape the dough and then let it go through one rise before baking.
- Gluten-filled bread dough also tends to be dryer. I’ve found it’s best for gluten-free bread dough to be on the wetter side. It will be thicker than muffin dough, but thinner than a typical bread dough. It will be sticky and not something that would be kneaded.
- Using a cookie scoop is the best way to portion out the dough. You won’t really be able to shape the dough by hand as the dough is very sticky. Use a measuring cup sprayed with cooking spray or oil if you don’t have a cookie scoop.
- Smooth out the tops of the dough before letting them rise. You can wet your hands with water or wet a spatula to help smooth them.
- Since these are pull-apart rolls, we let the dough touch to get that pull-apart look.
- Using an egg wash helps give the rolls a golden brown shiny color. You can brush the tops with butter after they come out of the oven to keep the tops soft and add more flavor.
- Remember all ovens are different, so it’s best to check the internal temperature of the rolls to know if they’re done. They should reach 210º F in the center of the bread. If the bread is browning too fast, cover it with aluminum foil.
Yes it should work.
Can dough be made ahead of time and sit overnight?
I can never get the gf dough to rise. I NEED to try this one out.
Looks great! I can see cutting off the top half of them all in one swoop and making ham and cheese sliders! (Of course then putting the tops back on) Cant wait to try these !
Absolutely the best GF rolls I have ever tried! It’s now my go to recipe. I always add heavy cream to my egg wash instead of water – I think it gives it more shine and a better brown in my oven.
Yes should be fine.
Can Almond milk or coconut milk substitute for regular milk?
Yes the cooked rolls can be frozen.
These are amazing!
Thankyou for recipe 😋
I assume they can be frozen?
I think so but I haven’t tried it.
Could we substitute butter for coconut oil??
I haven’t done this before but I imagine it would work. I would bring the dough to room temp before baking though.
Can you freeze these once they are baked? Could you freeze the dough?
These rolls were so good and easy to make! Everyone liked them. My mom was impressed on how easy they were to make without getting your hands dirty. (No kneading) I will definitely be making these rolls again!
Yay thank you for the feedback.
Loved, loved, loved these yeast rolls. Haven’t had this for over 10 years and they are fabulous. Thank you so much! Thank you! Bonnie K
No it doesn’t.
Doesn’t yeast have Gluten ?