Fluffy Gluten Free Dinner Rolls
As a mom of four, including twins, and someone who has been gluten-free for over a decade, I’ve learned to adapt countless recipes to fit a gluten-free lifestyle. But if I’m being honest, mastering soft, fluffy, pillowy bread—especially dinner rolls—has always been my baking Achilles Heel.
I’ve tried recipe after recipe, only to end up with dense, crumbly hockey pucks instead of the soft dinner rolls I longed for. I’ve shed MANY tears of not being able to get this right. Until now. After years of trial and error, I’ve finally cracked the code, and these gluten-free dinner rolls are everything I’ve been dreaming of: tender, airy, and perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any meal where you want to have rolls as a side dish!
Ready to bake the best gluten-free dinner rolls of your life? Let’s dive in.
What Makes Gluten-Free Bread Tricky?
The challenge with gluten-free baking lies in the absence of gluten—a protein that gives bread its elasticity and structure. Without it, bread can turn out crumbly, dense, or dry. The secret to success? This flour blend called Antimo Caputo Fiore Gluten. This stuff is like powdered sugar is so light. I never would have noticed a difference in the lightness of flour until I tired this blend. Wow like night and day between it and the King Arthur flour I normally use in my baking!
With this recipe you’ll see everything measured in weight of grams. I do also have the cup measurements, but I definitely recommend using a food scale and weighing out your ingredients! You can get an inexpensive food scale like this one.
I’m going to walk you through this recipe with pictures because I want to make sure you get this right so you can enjoy these amazing rolls!
First start with activating your yeast. If you don’t have active yeast then the rest of this is pointless. Add the yeast packet and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to 1/4 cup of the lukewarm water. Use a food thermomenter to make sure that the temperature is between 110° and 115° so that the yeast can activate it. You can kill the yeast if the water is too hot and then your rolls won't rise. Let it sit for 15 minutes while it blooms.
Set your oven to “warm” and let it heat to 100-120° - this will be your proofing area.
Don’t let your oven get too hot though of you’ll start to bake your rolls prematurely!
Once your yeast blooms we can mix everything together. First mix flour, sugar and salt in your stand mixer. Next microwave your milk and butter in 15-20 second increments and bring it to 110-115°. This will help with the leavening process! Add mixer to the dry ingredients.
Now you can add in your yeast. Mix together for 4 minutes this is key! It will look soupy at first, but then come together a little more! Mixer should be smooth and resemble cake batter when done.
Take a large cookie scoop and scoop into a well greased metal baking pan. I did 3 across, 4 down in mine. You can also use a smaller scoop if you want your rolls a little smaller. Rolls should touch in the pan. Wet finger tips and gently smooth the tops of the rolls.
Now cover pan tightly with saran wrap and then cover with a thin tea towel. Place into your proofing area for 45 minutes.
They should double in size!
Remove oven and preheat the oven to 350° F.
Remove saran wrap, brush with melted butter and place pan into preheated oven.
Cook for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and gently brush with more butter and a sprinkle of salt.
Best enjoyed fresh, but my goodness these are still amazing a couple of days later!
Full Recipes:
For the Yeast
7 grams or 1 packet of Active Dry Yeast
60 Grams (¼ Cup) Water (heated to 110-115 degrees)
3 Grams (½ teaspoon) Granulated Sugar
For the Rolls
455 Grams (3 ½ Cups) Gluten-Free Flour Blend - Like Antimo Caputo Fiore Glut (a fine flour blend from Italy that can be purchased on Amazon here)
75 Grams (6 Tablespoons) Granulated Sugar
6 Grams (1 teaspoon) Salt
475 Grams (About 2 Cups) Milk - Whole Milk
70 Grams (5 Tablespoons) Butter
Extra melted butter for brushing on rolls before and after baking - optional
First activate your yeast-
Add the yeast packet and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to 1/4 cup of the lukewarm water. Use a food thermomenter to make sure that the temperature is between 110° and 115° so that the yeast can activate it.
*If you over heat your yeast, you’ll kill it and it won’t bloom = not fluffy rolls like we want
Let this sit for about 15 minutes, until it "blooms" - it will look like a science experiment. Sort of foamy/fuzzy and it you won't be able to see any yeast granules in the water anymore.
*If the yeast doesn't bloom during this time then your yeast is "dead" and won't work. You'll need to get fresh yeast!
Warm up your proofing area to get it to about 100° Fahreneheit.
Dough Mixture
In a mixing bowl, add in the flour, sugar, and salt. Make sure the paddle attachment is on the mixer.
Warm the milk and butter together and check the temperature to get it between 110° and 115° just like you did for the yeast.
Add milk and butter mixture to the dry ingredients.
Add in bloomed yeast to mix. Start mixture on low or stir then kick it up to 2 or 4 and mix on medium for 3-4 more minutes. It will look soup at first!! Keep letting it mix for the full 4 minutes and it will come together to look like cake batter.
Using a non-stick metal pan, spray with cooking spray. Scoop the dough into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Dough should be touching in the pan.
Wet your fingers to smooth the tops very gently.
Cover with plastic wrap and make sure it's tight on the top. Then cover with a towel and place into your proofing area.
Let these sit for 45 minutes, they should have proofed enough to be doubled their original size.
Remove them from the oven and then preheat it to 350° Fahrenheit.
Remove the saran wrap from the top of the pan and very gently brush the tops of the dough with melted butter. Put the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. The tops will be golden brown.
Brush the warm rolls with more melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt.
These are best served warm, but they can be stored in an airtight container for a few days and then warmed up in the microwave.
