Soft, tender and fluffy, these gluten-free dinner rolls are super easy to make (no kneading required!), come out perfect every single time, and are also dairy-free, but nobody would know! Make these yeast bread rolls for your Thanksgiving dinner, holiday gathering, or anytime you want to tear into a warm, homemade roll. Great with butter, olive oil, or even on their own!
Jump to:
- Baking Homemade Gluten-Free Bread
- The Search for Perfect Gluten-Free Rolls
- At Long Last – A Roll Recipe that Works Wonders!
- Why This Recipe Works
- Ingredients You’ll Need:
- Ingredient Notes/Substitutions:
- How to Make Gluten-Free Bread Rolls (Step by Step)
- Dish by Dish Tips/Tricks:
- Recipe FAQs:
- Other Gluten-Free Breads You’ll Love:
- Appetizer Recipes to Enjoy:
- Soft Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls (Dairy-Free)
Baking Homemade Gluten-Free Bread
I’ve spent the better part of this year baking plenty of gluten-free bread recipes, and have developed a few recipes that Juan and I have come to love and use frequently – from gluten-free no knead bread, to easy gluten-free naan bread, to rosemary focaccia bread and soft fluffy gluten-free sandwich bread.
You can literally say that I’m on a bread roll. (LOL. Pun totally intended).
All this while, I’ve also developed a few yeast breads that I’m mighty proud of (and have become favorites on the blog).
They include our popular soft buckwheat bread, this fluffy brown rice bread, and this delicious sorghum bread, and this lovely yeast quinoa bread.
Get delicious GLUTEN-FREE recipes each week!
The Search for Perfect Gluten-Free Rolls
In particular, I’ve been dead set on making the perfect gluten-free dinner rolls.
In fact, I’ve been obsessed with developing a roll recipe that is soft, light and fluffy, and actually looks and feels like a real white bread roll, as opposed to a hard ball of dough that you could play ping pong or go putting on the green with.
I can’t even remember how many failed roll recipes I’ve tried and thrown away immediately, or how many packets of yeast I’ve bought and used in my bread experiments.
At Long Last – A Roll Recipe that Works Wonders!
This little obsession of mine has been going on for months on end, and I have recipe notes written and scratched out, batches that went straight into the bin after coming out the oven, and other batches that were passable. But mostly, nothing to write home about.
Until now. I want to shout this from the rooftops, because I am over the moon about this amazing recipe for the best gluten-free dinner rolls ever!
This means that at the next holiday meal (whether during Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter), those of us on a gluten-free diet can also enjoy a fluffy bread roll too!
If you can tell how excited I am about these fluffy dinner rolls, it’s because I am ECSTATIC that after more than half a year of recipe-testing, I’ve finally found THE RECIPE worth sharing with you.
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy to Make: This is possibly one of the simplest recipes I’ve made, so that means you don’t have to be an experienced gluten-free baker to get it right.
- Short Hands-On Time: Making these gluten-free bread rolls only requires 15-minutes of hands-on time, including shaping the dough (which if you’ve baked gluten-free bread before, you’ll know isn’t always easy).
- Quick Rise Time: Once shaped, all the dough needs is a single short 30-minute rise (no kneading required!), and into the hot oven it goes!
- Soft, Fluffy and Golden: Every single time I make these gluten-free rolls, they come out golden brown and perfect – with the soft, tender and fluffy texture worthy of earning their keep at any table.
- Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free: Most importantly, these dinner rolls are totally gluten-free and dairy-free, which means even those who have Celiac disease or gluten and lactose intolerances can still enjoy a proper fluffy dinner roll.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
Here’s a visual overview of the ingredients required to make these gluten-free dinner rolls.
(For exact measurements and quantities, please scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.)
Ingredient Notes/Substitutions:
- Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: For this gluten-free dinner rolls recipe, I highly recommend using a gluten-free flour blend that is made up of lighter flours/starches such as rice flour, corn starch, tapioca starch, or potato starch. This will ensure that you get a lighter and fluffier texture. I do NOT recommend blends that use heavier and denser flours such as garbanzo bean flour as it will result in a denser texture.
- Xanthan Gum: I use an extra teaspoon of xanthan gum even though the flour blend already contains xanthan gum, because this replaces the role of gluten and helps the flours to bind better and creates better texture.
- Baking Powder: I use baking powder in addition to yeast to give the rolls extra rise, which helps them to be a little lighter and fluffier in texture.
- Sugar: The sugar is required for the yeast to work, as it acts as the food for the yeast to activate and make the dough rise. In this case, I’ve used light brown sugar, but you can also use white sugar or dark brown sugar if you prefer.
- Instant Dry Yeast: I like using instant dry yeast in my baking because no proofing or activation is required. If you don’t have instant yeast, you can use active yeast, but make sure you dissolve the yeast in a mixture of warm water and sugar to activate it before using.
- Warm Water: Make sure the water you use is between 105F to 115F. (It’s important that the water is neither too hot nor too cold. The warmth is required to activate the yeast, but if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.) Alternatively, you may also use warm milk instead of water if you prefer.
- Egg: This recipe requires the egg, without which it will come out dense and heavy. I haven’t tried it with egg replacers so I can’t guarantee it will work if you replace the egg.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Since yeast usually likes an acidic environment, adding apple cider vinegar (ACV) will help the yeast work better and give the bread a better rise. If you don’t have ACV, you can use any other vinegar you have.
- Coconut Oil: I prefer using refined coconut oil for cooking because it has a more neutral taste (as opposed to extra virgin coconut oil which has a stronger coconut taste and smell). You can also use melted vegan butter if you prefer. Alternatively, if you are not lactose-intolerant, feel free to use melted butter in equal amounts.
- Egg Wash: Brushing egg wash over the rolls before baking them will ensure that they turn out golden brown and have a nice shine. To make egg wash, beat an egg with 1 teaspoon of water and mix well. Alternatively, you can also brush the rolls with olive oil.
How to Make Gluten-Free Bread Rolls (Step by Step)
1. Mix Dry Ingredients
In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free all-purpose flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, sugar and instant dry yeast. Whisk well to combine.
2. Add Wet Ingredients
Add the warm water, beaten egg, apple cider vinegar and melted coconut oil to the large bowl and mix very well until you get a thick and homogeneous mixture (which will look more like cake batter instead of normal bread dough).
3. Divide Dough into Portions
Grease a 10″ x 7″ glass baking pan with oil. Use a large cookie scoop to scoop 12 equal portions of dough and place them in rows in the baking pan.
4. Shape Dough
Use greased hands to shape each portion of dough into small balls and place them in rows. Smooth the top of each dough ball with wet fingers.
5. Let Rise
Cover the pan with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rise for approximately 30 minutes in a warm place, until it has roughly doubled in size. In the meantime, as the dough rises, preheat the oven to 350F and adjust rack to the middle position.
6. Brush Rolls and Bake
Once the dough has risen, brush the tops of the rolls with egg wash. Bake for 30 minutes until tops of the dinner rolls are golden brown.
7. Cool and Enjoy
Remove from the oven and let the gluten-free bread rolls cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Dish by Dish Tips/Tricks:
- Grease Your Hands for Shaping Dough: Since this dough will be wet and sticky (as most gluten-free dough is and should be), make sure to grease your hands with oil before rolling the dough to prevent the dough from sticking to the palms of your hands. Greased hands also make rounder balls and gets the job done faster and easier.
- Smooth Tops of Dough Balls: If the dough balls are not completely smooth once you’re done shaping them, simply dip your fingers in water and smooth out the tops of the dough balls.
- Let the Rolls Cool Before Eating: As with all gluten-free baked goods, you’ll have to let these gluten-free rolls cool for at least 15 minutes before eating. If you don’t let it cool sufficiently, the starches in the bread won’t have time to set up properly, and you’ll end up with gummy bread (not good!). So patience is required, but you’ll be dearly rewarded.
Recipe FAQs:
If not eating these gluten-free rolls immediately, store the dinner rolls in an airtight container or ziplock bag in the fridge for up to 5 days. Heat the rolls up few a few seconds in the microwave before serving or eating.
Yes of course you can freeze these rolls! Simply wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Heat up the bread rolls slightly in the microwave to thaw them before serving.
Other Gluten-Free Breads You’ll Love:
- Gluten-Free Artisan Bread (Dairy-Free)
- Soft, Fluffy Gluten-Free Bread (Dairy-Free)
- Buckwheat Bread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
- Brown Rice Bread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
- Sorghum Bread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
- Yeast Quinoa Bread (Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free)
- Soft, Fluffy Low Carb Buns (Gluten-Free, Paleo)
- Super Easy Gluten-Free Pizza Crust (Dairy-Free)
- The Best Gluten-Free Focaccia (Dairy-Free)
Appetizer Recipes to Enjoy:
P.S. If you try this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a star rating below, and/or a review in the comment section further down the page. I always appreciate your feedback. Be sure to check out my entire Recipe Index for all the recipes on the blog. You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram! Sign up for my Email List to get fresh recipes in your inbox each week!
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Soft Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls (Dairy-Free)
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 12 dinner rolls 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Soft, tender and fluffy, these gluten-free dinner rolls are super easy to make, come out perfect every single time, and are also dairy-free, but nobody would know! Make these yeast bread rolls for your Thanksgiving dinner, holiday gathering, or anytime you want to tear into a warm, homemade roll! Great with butter, olive oil, or even on their own!
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 2 1/4 teaspoons instant dry yeast
- 1 1/4 cups warm water (approximately 105F to 115F)
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
- Egg wash, for brushing (optional)
Instructions
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten-free all-purpose flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder, sugar and instant dry yeast. Whisk well to combine.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Add the warm water, beaten egg, apple cider vinegar, melted coconut oil, and mix very well until you get a thick and homogeneous mixture (which will look more like cake batter instead of normal bread dough).
- Shape Dough: Grease a 10″ x 7″ glass baking pan with oil. Use a large cookie scoop to scoop 12 equal portions of dough and place them in rows in the baking pan. Use greased hands to shape each portion of dough into small balls and place them in rows. Use wet fingertips to smooth the tops of each ball of dough.
- Let Rise: Cover the pan with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let the dough rise for approximately 30 minutes in a warm, draft-free place, until it has roughly doubled in size. In the meantime, as the dough rises, preheat the oven to 350F and adjust rack to the middle position.
- Brush: Once the dough has risen, brush the tops of the rolls with egg wash.
- Bake: Bake for 30 minutes until tops of the dinner rolls are golden brown.
- Cool: Remove from the oven and let the bread rolls cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour: For this gluten-free dinner rolls recipe, I highly recommend using a gluten-free flour blend that is made up of lighter flours/starches such as rice flour, corn starch, tapioca starch, or potato starch. This will ensure that you get a lighter and fluffier texture. I do NOT recommend blends that use heavier and denser flours such as garbanzo bean flour as it will result in a denser texture.
Xanthan Gum: I use an extra teaspoon of xanthan gum even though the flour blend already contains xanthan gum, because this replaces the role of gluten and helps the flours to bind better and creates better texture.
Baking Powder: I use baking powder in addition to yeast to give the rolls extra rise, which helps them to be a little lighter and fluffier in texture.
Sugar: The sugar is required for the yeast to work, as it acts as the food for the yeast to activate and make the dough rise. In this case, I’ve used light brown sugar, but you can also use white sugar or dark brown sugar if you prefer.
Instant Dry Yeast: I like using instant dry yeast in my baking because no proofing or activation is required. If you don’t have instant dry yeast, you can use active yeast, but make sure you dissolve the yeast in a mixture of warm water and sugar to activate it before using.
Warm Water: Make sure the water you use is between 105F to 115F. (It’s important that the water is neither too hot nor too cold. The warmth is required to activate the yeast, but if the water is too hot it will kill the yeast.) Alternatively, you may also use warm milk instead of water if you prefer.
Egg: This recipe requires the egg, without which it will come out dense and heavy. I haven’t tried it with egg replacers so I can’t guarantee it will work if you replace the egg.
Apple Cider Vinegar: Since yeast usually likes an acidic environment, adding apple cider vinegar (ACV) will help the yeast work better and give the bread a better rise. If you don’t have ACV, you can use any other vinegar you have.
Coconut Oil: I prefer using refined coconut oil for cooking because it has a more neutral taste (as opposed to extra virgin coconut oil which has a stronger coconut taste and smell). You may also use melted vegan butter if you prefer. Alternatively, if you are not lactose-intolerant, feel free to use melted butter in equal amounts.
Egg Wash: Brushing egg wash over the rolls before baking them will ensure that they turn out golden brown and have a nice shine. To make egg wash, beat an egg with 1 teaspoon of water and mix well. Alternatively, you can also brush the rolls with olive oil.
Storing/Freezing: Store the dinner rolls in an airtight container or ziplock bag in the fridge for up to 5 days, or wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Heat up the rolls slightly in the microwave to thaw them before serving.
This recipe was originally published in November 2020, but has since been updated to include clearer step-by-step instructions.
Adapted from: Gluten-Free Baking
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: gluten-free dinner rolls
Excited to try this recipe, quick question: if the gluten free flour blend I’m using doesn’t contain Xanthan gum already, do I need to add more than a teaspoon to this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Hayley! If you GF flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum already, then I would suggest that you use 1 1/4 teaspoons of xanthan gum in total. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Hello. I made this recipe tonight and followed it exact left it in a warm place to rise for 30 min and they didn’t rise even a bit!! This is now the third recipe that hasn’t worked out
Hi Megan, sorry to hear that your rolls didn’t rise, as others made it successfully,. If that’s the case, you might want to check whether your yeast has expired (test by combing yeast, warm water and a bit of sugar in small bowl). If the yeast is working, you should see the mixture start to foam up. If not, I recommend you buying a fresh batch of instant yeast.
I made the dinner rolls and they turned out hard .
I followed the recipe. This was a disappointment.
Hi M, so sorry to hear that the rolls didn’t work out for you. GF baking is tricky, so I understand your frustration. Many readers have made them successfully, so let’s try to troubleshoot.
I’m thinking that it could be due to the lack of humidity in your dough (there are many factors – depending on the type of GF flour blend, humidity level where you live) and whether the yeast worked probably to make the dough rise enough so it doesn’t turn out hard.
One possible fix is to add 1/4 extra cup of warm water (between 105 – 115F) to make the dough wetter and less dry/dense. Also, did your dough rise/increase in size even slightly? I would also check that the yeast you used wasn’t expired, because if it is, the dough wouldn’t rise and hence the bread will naturally be hard.
Hope this helps!
My search for the perfect gluten free roll stops here! These were absolutely amazing, delicious soft and fluffy. I’ve made them into hamburger buns too and they turned out just as great. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe.
★★★★★
Hi Angie,
This makes me so happy to hear! Thanks for letting me know that they work great as hamburger buns too! Have a great holiday season, and hope to see you around the blog again sometime soon!
xx,
Felicia
Happy holidays from Australia xx
Thank you so much Angie!!
Happy holidays to you and your fam!
xx
I’ve been practicing making rolls from different recipes for this upcoming thanksgiving. My sister and I are both gluten free and never get to have rolls with our meal. This is the 4th recipe I’ve tried and the ONLY one that has turned out!
Thank you so much for sharing and including so much detail.
They turned out softer than any recipe I’ve tried. To me the texture is more biscuit like rather than dinner roll but still so yummy! Not sure if I did something wrong..
But I will be making these for thanksgiving this year!!
★★★★
Hi Sandra!
So happy to hear that you enjoyed these dinner rolls! Perhaps, if you want them even softer, you can try adding another 1/8 or 1/4 cup of water? and YAY that you’ll be making them for thanksgiving this year! : – )
Hope this helps, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Hi, I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. I wanted to be sure that I only need to mix the batter by hand. Thanks so much!
Maria
★★★★★
Hi Maria!
Yes, you only need to mix it by hand 🙂 No special mixer needed!
Hope you enjoy these rolls and happy weekend!
Thanks so much! Have a blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas!
★★★★★
You are most welcome Maria!
Have a blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas too!
xx,
Felicia
Dearest Felicia,
I am so proud of you and your perseverance in wanting to better whatever you want to do.
This recipe is no different. I so love how you generously share with all of us your findings in your trial-and-error journey so that we can just glean from all your findings at ease. Your detailed explanations of how each certain ingredient within the recipe is needed and worked really help us to have the understanding and confidence to work on your recipe.
Thank you very much – I appreciate you and all that you do!
Love,
Mum
★★★★★
Thank you for being my biggest supporter all these years mummy!!
I love you!
I have tried a lot of gluten free recipes and it has not been easy for me to find a roll recipe (bread recipe) that I like. I appreciate all the detail you gave as to why you used certain ingredients. I really liked the taste and texture of the rolls. I missed the part where you say to let them cool before eating (they are a little gooey warm–but after they cooled the texture was more like gluten flour rolls.
Thank you.
★★★★★
Hi Barbara!
I’m so happy to hear that!! Thank you for sharing your feedback and how it went 🙂 There are plenty of other gluten-free bread recipes on the blog for you to try out if you enjoy bread baking, so hope to see you around the blog again sometime soon!
Have a great week!
xx,
Felicia
I can’t have vinegar. Could I use something else instead?
Hi Vicki! Can you take lemon juice? If so, substitute the vinegar with equal quantities of fresh lemon juice, as the acidity with help with the rise of the bread rolls.
Question: should the brown sugar be packed?
Hi JR, nope, the brown sugar doesn’t have to be packed! Hope you enjoy the dinner rolls, and happy holidays!
very soft and delicious, will definitely be making again.
★★★★★
You’re most welcome Brinn! So glad you enjoy these dinner rolls dear! Happy holidays! x, Felicia.
Felicia,
Can you recall that I just love any freshly baked bread with butter and I can never have enough of them when I was with you in BA?
Thank you for sharing with us your recipe for this gluten-free dinner roll – I am loving it!
God Bless!
Mum
★★★★★
Hi mummy!! Yes I remember the both of us wolfing down the bread rolls with butter before the main course arrived! Fun times. Miss you mummy! 🙂