Melt-in-Your-Mouth Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls in a Bread Machine

The bread machine is a wonderful thing. It will do as much or as little of the bread-making process as you want it to, and you will always come out with a consistent product in the end. To make gluten-free rolls, you can easily mix and knead the dough in the bread machine, but you will have to cut, roll, and bake them yourself. Don’t worry though—this is the fun part.

If you are familiar with gluten-free bread baking, you may notice that this recipe calls for a fair bit of xanthan gum. This is on purpose, because for a wonderful light and fluffy dinner roll, you want a good binding agent. If you prefer not to bake with gums, you can substitute the xanthan gum however you like.

Update: we are now replacing the xanthan gum called for in recipes with alternatives – psyllium husk is a good alternative.

If you want to make these rolls with a vegan option, you can do so quite well. There are a number of different egg substitutions that you can try, but ½ cup water mixed with 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed works well with this recipe. To make it dairy-free, substitute the butter for your favorite baking oil. Olive oil, dairy-free margarine, or ghee make fine options.

Ingredients

1 ¼ cup white rice flour
1 cup brown rice flour
¾ cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch
2 tablespoons xanthan gum (replace it with one of these alternatives)
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup sugar
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup butter
1 egg

Extra melted butter for brushing (optional)

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients except the extra butter for brushing into your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer.
2. Set your machine to mix the dough and allow it to do the grunt work for you. It is not necessary to proof your dough before setting it on your baking sheet.
3. When the dough has finished mixing, you will have a mixture that is quite wet. Use a large scoop (like this one) to set balls of dough onto a prepared baking sheet.
4. Place a damp towel over your baking sheet so that the buns don’t dry out and allow them to rise for about 1 ½–1 ¼ hours, until they have doubled in size.
5. Heat your oven to 425 degrees F and bake for about 8–10 minutes. At the end you will have a lovely golden brown roll.
6. If you like, brush on a light coating of butter on the top of your rolls as soon as they come out of the oven. This will add some delicious buttery flavor and also makes them quite soft on the outside (don’t do this if you like a really crusty bun).
7. Serve them while they’re hot or save them for later and enjoy!