Melt in Your Mouth Dairy Free Dinner Rolls {Bread Machine, Gluten Free}

Name: Melt in Your Mouth Dairy Free Dinner Rolls {Bread Machine, Gluten Free}
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 140 min
Ingredients: 220 grams white rice flour (about 1 ¼ cups); 155 grams brown rice flour (about 1 cup); 120 grams potato starch (about ¾ cup); 45 grams tapioca starch (about 1/3 cup); 1 teaspoon xanthan gum; 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast; 1 teaspoon salt; ¼ cup sugar; 2 cups water (warmed to 80 F); 1/3 cup dairy free butter (softened); 1 egg

By Christine May 8, 2014 Updated December 8, 2020 21 Comments

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You’re going to want to keep this melt-in-your-mouth Dairy Free Dinner Roll recipe on hand for any occasion. They are soft, buttery, and an absolute delight that’s ready in under an hour and prepared in a bread machine!

Be sure to bake up a large batch of these gluten free, dairy free rolls for Christmas dinner. Even your non-gluten free guests will enjoy these rolls, so it’s a win for all.

Easy Homemade Dinner Rolls

Grab your scale and bread machine to get this simple gluten free bread machine rolls recipe started. To ensure the most accurate measurements use a scale to weigh the flours and starches when baking. It’s so easy to add too much when measuring with cups, which results in dry, dense bread.

We don’t want that! Like most dinner rolls, we’re looking for a soft, airy texture on the inside and crisp shell (of course, when you brush butter on top the yeast rolls will be soft).

What should my dough look like?

A common concern when it comes to gluten free baking is the texture of the dough. The consistency is a more cake-like batter. So if your dough is loose and not like most bread doughs that are thick and kneaded, then you have successfully mixed the perfect gluten free bread dough.

batter finished mixing in the bread machine

PRO TIP: Make sure to use room temperature ingredients!

Why? When using room temperature eggs and butter, the dough forms an emulsion, which is very important when baking bread so that the dough forms airy pockets. The emulsion traps air that expands while baking, resulting in a fluffy gluten free dinner roll.

Also, be sure to use warmer water for the yeast. At least 80 degrees, up to 110 degrees works perfectly.

Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

The bread machine is a wonderful thing as 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 and then scoop into lightly sprayed muffin cups to bake.

Substitutions

If you are familiar with gluten free bread baking, you may notice that bread recipes usually call for a fair bit of xanthan gum. This is intentional for wonderfully light and fluffy homemade dinner rolls, as you want a binding agent.

Though, for this updated gluten free dinner roll recipe, I’ve reduced the amount of xanthan gum, which still results in perfectly soft GF yeast rolls. Of course, if you prefer not to bake with gums, you can substitute the xanthan gum with other gluten free flour alternatives. Psyllium husk is a good alternative.

If you want to make these gluten free yeast rolls with a vegan option, you can do so quite well.

How to Make a Flax Egg

One of my favorite vegan egg substitutions is a flax egg. Combine 3 tablespoons of water with 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal and allow to rest for 15 minutes to create a gelatinous mixture that acts as a binding agent. Read more about How to Bake Practically Anything using Egg Substitutes.

Try these Dairy Free Baked Goods While Your Here:

What ingredients are in these gluten free rolls?

Luckily, you’re likely to have the ingredients for these tasty melt-in-your-mouth dairy free dinner rolls in your pantry.

The flours and starches used for this recipe include white rice flour, brown rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca starch. For this soft roll recipe, it’s best to not make substitutions to these ingredients as texture may differ.

Check out this Guide to Gluten Free Flour Substitutions for more gluten free baking ideas.

How to make the best gluten free dinner rolls

Step 1: Because bread machines may differ in the order of which ingredients to add first, follow your machine’s recommendations. For mine, I added the butter, egg, and water, followed by the dry ingredients.

Set the machine to the dough setting to mix. Initially, leave the lid open for the first few minutes while the dough is mixing to scrape down the sides, then close to finish.

Step 2: In the meantime, prepare 2 12-cup muffin pans by lightly spraying with cooking spray and set aside.

Step 3: Once the dough has finished mixing, remove the pan from the machine.

PRO TIP: The mix will be more like a cake batter, which is what gluten free bread dough should look like.

Use a large scoop or spoon to fill each muffin cup ⅔ full, then place the dinner rolls in a warm area to rise for 15 minutes. Once the rolls rise in the muffin tin, the dough should fill the cup.

Step 4: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, then bake for 20 minutes. The rolls should be a nice golden brown with a crisp top. An optional step would be to brush the tops of the rolls with butter during the last 5 minutes and allow them to finish baking. The rolls will be softer if you choose this step. Otherwise, you want a nice, crisp top.

Step 5: Now that your home is filled with that delicious, yeasty aroma of freshly baked bread, remove the pans from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool slightly.

These dairy-free yeast rolls are the best served fresh out of the oven!

How to store Gluten Free Dinner Rolls

Like most gluten free bread, they tend to dry out and become hard quickly. Though, if you wrap the rolls tightly in plastic wrap and store them in an air-tight container, then these easy dinner rolls will last up to the next day or two. When ready to eat, unwrap and warm in the oven for a few minutes.

To freeze gluten free rolls, wrap tightly and store in an air-tight freezer-safe bag or container for up to two months.

PRO TIP: Be sure to store these fresh dinner rolls no more than 3-4 hours after baking. The sooner, the better!

What better way to celebrate Christmas than with a big basket of freshly baked gluten free yeast rolls? And they’re just perfect for any time baking. Add this to your gluten free dinners for all to enjoy in under an hour!