Back in June we did a book signing in Rexburg, Idaho. When we were walking into the store I noticed a sign for another cook book by a local author, about gluten free cooking. We were in Rexburg in the first place because we were invited to speak at the annual Business summit at BYU-I. One of the attendees at our presentation (we talked about developing web-based business strategy, aka how-to-write-a-blog-that-doesn’t-suck) was Susan Bell, author of the cook book I had noticed, called Gluten Free Cooking Made Easy. I told Susan that we get so many requests for gluten free recipes and it’s just not something we do much of because, well, Kate and I don’t really have a need to cook gluten free so we don’t. At least not on purpose. However I have a lot of friends who do and I know it’s in ongoing struggle to find good recipes that fit their dietary limitations and taste good. So I thought it would be fun to browse through Susan’s book and see if anything caught my eye.
And I figured if I was going to do gluten free, I may as well go all out and try the one thing that people have the most trouble with- bread! The one thing you absolutely cannot do with gluten free bread is compare it to normal wheat-flour based bread. It’s just not the same, period. Gluten free breads tend to be a little denser, with a slightly different texture and flavor, so you just have to keep that in mind if you’re experimenting in the GF world. The one thing I hear the most complaints about is GF bread turning out grainy. I picked this particular recipe because unlike a lot of GF bread recipes, it didn’t call for too many unusual ingredients. In fact, I already had the two flours needed from other recipes I make. I go through loads of tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) in my Brazilian Pao de Queijo and I used the brown rice flour when I made this multi grain artisan bread. The only other sort-of-weird thing I needed was xanthan gum, which I grabbed from a friend who cooks gluten free for her daughter who has Celiac disease. Gluten free baked goods often call for xanthan gum in small amounts and people sometimes leave it out thinking it won’t make much difference. Xanthan gum is a natural carbohydrate that basically acts as the replacement for gluten in baked goods, so it adds volume and holds everything together. It makes a big difference! Buy a package now (if you haven’t noticed, I love Bob’s Red Mill brand of everything) and it will last you a long time since you only use a teaspoon or two in recipes. Also, if you’re looking for specialty flours, check out health food stores like Whole Foods and also any grocery store with a good bulk bin supply. If you have a WinCo near you, they carry just about every type of specialty flour (and even the xanthum gum) you can think of so you can buy just the amount you need for a specific recipe.
Enough blabbing, let’s cook! We’ll start with the gluten free dinner rolls. Start by proofing your yeast by sprinkling it over warm water with some sugar. Set it aside to get all foamy like the picture below. Rule of yeast breads #1, if your yeast doesn’t bubble up like that don’t move on! It’s much easier to re-proof some yeast then to ruin a whole batch of dough. You’ll also heat up your milk in the microwave. The recipe calls for heating up the buttermilk too, but mine curdled when it got hot, so I tried again and just heated the milk. I also then added the butter to the hot milk to melt it.
Mix up your dry ingredients. If you have a KitchenAid or similar mixer, use it! But you can certainly make these without one.
Then you’ll basically add everything else into the dry ingredients and beat it all up. The dough is much softer than a traditional roll dough. It’s almost like a really thick muffin batter. Just spoon it in a muffin tin. I’m so glad that while making these, I turned to the next page and saw the variation for the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Rolls. For those, it’s the same dough, but you fill the muffin tin half way with dough, then add a spoonful of cream-cheesy-cinnamony-brown-sugary goodness and put more dough on top.
I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to leave the dough mounded like that or flatten it out, but I didn’t want the tips of my rolls to get too done so I just got my finger wet with water and patted down the rolls a little so they were more even on top. I left a few “rugged” looking as well just to test the difference.
These rolls don’t rise quite as much as a traditional roll, but they will certainly puff up. Mine puffed to about the top of muffin wells.
They browned a bit on top and around the sides and I worried I might have overcooked them.
ALL of my gluten free friends had prepared me for disaster, since that was what they usually encountered when trying to make gluten free baked goods so I’ll be honest- I was totally nervous. And skeptical. But then I broke one open, and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw! They were tender and soft and smelled delicious. Definitely a different texture and flavor than a traditional roll, so be prepared for that, but pretty darn tasty- and not grainy. I wondered if my kids would notice they were different than our standard rolls and they gobbled them right up!
They were extra good slathered in butter and strawberry jam. I only wish I had some honey butter all whipped up!
And what about those Cinnamon Cream Cheese Rolls? These stole my heart. If you’re ever in doubt about gluten free bread, just fill it with brown sugar and cinnamon and cover it in frosting. I could have eaten the entire pan of these in one sitting.
I tried them a few different ways to see which form worked best. You can sort of hide the filling inside and pat down the tops like this:
But I liked the more rustic version with the filling spilling out a little and slightly bumpy tops:
Either way, you can’t beat biting into that:
If you’re not gluten-free, you could try this out with a regular roll like our favorite dinner rolls. I should note that I’m not positive if the glaze consistency is supposed to look like that- I just eyeballed the amounts until it looked glaze-y to me 🙂
Luckily I had people to share these with. My good friend has a sweet little 3 year old with celiac so I went right over with a plate of warm rolls. She sent me a picture of that little cutie gobbling one of these up and said they were a hit! So if you or someone you know follows a gluten free diet, copy this link and send these their way! And be sure to check out Susan’s book, Gluten Free Cooking Made Easy. I see it’s on Amazon, and also at Deseret Book, where our cook book is sold. I wanted to note that one of the biggest complaints I hear about GF cook books is that they are catered toward adult gourmet tastes, and many people I know are just wanting good, simple, all-around family friendly (and especially kid friendly) food. This is definitely a good family-friendly book with lots of recipes that even people on non-gluten free diets would enjoy. It also has great information on stocking your pantry, eating out, and things like that.
Gluten Free "Favorite Rolls"
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoons yeast
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sugar divided
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or in place of milk + buttermilk use 1 1/4 C soy or almond milk
- 2 cups brown rice flour
- 1 1/2 cups tapioca flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1/2 cup dried potato flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil or shortening I used oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees, or "warm" setting.
- Place warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar onto it. Set aside.
- Microwave milk for about 1 minute, until hot. Add butter and stir to melt. Add shortening if using as well. (Susan's recipe doesn't call for melting the butter but I though it was easier that way)
- Combine flours, 2 tablespoons sugar, xanthun gum, potato flakes, and salt in a large bowl (use your mixer bowl if you're using a kitchenaid or similar mixer.)
- Add yeast mixture, warm milk mixture, oil (if using), buttermilk, and eggs into dry ingredients. Beat at high speed for 3 minutes.
- Spray a muffin tin pan with cooking spray (I rubbed mine with butter). Spoon dough into muffin tins, around 3/4 full. (I then used my buttered fingers to pat down the tops of the rolls)
- Set muffin tray on open oven door to rise (or turn oven off and place rolls inside with door closed like I did). Let rise for approximately 20 minutes for rapid-rise yeast, and 30 minutes for regular yeast. (I used rapid rise and it took about 30 for them to look plumped up, it's always better to go by what breads look like rather than time noted in a recipe since all oven/house/weather conditions are different).
- Turn heat up to 375 and bake for 20-24 minutes. (I took my pan out of the oven while I preheated it and they were done right at 20 minutes) Yields: 16-18 rolls (I halved the recipe and got 6 regular and 6 cream cheese rolls)
Cinnamon Cream Cheese Rolls
Ingredients
For the rolls
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
For the glaze
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/2 teaspoon butter extract
Instructions
- Make the dough for the "Favorite Rolls" and fill greased muffin tins about half full with dough.
- Mix cream cheese, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Place mixture into ziplock bag.
- Cut a 1/2 inch diagonal opening in one corner of the bag. Holding bag upright, squeeze cream cheese mixture onto roll dough. Add roll dough to cover the cream cheese mixture and fill the muffin tins to around 3/4 full.
- Gently press down the dough to even it out if needed.
- Continue with rising and baking instructions as described in the above recipe.
- After baking, mix glaze ingredients and pour over hot rolls.
Annnnd, because I am a mind-reader…
Awesome! So are you going to start posting gluten free recipes all the time now? As I said in the post, it’s not something Kate and I need to do for our families so it’s not really on our minds and therefore not a huge focus on this blog. However we do know that many of our recipes are either naturally GF or easily adapted to be. If you’ve tested out a GF adaptation of any of our recipes, please leave a comment on that particular recipe because it’s very helpful to others. Many times when we see those comments we are able to mention the GF adaptation in the post so others can enjoy it too. We can also start labeling things as GF if we know people have tested them out that way.
I’ve been searching for a gluten free version of [enter any type of recipe you can’t seem to find here] do you have one? Magic 8 balls says, “unlikely”. But feel free to ask 🙂
I see you added a gluten free label to your post, will you have a whole section of GF food now? umm…sort of but not really maybe? I labeled this recipe and the Brazilian rolls. If we remember, I’d like to label things from here on out as GF, especially those that are unusually gluten free (like baked goods) but we probably won’t go back and re-label posts already on the blog. I mean, have you seen how long it’s taking us to get our old posts formatted for printing? Long time folks, long time. But if you guys who have tested out GF adaptations of our recipes will leave comments on them explaining your modifications, we’d love to add those recipes to a GF section so we can start building a good GF reference section on OBB.
I have a question about Celiac, GF cooking, [insert anything else related to being gluten intolerant] Okay, we’ll have to stop you right there; we’re not experts. But do feel free to post your question or comment below and I’m sure there are plenty of readers who would be happy to pipe in!
Questions & Reviews
They look really yummy. I use Cup4Cup when I make baked goods for the few people I know with Celiac disease. My friend with Celiac disease recommended it. Takes the guess work out of gluten free baking. I use it for cookies a lot. I made your small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe using it as the only flour just last week. Friend asked for the recipe–Told her it was your recipe, just with Cup4Cup as the flour.
These are so yummy! I found that by keeping my hands oiled, I could shape them just like regular rolls. They came out looking like normal rolls and people were amazed that they were gluten free! Thanks!
I LOVE YOU!
I just found out that my Grandma has to go gluten free this makes things easy. Thank you!!!!
I have tried your bruschetta chicken peso wraps without the pesto because I am allergic to pesto. I also used a corn tortilla and it tasted AMAZING!!
i made this for christmas morning. gluten free is something i opt to do, not a must-do for us. these are amazing!! you don’t feel like you are missing out on anything when you eat these. my family of six and our guests all LOVED them. i will make these again and again. they were not *hard* to make, but time intensive. i’ve only had them right out of the oven. hoping they are just as tasty tomorrow, since i doubled the recipe and have 12 left over 🙂
Thank you for putting this recipe for glutten free rolls. I do not need glutten free recipes, but have a daughter who does. It’s nice to have some recipes when she visits.
I want to make these but could only find the rice flour. I live in a very small town and these things are hard to come by, can I just use rice flour? I do have some Bob’s redmill bread flour…
I really don’t know- I’m sorry Sheri!
well I already loved your site now i LOVE it:)Me and my sister and dad all have Celiac disease and are always on the prowel to find good bakery;)These look delicious i can’t wait to make them and brag to my sister;)
Thanks so much for posting this, I can’t wait to try them out. I have celiac and although the rest of my family does not, I try to make all our dinners gf. I cook from your cookbook all the time and usually don’t have any problems making simple adjustments to make things gluten free. The baked goods of course are a little trickier but that is to be expected:)
I am anxious to try these rolls. I have Celiac and have spent a lot of time researching other grains that are gluten free but also healthy. So many baked goods and recipes use only starchy flours and do not have much nutritional value. I recently published a gluten free recipe book that uses these healthy flours: “The Nutritious Gluten-free Baker-Recipes with Whole Grains”. It has lots of terrific tasting bake goods that are also healthy. If any of your gluten free followers are interested they can contact me at [email protected]
OH Sara… you are amazing. My son was just diagnosed with Celiac disease and my first thought was, “I can’t cook from Our Best Bites anymore :(” I was not a happy camper. I was looking on blogs and found exactly what you said: Adult gourmet tastes. I was bummed. Then I was looking through your blog and noticed this recipe for the Gluten Free rolls and you mentioned the cookbook that is gluten free. I have been praying for a way to make this an easier transition for my son but no such luck. Thank you for your post. It has made my day. I appreciate all the hard work you and Kate put in to making this blog a success! Thanks again
Linda
These sound INCREDIBLE…my family will love them for breakfast tomorrow! My MIL always made homemade cinnamon rolls, and I have made them for my husband exactly zero times. Just haven’t found a good GF variation. I think this is IT!!!
The only possible GF problem I can see is with your suggestion to use the bulk bins. There is a high chance of contamination with these products, because the flours tend to float a little. So if I am scooping from the tapioca starch, and the lady across from me is scooping wheat flour, there is a chance of cross-contamination. Plus, sometimes people are not that careful about using only the correct scoop, because they don’t understand the importance. (Trust me, I staked out my grocery’s new bulk section for twenty minutes, trying to decide if it was safe. I ended up buying pre-packaged flours…) Just something to keep in mind! 🙂
Thank you so much!
I’ve been hoping you would take an interest in
gluten-free baking.
You’re the best!!!
YUM! I cannot WAIT to try these!
We eat GF in our house because my oldest daughter and I have Celiac. These look delicious and I can’t wait to try them. One thing we have learned is that Shiloh Farms Tapioca Starch is the best out there. No aftertaste at all! It’s made my GF baking so much better. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
i saw this last week and decided i wanted to make it with my mom, who is trying to avoid gluten as much as possible, while she and my dad visited. we are going to be together for a week in FL over Christmas, and i want her to have some goodies to enjoy as well.
we could not find tapioca flour, but because i have a vitamix blender, we bought regular tapioca and pulverized it in that machine. so happy! the dough came together like a dream, and scooped out easily into the muffin tins. it rose, which i found kind of amazing, and it baked up nicely too.
the only thing i found disappointing about these rolls was the cream cheese filling. while it delivered slightly in terms of the cinnamon flavor, there was no sweetness really, and the cream cheese when cooked was a bit weird. they were still quite good while warm, though, and my mom declared them excellent (she’s tried her share of g-f breads!). we also subbed guar gum for xantham gum, with unnoticeable results.
while i will be tweaking this for future use somehow, i still declare it a winner! thanks for sharing it.
I have a daughter with Celiac (8) my mom-in-law found this book for us the month we found out, it is a really great book. I haven’t dared try the rolls because like many others I have failed miserably many times. Thank you for trying this and giving me faith again I will be making these again soon. p.s. if you want to try another great recipe GF let me know I will send you a delicious Pumpkin pancake recipe super simple super delicious!
I am so excited for this recipe! This couldn’t have come at a better time. My husband was diagnosed with celiac disease 3 weeks ago. I had to jump right into trying to make gf foods that he will enjoy. Many of the gf bread products sold are expensive and don’t taste super good. Thanks so much for posting this recipe!
These look amazing- so much better than the gluten-free products my sister buys at the store!
I don’t usually read the comments so I am not sure if this has been said but my husband is GF and I changed the peanut butter chocolate bars that you made a few weeks ago to GF just by using an all purpose GF flour mix. I cut them into bars and froze them so he can eat them for weeks and I know I have a go to treat for him when we are all eating gluten. He loves them and I sneak them from time to time too 🙂 I am going to try these rolls today too. Again, I will make a lot and freeze them so I have them on hand. Thanks ladies!
Jen G.
I love this post. I haven’t done any gluten free baking for my blog, but thanks to this post, I really need to start thinking about it. Thanks!
i do eat gluten free but never expect someone who doesn’t to cater to those of us who do. i think if you have done your research you can adapt many recipes, i have made many from your book,i’ll comment next time.
i do however appreciate this post, those look really good and i definitely want to try. i do not do a ton of baking but my daughter, also celiac is about to have a baby and these would be great to take to her!
Thanks for posting this. My daughter was just diagnosed with celiac and I was about to give up on baking. All those ingredients are overwhelming! I think I will give these a try…they don look too complicated.
I have been following your blog for several months now after a friend told me about it. You guys are great! Your recipes are amazing, your instrucions are clear, your blog is very user friendly, and you guys are hilarious. I love reading your posts even if i’m not making that recipe. I also love how you now include the recipe in a printer friendly version. It works so much better than copying it to print it cause the spacing gets all messed up. I have my other friends and sisters following you now too, and we haven’t tried a recipe yet that we haven’t all loved. My husband and 4 kids thank you too. They were getting tired of my old stand-by dinners. Thanks!
Thank you so much! I can’t wait to try the rolls! I just made your cottage cheese orange rolls (the post with the office reference) gluten free and loved them so I’m sure these will be a hit as well. It’s so sweet when people who don’t have to bake gluten free step into that realm.
I have that book (the author sent it to me to review on my GF blog) and it’s awesome! Plus the author is really sweet. I haven’t tried this recipe from it yet, but definitely need to.
Also, I love Our Best Bites! Even though I’m gluten free, it’s my favorite resource for new recipes. A lot of them are already gluten free and the ones that aren’t I just adapt to be (like your coconut chicken, yum! http://glutenfreeinutah.blogspot.com/2011/07/gluten-free-coconut-chicken.html).
Thanks for the entertaining posts and delicious recipes!
Looks delicious, can’t wait to try it!
Please please don’t use the flours from the bulk section of Winco if you are serving a GF person. There is a ton of contamination and one roll could do them in! And yeah for GF recipes!
Try this–it’s super easy and super GOOD. And, of course, wheat free!
http://attitudesforsale.blogspot.com/2011/08/eat-well-chocolate-peaunt-butter-ice.html
Just FYI…I recently discovered that Rice Krispies are NOT gluten free. It is the malt barely in them that makes them not GF. It is in basically EVERY cereal! However, I even more recently discover that they just came out with an actual name brand GF rice krispies made with brown rice. I found it at Winco…Just FYI. I am always learning something new.