These Gluten Free Sourdough Rolls are as soft and fluffy as can be thanks to a special technique and a perfectly ripe gf sourdough starter.
Some of the items linked in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, if you click through and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission.
Stop everything, y'all. I'm gonna make a very bold statement about these rolls. They are the BEST rolls I've ever had. Gluten free or NOT, they are hands down better than any roll I can ever think of eating in my lifetime!
Thanks to a special technique, called a tangzhong, these rolls are not only as soft as ever, they STAY soft for DAYS!! When I first made a batch of them (which was 12 decently-sized rolls), (mostly) my son polished off the entire thing within two days.
What makes these rolls so soft?
Tangzhong is that magic technique that makes these rolls so incredibly soft. If you haven't tried one yet, let me explain what that is. A tangzhong is a method of pre-"cooking" a little bit of the flour from a recipe in some of the liquid. This pre-gelatinizes the starches in the flour, allowing those starches to hold onto more liquid.
What does all that jargon mean? It simply means that we get a softer dough that stays softer for longer. As of this posting, there are five more recipes on this blog that use a tangzhong. All of them are as soft as can be.
What you'll need to make these rolls
- Kim's gluten free bread flour blend - I would not suggest using a store bought gluten free flour blend in place of my recipe. The only two that I might try would be King Arthur's new gluten free bread flour blend or Caputo gluten free flour. Because they have wheat starch in them, they might work similarly to mine. But please note that I have not tested either one of these so I can't say for sure. Also, if you are allergic to wheat, do NOT use them!
- Dry milk powder - for these rolls, I chose to use a whole milk dry milk powder. Fat equals flavor and lemme tell ya, flavor is what these rolls are all about!
- Active sourdough starter - if you haven't created your gluten free sourdough starter yet, you'll need to get that going and well established first. Once established, my method of keeping it in the fridge means no daily feedings. So you can think about feeding it only when you want to make sourdough bread or rolls!
- Sugar - the dough for these rolls isn't very enriched (although you'd never know it when eating them). The minimal amount of sugar in the dough feeds the sourdough starter and makes a nice, tender roll.
How to make the best sourdough rolls
- Step 1: Make the tangzhong: pour milk into flour in a small bowl and whisk. Microwave at 30 second intervals, whisking between.
- Step 2: Tangzhong is done when it reaches a temperature of 145-150 F, or it's the consistency of a thick paste. Let cool to lukewarm.
- Step 3: Mix together the rest of the milk with the psyllium husks and then the sourdough starter.
- Step 4: Add the rest of the dough ingredients and knead on medium for 5 minutes; scrape into the middle of the bowl and cover.
- Step 5: Let rise until doubled in size' refrigerate overnight.
- Step 6: Divide dough into roughly 80g pieces.
Shape and bake!
- Step 1: Shape rolls into tight rounds and place in a buttered baking dish.
- Step 2: Cover and proof until nearly doubled in size.
- Step 3: Brush rolls with melted butter and bake at 350 F for 15-20 minutes, or until they spring back when lightly touched. They will be very light in color.
- Step 4: Brush the rolls again with melted butter immediately upon removing them from the oven.
Gluten free sourdough rolls FAQs
Yes, you can! You will need to use a different recipe entirely, which is my Pillowy Soft Gluten Free Dinner Rolls.
They can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. For longer storage, they may be frozen for up to 3 months. I would not recommend storing rolls in the refrigerator.
A tangzhong, an old Chinese method of cooking a portion of the bread's flour with a portion of the liquid until a paste is formed, is what makes these rolls super soft.
More gluten free sourdough recipes
- Gluten free sourdough focaccia
- Same day gluten free sourdough
- Gluten free sourdough sandwich bread
- Best ever gluten free sourdough bread
- Gluten free sourdough soft pretzel recipe
- Gluten free cranberry walnut sourdough
- Gluten free sourdough pizza crust
- Sourdough English muffins recipe (gluten free)
- Gluten free sourdough cinnamon rolls
More recipes using a tangzhong
- Pillowy soft gluten free dinner rolls - basically this same recipe, but made with instant yeast instead of sourdough.
- Best ever gluten free white sandwich bread
- Gluten free Olive Garden style breadsticks
- Gluten free sourdough soft pretzel recipe
- Gluten free sourdough cinnamon rolls with brown butter
Once you take your first bite of the SOFTEST Gluten Free Sourdough Rolls, you'll want to make them again and again and again. And eat them again and again and again. Just do it! You can thank me later
The Softest Gluten Free Sourdough Rolls
Ingredients
Tangzhong
- 35 grams Kim's gluten free bread flour blend
- 60 grams water
- 120 grams whole milk
Dough
- tangzhong (cooled to lukewarm)
- 190 grams whole milk (dairy-free milk may be substituted)
- 100 grams gluten free sourdough starter (active and bubbly)
- 5 grams whole psyllium husks (or 3 grams psyllium husk powder)
- 56 grams butter, very soft
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 50 grams granulated sugar
- 300 grams Kim's gluten free bread flour blend
- 16 grams whole or nonfat dry milk powder
- 6 grams kosher salt
Instructions
Make the tangzhong
- Place the flour in a medium bowl and pour the milk and water over top. Whisk until combined. It may be lumpy at this point, but it will smooth out.
- Microwave at 30 second intervals, whisking in between, until it reaches 145-150°F or the mixture is that of a thick, smooth paste; let cool to lukewarm.
Make the dough
- Add the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer in the order in which they are listed (wet first, then dry). Knead on low until the dough comes together, and then increase the speed to medium and knead for 5 minutes.
- Scrape dough into the center of the bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled in size. This could take anywhere from 2 hours up to 8 hours, depending on the time of year or ambient temperature of your proofing area. Go by the looks versus the time (if it's been 6 hours and still doesn't look any different, let it go longer). Sourdough always takes longer to proof than commercial yeast.
- Once the dough has fully proofed, refrigerate it overnight.
Shape and proof
- Remove the dough from the fridge and knead it on a well-floured surface. It is a rather soft and sticky dough, so just do your best and add more flour as necessary. It doesn't need to be perfect. You're just trying to remove a lot of the air bubbles and make the dough smoother.
- Divide dough into roughly 80 gram pieces and roll each portion into a tight ball, using extra flour as necessary.
- Place rolls in a well-greased baking dish and cover with plastic wrap. Set baking dish in a warm, draft-free area to proof until rolls are nearly doubled in size. The time it takes to proof will vary, depending on the ambient temperature in your proofing area. Focus more on what the rolls look like than the time.
Bake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. When rolls are fully proofed, brush them with melted butter and bake for 20 minutes, or until they bounce back when pressed lightly. They will be ever so lightly golden brown on top so don't overbake them in an attempt to achieve a darker golden brown color.
- Immediately upon removing from the oven, brush them again with any leftover melted butter. Let cool slightly before indulging in the softest gluten free roll you'll ever have!
Beth Murphy says
How would I go about making this dairy free?
Kim says
Just sub all the dairy with dairy-free alternatives, such as dairy-free butter (stick, not soft tub type) for the butter and dairy-free milk for the milk.
Allison says
Made these for Thanksgiving and I'm so pleased with them! They feel heavy and dense in your hand but somehow are incredibly soft. Even the gluten eaters loved them. I do wish they had some more color after baking but GF is never as golden brown as I'd like.
Some changes I made (due to either messing up or to avoid having to buy something):
- used King Arthur GF Bread flour
- used buttermilk powder instead of milk powder
- the refrigeration was only a few hours (because I got started late)
- the Tangzhong was only cooled to about 115 degrees before I moved on to the next step
- I cooked them in the cast iron Dutch Oven I normally use for my sourdough loaves without the lid
- first proof was about 8 hours. Second proof was about 3 hours.
I will definitely make these again and loved learning a new technique. Thanks!
Heyley Taber says
Hi Kim! I am making these rolls and got started a little later than I wanted to. I had the dough proofing overnight and it was ready in the morning. I know the recipe says “refrigerate overnight”- does that mean it needs several hours to be cold before working with it? I’m wondering how many hours I would need to refrigerate the proofed dough before I can make into rolls and let the 2nd proofing begin. Am I able to skip the refrigeration of the dough if the kitchen is cold? Thanks for any tips!
Kim says
Oooh, I really wouldn't skip the refrigeration. It is necessary to make the dough much easier to shape. However, you may be able to speed up the process by freezing it for maybe 30 minutes at a time and see how that works.
Maya says
My tangzhong cooled all the way to room temp. Is it important that it's still warm when you mix it with the remaining ingredients or is it more of a don't do it any sooner than lukewarm or bits will start to chemistry?
Kim says
No, it can be cool (even cold from the day before and stored in the fridge).
Teresa says
Kim, I have followed the instructions gram for gram and created your gluten free flour. I have tried 2 times and both times the dough is too wet. What am I doing wrong?
Kim says
Oh no! Is there a way for you to tell me what brands of each flour component you're using? Sometimes it's as simple as a difference in the quality of the flour.
Teresa says
Bobs red mill has been the brand for the potato starch, white rice and tapioca starch.
Kim says
There's your problem. While the potato and tapioca starch are fine, Bob's Red Mill's white rice flour is grainy and not fine enough so when used in my recipes, it doesn't absorb enough of the liquid, causing a very sticky dough. While you could theoretically reduce the amount of liquid in the dough to compensate, you'd still be left with an inferior end result. As soon as you get the appropriate superfine white rice flour (it is linked directly within the recipe for the flour blend), you'll see the amazing difference.
Debbie says
Going to try these this week. Do you think they could be par baked, kept and finished 2 days later? Just trying to think the best way to have them fresh for Thanksgiving. Thanks for your great recipes.
Kim says
You may be able to do that, but without having tried it myself I don't know for sure. What I've done is made the dough and shaped the rolls, then froze those rolls before the second proof. I will thaw them and proof them either the morning of or the night before Thanksgiving and they should be just as good as freshly baked.
Debbie says
Thank you Kim. I just made my first test batch and they taste amazing. Absolutely the best rolls I have tried. I will try your freezer method. Great recipe!
Kim says
Yay!!!! My son and I both agreed that they are definitely our favorite rolls to date 🥰🥰🥰
Toni C says
Wow! My gluten intolerant daughter had an ER shift Thanksgiving Day, so we had the food coma yesterday. I followed your instructions, shaping, freezing the dough, thawing, allowing to rise, then baking. These are AMAZING! Baked another batch tonight for her to take back with her. The only thing I changed was to add an egg wash for that fresh baked golden color. You nailed it!
Stephanie says
Can this be made without the milk powder and what else would you alter to adjust it?
Kim says
To be truthful, I haven't tried it without the milk powder so I'm not sure how it would work out. If you need to be dairy free, you may be able to substitute it with coconut milk powder or oat milk powder, both of which can be found on Amazon.
Erica says
Can this be made vegan? Specifically, replacing the egg?
Kim says
I honestly am not sure. I haven't tried it without egg, but I imagine if you use a suitable egg replacement (flax egg, aquafaba, chia egg, etc) it *should* work. I'm not the leading expert on substituting with eggs, so I'm only saying this as a possibility and without much authority. My best advice would be to try it and see if it works😊