These gluten-free brioche dinner rolls are absolutely perfect for your next special occasion or holiday dinner. They would be a wonderful accompaniment to your Thanksgiving meal and can also be cut up to make a fabulous gluten-free stuffing or dressing.
Today I gave myself permission to let go of responsibilities and deadlines and just play in the kitchen. I started the day thinking I would pull out my sourdough starters and give them some love but I ended up going a different direction entirely.
At some point this morning I was reminded of a gluten-free brioche roll recipe I had seen on the Cup4Cup Gluten-Free Flour website. Since I still had most of a bag of the Cup4Cup flour (I first talked about and used this flour in this Sweet Potato Bread) and a fresh supply of my favorite Kerrygold butter, I decided to go ahead and try the brioche roll recipe. Just because.
The last time I made brioche was for The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, when I chose the super extra buttery rich version of Peter Reinhart’s recipe. These rolls, while plenty rich, have nowhere near as much butter as I managed to squeeze into that last batch.
These gluten-free brioche dinner rolls are easy to put together because they are baked in a muffin tin and therefore don’t need any special shaping. Also, the butter is melted and added to the flour along with the beaten eggs, so there’s no need to slowly beat in small amounts of softened butter. It’s really an easy recipe, although it really works best with a stand mixer.
Here is what the gluten-free brioche dough looked like after mixing. It is very soft and sticky, not something that can be handled and kneaded by hand. But that’s okay, because once it’s mixed we don’t need to do anything other than cover it and let it rise for a while.
It’s hard to tell in the photo, but after about an hour and a half, the dough had risen some. I should have put it in a clear plastic container so I could mark the starting point and actually see how much the volume increased, but I didn’t. Maybe next time. Anyway, I thought that this had risen enough and I went ahead and started putting the batter in my greased muffin tin.
What you really need for this part is one of those mechanical ice cream scoops. They really don’t work well for ice cream, but they are perfect for portioning out batter for cupcakes, muffins, and these brioche rolls. Seriously, this batter/dough is sticky and an ice cream scoop is the way to go!
After portioning out all the dough, I ended up filling 17 holes, so you definitely need to have either two 12-cup muffin tins or one 12-cup and one 6-cup. And make sure you grease the muffin tins first! I just used nonstick spray. After portioning out the rolls, you’ll gently brush them with egg wash and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
You’ll need to let them rise a bit more before putting them in the oven – I let them go for about 35 minutes. Then it’s into the oven at 350 degrees to bake for 15-17 minutes. I rotated the pans after 10 minutes so they would brown evenly.
I was happy to see them rise quite a bit in the oven and turn into perfect little brioche rolls!
I was even happier when I bit into one that was still a bit warm. These are absolutely delicious – buttery, yeasty, and slightly sweet with a tender crumb. I ate two of them slathered in butter and sat there dreaming about the Meyer lemon marmalade that I need to make.
You can download and print the original recipe here but I have added a printable version at the bottom of this post with some of my own notes. If you do buy some Cup4Cup Flour, there are more great-looking recipes available on the site, including a stuffing recipe that uses these brioche rolls.
I have not been asked by Cup4Cup to promote their flour, we just happened to buy some and I have had fun baking with it. It’s an expensive product, so I thought I’d share my results in case any of you were curious if it’s worth the money.
For a special occasion gluten-free treat like these brioche dinner rolls, I definitely think it’s worth a try! I know that Cup4Cup flour mixes are available in 3-pound bags at Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table (where we bought it), and several other stores, but if you really like it, you can buy a 25-pound bag through Amazon, which cuts the price per pound in half.
This post may include Amazon affiliate links. Making purchases through these links won’t affect the amount you pay, but I will earn a small percentage, which helps support this blog and my family. If I write about products I have received for free or am ever paid to write about a product, it will always be disclosed. Thank you.
Calories
Fat
Carbs
Protein
Yields 16 rolls
Save RecipeIngredients
2 teaspoons (7 g) active dry yeast
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons (20 g) granulated sugar
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons + 1 3/4 teaspoons (230 g) warm water
3 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (535 g) Cup4Cup flour
1 3/4 tablespoons (13.5 g) kosher salt *(If using table salt, see note.)
3.5 ounces (100 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup (80 g) honey
3 large eggs + 1 yolk, at room temperature
1 large egg
Flaky sea salt (like Maldon) for sprinkling
Instructions
1. In a small bowl, combine the yeast with the sugar and warm water to activate the yeast. Allow it to sit in a warm area until the yeast mixture is foaming and bubbly, about 5-10 minutes.
2. Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the melted butter, honey, eggs, and the yeast mixture.
4. With the stand mixer on low speed, slowly pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Increase the speed to medium to fully incorporate the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Continue to mix the dough for another 5 minutes on medium speed. The dough should be very silky, soft, and smooth.
5. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and place in a warm area. Let the dough rise until it has noticeably risen (will probably not double in size, that's okay), about an hour and a half.
6. Unwrap the bowl, punch down the dough with a greased or floured hand, and cover again with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for for at least 2 hours.
7. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Spray two muffin pans with nonstick spray. Spoon about 1/3 cup of the dough into each cup. It's easiest to use a mechanical ice cream scoop for this part. You will probably end up with between 15 and 17 rolls.
8. To finish, whisk egg in a small bowl until well combined then use a pastry brush to lightly coat each roll with the egg wash. Sprinkle the tops of each roll with flaky salt.
9. Set the muffin tin in a warm place to rise uncovered for about 40 minutes, until they have risen a bit and spread slightly. They will not double in size.
10. While rolls are rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
11. Bake the rolls in the preheated oven for 15-17 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted into the center of a roll comes out clean.
12. Transfer to cooling rack and cool completely.
13. Store cooled rolls in an airtight container.
Notes
*If using table salt instead of Kosher salt, cut the amount of salt in half.
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