Soft Buttery Dinner Rolls, Gluten Free

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake up the yeast

   Whisk the warm milk, warm water, sugar, and yeast together in the bowl of a stand mixer. The liquid should feel like bathwater, not hot. Let it stand 5 to 10 minutes until foamy on top. If it stays flat, the yeast is spent — start again with a fresh packet.

2. 2

   Whisk the dry ingredients

   In a separate bowl, whisk together the gluten-free flour blend, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt until completely uniform. Gluten-free blends settle and separate in the bag, and the xanthan gum needs to be evenly dispersed or you'll get gummy pockets, so don't rush this.

3. 3

   Mix the dough

   Add both eggs and the softened butter to the yeast mixture, then add the dry ingredients all at once. Using the paddle attachment rather than a dough hook, beat on medium for 3 to 4 minutes, scraping the bowl once or twice. The result will look more like a thick, sticky batter than a kneadable dough — that is correct, and adding extra flour to firm it up will give you dry, crumbly rolls.

4. 4

   Rest to hydrate

   Cover the bowl and let the dough sit for 25 minutes before doing anything else. Gluten-free starches absorb liquid slowly, and this rest is what transforms a loose, grainy batter into something thick and scoopable. You'll see it visibly stiffen.

5. 5

   Portion into the pan

   Butter a 9×13-inch pan. Scoop the dough into 12 even portions, about 83g each, using a large spring-loaded ice cream scoop or two spoons. Wet your fingertips with water and smooth each mound into a neat round — water is the trick here, since the dough sticks to dry hands but slides off wet ones. Leave about half an inch between rolls.

6. 6

   Rise

   Cover loosely and let rise in a warm spot for 45 to 60 minutes, until the rolls look puffy and have grown by about half again. Gluten-free dough will not reliably double the way wheat dough does, and it has limited patience — over-proofing causes collapse in the oven, so bake them while they still look domed and lively.

7. 7

   Bake

   Heat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the center. Bake 22 to 26 minutes, until the tops are golden and firm. Gluten-free rolls need to go further than wheat ones to set their starches — pull them at an internal temperature of 205°F to 210°F. Underbaked centers stay unpleasantly gummy, so trust the thermometer over the color.

8. 8

   Butter and cool

   Brush the hot rolls all over with melted butter and add flaky salt if using. Let them cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before pulling them apart; the crumb is fragile straight from the oven and firms up considerably as it cools. Serve warm — these are at their very best on day one.

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Baker's Tips

• 1.

  Weigh your flour if you can. Scooping straight from the bag can pack in an extra 30g per cup, which is the single most common reason homemade rolls come out dense and dry.

• 2.

  The dough should feel softer and stickier than you're comfortable with. That extra hydration turns to steam in the oven and is what makes the crumb cloudlike.

• 3.

  To get ahead: shape the rolls, cover the pan tightly, and refrigerate overnight. Pull the pan out 1 1/2 to 2 hours before baking to let them finish rising at room temperature.

• 4.

  No stand mixer is no problem. Mix with a sturdy spoon until shaggy, then knead by hand on an oiled rather than floured surface to avoid working in extra flour.

• 5.

  For a shinier, more burnished top, brush the risen rolls with an egg beaten with a tablespoon of milk just before baking, then butter them again when they come out.

• 6.

  An oven with just the light on makes a reliable proofing box on a cold day. So does a turned-off oven with a pan of just-boiled water on the rack below.