Quick & Tender Gluten-Free Bread Rolls

With the rush of our daily lives, sometimes it is just too hard to find time to make homemade gluten-free bread rolls. Making the dough, letting it rise, and then baking it can be time-consuming. So what's the alternative? Well, you can buy gluten-free bread or make one at home in less than an hour. I promise you that this recipe is quick and easy to make, and at the end of it, you will have the most tender homemade gluten-free bread rolls.

All you need to make these delicious and quick gluten-free bread rolls are the following: 

• Instant yeast
• Gluten-free flour (preferably Dove Farm White Bread Flour)
• Water 
• Milk
• Salt
• Sugar
• Egg
• Baking powder
• Xanthan gum (if your flour blend has it omit it)
• Apple cider vinegar. 

Now let's dive into the importance of the above ingredients. 

The importance of water and milk for tenderness

           Water is an essential element when working with yeast dough as it creates moisture in the dough, which then turns into steam while baking. Giving bread the fluffy texture it's famous for. Milk works similarly to water. However, the addition of milk adds flavor to the bread. Most recipes tend to use non-fat milk when making bread, but I prefer full-fat milk as it has more flavor than non-fat milk. Nevertheless, you can substitute full-fat milk with low or non-fat milk. 

Ensure that your liquids (Water and Milk) temperature are between 49 °C and 43 °C. A temperature above 49 °C will kill your yeast. As a result, your bread will not rise when it's cooked. 

Using eggs for structure

           Traditional bread rolls recipes that we grew up with tend not to include eggs. However, when working with gluten-free flour, the addition of eggs to your bread is vital to the structure of your bread rolls. In gluten-free flour, the egg helps in leveling your bread while it's baking in the oven. Eggs also provide your gluten-free bread rolls with a strong structure to compensate for the missing gluten. 

Let's make those gluten-free bread rolls rise!

           What's baking powder doing in this recipe? Baking powder is what makes this no-rise bread recipe achievable. It is giving your bread the rise it needs without having to let your bread rise overnight. Also, I found out that adding baking powder to all my gluten-free recipes helps me achieve products that are closer to gluten-containing products (tough, I know, but one can only hope). 

           I tried this recipe with and without apple cider vinegar, and trust me, the trial without the apple cider vinegar resulted in dense gluten-free bread rolls. Don't get me wrong the bread rolls tasted good but felt grainy. Also, make sure to measure your apple cider vinegar accurately as too much of it can produce a metallic after taste. 

Handling your gluten-free dough 

           Gluten-free dough is always sticky, so don't be scared if your dough is sticking to your spatula and fingers. To prevent it from sticking, I suggest you oil your hands and spatula before handling the dough. The oil will prevent it from sticking to everything it comes in contact with. 

           Furthermore, avoid handling the dough too much. Gluten-free doughs don't like to be handled. They prefer to be left alone. Don't knead the dough; kneading it will cause it to fall after the rise in the oven.