Gluten Free Crescent Rolls Recipe

pile of lightly golden browned rolls shaped like crescents

5 from 58 votes

These soft, buttery gluten free crescent rolls are made with gluten free bread flour for the fluffiest rolls. Perfect for any meal or holiday!

Prep Time25

Cook Time15

Rising time3 30

Total Time4 10

Course: Appetizer, Bread

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten free crescent rolls

Servings: rolls

Author: Nicole Hunn

Equipment

Stand mixer with dough hook (or handheld mixer with dough hook attachments)
1 2 liter proofing bucket or other sealed container
Pizza or pastry wheel or sharp knife, for slicing the dough

Ingredients

For the starter

⅝ cup gluten free bread flour blend (see Recipe Notes)
1 ½ teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon instant yeast (see Recipe Notes)
½ cup warm water (about 95°F)

For the dough

1 ¾ cups gluten free bread flour blend (see Recipe Notes), plus more for sprinkling
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon honey
⅜ cup buttermilk or plain whole milk yogurt at room temperature
1 egg at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
Risen Starter
3 tablespoons unsalted butter just barely melted
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, cream, or water) optional

Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the starter.

In a medium-size bowl, place the bread flour, granulated sugar, and instant yeast, and whisk to combine well. Add the warm water, and mix until smooth and well-combined. (If using Caputo Fioreglut flour, add the water to the bowl first, followed by the flour, sugar, and instant yeast.)
The mixture will be thick and shapeless. Cover and set the bowl aside in a warm, draft-free location to rise until doubled in size (about 45 minutes).

Make the dough.

In a stand mixer bowl (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer with dough hooks), add the honey, yogurt or buttermilk, egg, room temperature butter, and risen starter to the bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the bread flour and salt, and whisk to combine. Add to the mixing bowl on top of the wet ingredietns.
Place the bowl in your stand mixer fitted with the dough hook and knead for about 5 minutes on medium-high speed or until the dough is smooth and stretchy, and appears to have lightened a bit in color.
Spray a silicone spatula with cooking oil spray, and scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Transfer the dough to a bowl or proofing bucket large enough for the dough to rise, and cover tightly with plastic wrap or the top of your proofing bucket.
Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 5 days.

Shape the rolls.

On baking day, line a rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and set it aside.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and sprinkle it very lightly with more flour. Handling the dough very gently so you don’t incorporate too much flour into the dough, turn the dough over a few times until it’s smoother.
Roll the dough into a 10-inch to 12-inch circle, turning the dough over frequently, sprinkling very lightly with more flour as necessary, and moving it around to prevent sticking.
With a pizza wheel or sharp knife, slice the round of dough into 4 equal pieces, each a very wide triangle. Slice each quarter into 3 equal triangles, making 12 triangles total.
Brush the dough liberally with about half of the 3 tablespoons of barely melted butter, then allow the dough to sit briefly to allow the butter to set.
Separate one triangle from the circle, and roll it gently but securely from base to tip. Place the shaped raw crescent roll on the prepared baking sheet, with the tip of the triangle secured on the bottom.
Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Space the rolls about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.

Let the rolls rise.

Cover the baking sheet with lightly oiled plastic wrap, and place it in a draft-free location to rise until about 150% of its original size, or 50% more than the size it started (about 45 minutes).
The rolls will not double, so do not overproof. If the dough starts to look less smooth on top or break, stop the rising right away.

Bake the rolls.

About 15 minutes before the end of the rolls’ rise, preheat your oven to 350°F. If you've used Caputo Fioreglut or KAF gf bread flour, preheat the oven to 375°F.
Once the rolls have finished rising, remove the plastic wrap and brush the tops generously with the rest of the barely melted butter. If you've used Caputo Fioreglut or KAF gf bread flour, brush the the tops of the rolls with an egg wash as well.
Place the baking sheets in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the rolls are just browned (about 15 minutes).
Remove from the oven, and serve warm.

Video

Notes

About gluten free bread flour.

For a full explanation of my gluten free bread flour blend, including questions regarding substitutions in that blend, how to create it, and how to handle it, please click over to that post.

Here are the weight measurements for making the total 4 3/4 cups (665 grams) required for this bread dough:

475 grams Better Batter original blend all purpose gluten free flour or my mock Better Batter
119 grams whey protein isolate
71 grams Expandex modified tapioca starch

You can also make this recipe with King Arthur Flour's Gluten Free Bread Flour blend and Caputo Fioreglut gluten free flour blend without any changes to the starter or dough ingredients. To encourage the rolls to brown with these flours, though, brush the outside of the shaped and risen dough first generously with melted butter, then with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with milk, cream, or water) and bake at 375°F.

About the yeast.

This recipe calls for 5 grams of instant yeast, which is also called breadmaker or rapid rise yeast.

If you would like to substitute active dry yeast in its place, you’ll need to multiply the amount by 125% or 1.25 (5 x 1.25 = 6.25), then dissolve the yeast in the water from the starter first.

Allow it to activate before adding the remaining starter ingredients and following the recipe as instructed.

From the book Gluten-Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread: Biscuits, Bagels, Buns, and More by Nicole Hunn. Excerpted by arrangement with Da Capo Lifelong, a member of the Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2013.

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