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These extra soft, tender gluten free Hawaiian rolls have a lightly sweet, tropical flavor that's just right for savory sandwich fillings, or to serve alongside a salty meal.
They brown deeply in the oven with a generous egg wash that keeps the moisture in and develops a super thin, shiny shell as the rolls cool.
Why this recipe works
These Hawaiian rolls are made with plenty of pineapple juice for a unique lightly sweet, tropical, and tangy flavor. Enriched with butter, an egg, and some sugar, they have an incredibly tender, pillow-soft crumb, and turn deep golden brown in the oven.
Learn my secrets for making perfectly round rolls, then shape them into 8 full-size rounds for sandwich buns. Or try dividing the dough into 12 equal pieces, shaping them into classic rounds rather than pressing them into disks, and serving them as savory-sweet gluten free dinner rolls.
Recipe ingredients
Here's what you'll need to make these rolls at home, plus an explanation of the role that each ingredient plays in the expected results:
- Gluten free flour: Provides most of the structure for the rolls, so be sure to choose a well-balanced blend based on superfinely ground and sifted rice flour as an all purpose gluten free flour blend. I recommend Nicole's Best multipurpose gluten free flour blend or Vitacost's Multi-Blend Gluten Free Flour with added xanthan gum, or Better Batter's original all purpose blend without additional xanthan gum.
- Tapioca starch/flour: Adding additional tapioca starch (the same as tapioca flour) as a separate ingredient in addition to what is already in all my recommended gluten free flour blends adds stretch and chewiness to the rolls.
- Instant yeast: Provides the rise in these rolls. Instant yeast, also called bread machine or rapid rise yeast, has less of a protective shell around each grain than active dry yeast, so it doesn't have to be soaked before adding it to the other ingredients. If you'd prefer to use active dry yeast, you'll need 25% more yeast by weight for a bit below 8 grams, and you'll need to proof it first in some of the pineapple juice.
- Sugar: Adds some added sweetness, locks in moisture for tender rolls, feeds the yeast and helps the rolls brown deeply in the oven.
- Salt: Brightens the other flavors and helps control the activity of the yeast.
- Butter: Adds richness, buttery flavor, and moisture for a tender, flavorful crumb.
- Egg: Helps the rolls rise, and the white helps the rolls hold their rise as they cool. The egg wash we brush on top of the rolls helps browning in the oven and gives the rolls a shine even as they cool.
- Pineapple juice: Adds tanginess, flavor and moisture to bring the roll dough together and hydrate the yeast so it's active. The classic flavor of Hawaiian rolls comes from using pineapple juice in place of milk or water. Make sure you're using pure 100% juice, without additives. I usually buy Trader Joe's brand canned juice, which has a little less than I need for this recipe, so I top it off with just a little water rather than opening a second can.
- Vanilla: Adds depth of flavor, complementing and enhancing the flavor of the pineapple juice.
How to make gluten free Hawaiian rolls (step by step photos)
This is a visual guide for how to make these rolls at home in your kitchen, including an explanation of why the recipe is written as it is. For full ingredient amounts, see the recipe card below.
Combine the dry ingredients
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the gluten free flour blend including xanthan gum, plus more tapioca starch, yeast, and sugar,. Whisk in the salt separately to avoid any possibility of the salt and yeast clumping together, since they operate at cross purposes.
Add the wet ingredients
To the dry ingredients, add the butter, egg, vanilla and pineapple juice, making sure that everything is at room temperature so everything combines completely and smoothly. Cold liquid will cause softened butter to clump.
Mix the dough
Add the paddle attachment, and mix on low speed first until the flours are moistened so everything stays in the mixing bowl. Increase the speed to medium, and beat until the dough begins to look whipped, like it has had more air incorporated into it. This helps create well-rising, less dense rolls.
Chill the dough
Transfer the dough to a bucket or bowl with a tight-fitting lid that’s large enough for the dough to expand to about double its size, although it won't rise quite that much. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. This cold rise is for flavor development and to let the dry ingredients absorb some of the moisture, making the dough easier to shape.
Smooth the dough
When you're ready to work with the dough, turn it out onto a clean surface sprinkled lightly with tapioca flour, and dust the top with more. Turn the dough over a few times until it's no longer sticky.
Divide into equal portions
Use a bench scraper, cake turner, or sharp knife to cut the dough evenly in half, then each half into 4 equal parts for a total of 8 pieces, each weighing about 4 ounces. Equal sized rolls will rise and bake evenly together.
Shape the raw rolls
Pull the edges of each piece of dough toward the center, and pinch between your thumb and forefinger to secure. Flip the dough over so that the gathered edges are on the bottom.
Cup the palm of your dominant hand around the dough with the side nearest your pinky resting on the flat surface. This side of your hand should always maintain contact with the surface.
Move your hand in a tight circle to round the edges, using your fingers to coax the sides upward. Press each round into a round, flat disk with your palm to make rolls with a wider bottom for proper sandwiches.
Let rise covered
Place the shaped pieces of dough on a lined baking sheet, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Make sure it's secured all around the perimeter so the rolls maintain enough moisture to allow them to rise.
Brush with an egg wash
After 30 minutes, remove the plastic wrap and brush generously with an egg wash. The egg wash will keep them from drying out even without the plastic covering. It also helps the rolls brown in the oven and creates a thin glossy shine during baking.
Finish rising
Let the rolls finish rising uncovered until they're at least 50% bigger in size than when they started. They won't fully double. If the dough begins to dimple or look pockmarked, the rise is breaking through and the rolls are beginning to overproof.
Bake
As soon as the rolls are done rising, or if you see signs of overproofing, place them right into the oven and bake at 375°F. They're done baking when they're golden brown all over, appear tight across the top, and register at least 185°F on an instant read thermometer. Cover the hot rolls loosely in a tea towel to trap moisture as the hot rolls cool, keeping the crust from getting too crispy or drying out.
Expert tips
The first rise has a different purpose
When you first make the dough, you'll seal it in an airtight container and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. This is a “cold rise,” but don't worry about how much the dough actually rises. As long as the yeast is activated by adding moisture to it, the dough will develop some flavor.
This rest is also designed to give the flour time to absorb some of the moisture in the egg, juice, and butter, making the dough easier to handle and shape. Avoid letting it sit for much longer than 3 days, though, or it will taste too yeasty for Hawaiian rolls and the rise after shaping may be more irregular and uncontrolled.
Handle the dough lightly
As you incorporate additional flour into the raw dough during shaping, you're lowering the overall amount of moisture in the dough, which can prevent a proper rise. To avoid adding too much extra flour, work with the dough cold, handle it more with your fingertips than with your palms, and keep it moving so it doesn't have a chance to stick to anything other than itself.
If you don't have a stand mixer
You can't make a well-incorporated dough that rises smoothly by hand here. A handheld mixer with miniature balloon attachments won't work, and will incorporate too much air into the dough.
If you don't have a stand mixer with a paddle attachment try using a food processor with the plastic, and be careful not to overprocess or heat the dough.
Ingredient substitutions
If you need to eliminate other allergens from the rolls, here are my suggestions for how to do that.
Dairy free
Instead of dairy butter, try block-style vegan butter like Melt, Miyoko's, or Trader Joe's brands.
Egg free
These rolls contain only one egg in the dough, and one egg in an optional egg wash. In place of the egg in the bread dough, try using a chia egg, Bob's Red Mill egg replacer, or JustEgg refrigerated liquid egg replacer. In place of the egg wash on top of the shaped rolls, try brushing them with cream.
Pineapple juice
If you can't have pineapple juice or just don't want to use it, try apple juice for a similar, although more mild, lightly sweet roll. You can also use milk in place of pineapple juice, in equal amounts, for a rich, tender and not really very sweet roll. Nothing else in the recipe has to change.
Storage instructions
Once completely cool, each leftover roll can be wrapped tightly in freezer-safe wrap and frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, sprinkle lightly with water, and refresh in the microwave or a toaster oven.
Gluten Free Hawaiian Rolls Recipe
Equipment
- Stand mixer with dough hook (gf bread flour) or paddle attachment (all purpose gf flour)
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (350 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, See Recipe Notes for help choosing
- 2 teaspoons xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- ½ cup (60 g) tapioca starch/flour, plus more for sprinkling
- 2 ⅓ teaspoons (7 g) instant yeast
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 tablespoons (70 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 egg (50 g (weighed out of shell)) at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cups (10 fluid ounces) pineapple juice, at room temperature
- Egg wash 1 egg, at room temperature, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
Make the bread dough
- Place the all purpose gluten free flour blend, xanthan gum, and tapioca starch, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer, and use a handheld whisk to combine well. Add the salt, and whisk to combine again.
- Add the butter, egg, vanilla, and pineapple juice, and mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until just combined. Raise the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes or until it begins to take on a whipped appearance, sticking to the sides of the bowl and stretching from the paddle to the sides.
- Spray a silicone spatula lightly with cooking oil spray, and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl or proofing bucket large enough for the dough to rise to double its size, and cover with an oiled piece of plastic wrap (or the oiled top of your proofing bucket).
- Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days.
Shape the rolls
- On baking day, line a large rimmed baking sheet and set it aside. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Sprinkle the dough lightly with more flour, and turn over a few times until it appears smoother and is less sticky.
- Use a floured bench scraper, cake turner or large sharp knife to divide the dough into 8 pieces of equal size, each weighing about 4 ounces.
- Working with one piece of dough at a time, shape it into a round by rolling it with a floured palm in circles on the lightly floured surface. Handle the dough lightly and keep it moving in a circle with your palm, keeping your pinky and that side of your hand in contact with the surface all the time.
- Pinch together any cracks and keep shaping, sprinkling lightly with flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Use your palm or 4 fingers of your hand to press down the round of dough into a disk for even rising.
- Place the first roll in the prepared baking pan. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, placing the rolls less than an inch apart from one another.
Let the shaped rolls rise
- Cover the baking pan with oiled plastic wrap and set it aside in a warm, draft-free location to rise for 30 minutes.
- Uncover the pan and brush the rolls generously with the egg wash. Allow the rolls to finish rising, uncovered, until at least 50% larger than when you began, about 20 to 30 minutes more.
- Preheat your oven 375°F, while the rolls finish rising. If they begin to take on a dimpled appearance, they have begun to overproof and should begin baking immediately.
Bake
- Place the baking pan on the lower rack of the preheated oven and bake until golden brown all over, appear taut across the top, and the inside of the rolls registers at least 185°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 25 minutes.
- To maintain the softest crust on the rolls, cover them loosely with a tea towel while still hot out of the oven. Allow the rolls to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I bought your book about 2 weeks ago and can’t WAIT to start from the beginning and bake my way to the end! Just waiting for a few more ingredients to get here in the mail and there will be no stopping me. I can’t thank you enough for this book and for all the trial and error you must have endured! Although it has been a real pain trying to find Expandex, i am happy that it flew off the shelves becasue your book is doing so well. Didn’t realize there were so many of ‘us’ out there. Thank you also for the how-to video above! Continued success
I was so looking forward to this book. Hand made – not machine made – GF breads. I had hoped hubby could get it for me for Christmas. Then I read about the Expandex issue. That it is not – NOT – available in Canada. Yes, some US places will ship it to Canada, if you buy several pounds and pay upwards of $30 for shipping. Getting the Better Batter company to make it available doesn’t really help, does it, since Better Batter is not available in Canada, either, except at Winners/HomeSense which only get what their purchasers can get cheaply when they can get it. I was just in both stores, this past weekend, asking about the availability of Better Batter. They said they do carry it “from time to time” but they never know if/when they will get it. They currently carry a GF flour mixture by a company I’ve never heard of. From what I’ve read, online, getting Expandex in Canada has been an ongoing issue for several years. Sad, really, but not surprising.
I live in Ontario Canada and I order Better Batter to be shipped to home (I take advantage of sales) and was also able to order the expandex. Yes, shipping is $30, but I ordered 3 bags so I won’t have to worry for a while. The way I look at it, it is available and still cheaper than a tank of gas to pick it up across the border. All depends on how you look at it, in my opinion!
I made these and they are FABULOUS. Love the video. Very helpful. Will you marry me? Can I come to Friday pizza night? I will bring the untraditional BBQ Chicken Pizza (the thick pizza dough from your new book is in my awesome new proofing bucket mentioned in the book, enjoying its slow rise). I know that it isn’t a traditional pizza and most New Yorkers cringe. Are you game? Or are you traditional? Inquiring minds….
Are you kidding me, Kclark?! I’d be all OVER that. I love all kinds of pizza. I am a total omnivore, and anyway that sound fab. New York pizza, for the most part, is terrible. Italy, it’s not!
BBQ chicken it is! Awesome, see you Friday! It’s only an all day flight from the West Coast. My family won’t mind. Love the new cookbook! Having all kinds of wicked fun trying to decide what to bake next. Bagels this weekend I think! I was also invited to a gluten cookie party. You know the kind. I considered not going but there are about four of us that are GF so we are all making cookies from this site.
I’m terribly jealous of your West Coast cookie party. And your BBQ Chicken Pizza. And of your weather. And …
Are you kidding me, Kclark?! I’d be all OVER that. I love all kinds of pizza. I am a total omnivore, and anyway that sound fab. New York pizza, for the most part, is terrible. Italy, it’s not!
BBQ chicken it is! Awesome, see you Friday! It’s only an all day flight from the West Coast. My family won’t mind. Love the new cookbook! Having all kinds of wicked fun trying to decide what to bake next. Bagels this weekend I think! I was also invited to a gluten cookie party. You know the kind. I considered not going but there are about four of us that are GF so we are all making cookies from this site.
For those of us who cannot have the whey protien, is there a substitution?
I speak about this quite extensively in the new book, Victoria, on pages 10-11. I tested at least a dozen proteins, and NOW Foods pea protein (isolate) and Growing Naturals rice protein isolate (original flavor) are the best, but you have to make other allowances by increasing moisture and increasing baking time. See the book for full details.
SOOO just for clarity’s sake, do you use the whey base in most of the new recipes? I know we are always asking you to hack your hard worked recipes for us GFDF but we want in on your deliciousness too!
All of the yeast bread recipes, Savanah, as part of the Gluten Free Bread Flour blend. Thank you for being so kind in your request. I want you to join in, too!
I speak about this quite extensively in the new book, Victoria, on pages 10-11. I tested at least a dozen proteins, and NOW Foods pea protein (isolate) and Growing Naturals rice protein isolate (original flavor) are the best, but you have to make other allowances by increasing moisture and increasing baking time. See the book for full details.
SOOO just for clarity’s sake, do you use the whey base in most of the new recipes? I know we are always asking you to hack your hard worked recipes for us GFDF but we want in on your deliciousness too!
Can I just say, in the spirit of friendship, that I loved the pan with the parchment paper sneaking out of the way on the second video? It made me laugh out loud. Not laughing at you, laughing that it moved seemingly by itself. ;)
Me too, Donia! :)
I was so looking forward to this book. Hand made – not machine made – GF breads. I had hoped hubby could get it for me for Christmas. Then I read about the Expandex issue. That it is not – NOT – available in Canada. Yes, some US places will ship it to Canada, if you buy several pounds and pay upwards of $30 for shipping. Getting the Better Batter company to make it available doesn’t really help, does it, since Better Batter is not available in Canada, either, except at Winners/HomeSense which only get what their purchasers can get cheaply when they can get it. I was just in both stores, this past weekend, asking about the availability of Better Batter. They said they do carry it “from time to time” but they never know if/when they will get it. They currently carry a GF flour mixture by a company I’ve never heard of. From what I’ve read, online, getting Expandex in Canada has been an ongoing issue for several years. Sad, really, but not surprising.
I live in Ontario Canada and I order Better Batter to be shipped to home (I take advantage of sales) and was also able to order the expandex. Yes, shipping is $30, but I ordered 3 bags so I won’t have to worry for a while. The way I look at it, it is available and still cheaper than a tank of gas to pick it up across the border. All depends on how you look at it, in my opinion!
I think that’s really key, Laura, and thank you so much for chiming in. I can’t find Better Batter in any stores near me, either, and never have been able to. So I have always ordered it (and other component flours when I make my own blends) online. I do have to pay quite a lot of shipping on component flours, but I try to do it as smart as possible, and then just bite the bullet!
I’m glad you both have the finances available to be able to make such purchases. I do not. Nor do I want to buy three bags of a product I have never tried. The smallest Expandex I could find was 5 lbs. It would be time expired before I got 1/4 of the way through the bag. I also prefer to spend my hard earned money helping my own country’s economy, not someone else’s.
Perhaps you could find someone in your vicinity to split a shipment with? However, that would
still require you to support another country’s economy. I am grateful to Nicole for creating this eureka flour mixture and that she was willing to share it with us. I couldn’t imagine being flustered at her for recommending ingredients that are a little hard to locate. For me, even the slightest possibility of being able to turn out an amazing product for my family is worth it. That is how good-bread-starved we have been! As of now, we spend a fortune on gluten-free baked products that are mediocre at best. Anyway, Cathy Down, it sounds like Nicole is working tirelessly to make it easier for us to locate such ingredients. Hang in there – I’m sure you’ll figure it out.
Me too, Donia! :)
Oh that’s hysterical, Donia! I had to watch it a few times myself to see what you meant and then … I saw it. That was my husband, and why in the world didn’t he just move it quickly?! Why the slow mo? No idea!
Brian H… Inquiring minds want to know!
Probably just to not make it abrupt. But I loved both videos!
Oh that’s hysterical, Donia! I had to watch it a few times myself to see what you meant and then … I saw it. That was my husband, and why in the world didn’t he just move it quickly?! Why the slow mo? No idea!
Happy Publication Day! Thank you so much for those shaping dough videos. I just kept reading them over and over trying to envision it in my head. I’m very very new to baking (as in I’ve only tried to bake 4 different things) and those videos are super helpful. Regarding tonight’s Q&A, will you only be answering questions that have to do with the new book and recipes? Or is anything fair game? I’ve been trying to make your pumpkin bread recipe 3 times now and it just isn’t coming out right which is getting discouraging =[
Hi, LyttleO, I would like to stick to questions about baking gluten free bread and the bread book tonight, because the time will go quickly and I’m only one person answering, but you can always ask other questions at other times on Facebook. I will answer, just not instantaneously. :) That is a very well-tested recipe, so it will work if made properly, but offhand I’d guess that your oven temperature is off, assuming it is rising in the oven and then falling as it cools. A too-hot oven will cause baked goods to bake on the outside before the inside has a chance to support the loaf as it cools. Good luck!
First, my dough is very thick and sticky so much that it climbs up my hand mixer and I’m constantly stopping to scrape it down and having a tough time mixing in the pumpkin butter evenly. The recipe says “scoopable” but does that seem right? Second, it does indeed rise in the oven but even ends up tearing horizontally…Third, it condenses as it cools and becomes very dense and seems moist inside. I do have a oven thermometer so I’m pretty sure its not oven temp but unfortunately no scale yet so I know I must be off somewhere. I am not using any substitutions. BTW, this question is open to anybody who can find time to chime in and help troubleshoot that would be great.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! This is a very exciting time for you. You must be so proud. I love the pictures and the videos you have shared with us today – so beautiful! Once I get my expandex (which is not here only because I waited until after I had the book in my hands to order), I’m going to town!!! I will try to catch the last part of the blog Q&A after Girl Scouts tonight – dang those time zones. Are you going to be on the Today show???????? Best wishes for big big sales!!! Thanks for all you do – you are the best GF foodie around!
Of course I’m not going to be on The Today Show, Jennifer! That’s why it said *snort*. ;) There has been a nice amount of press about the new book, and should be more, but not that big. Gluten free is still a bit of an ugly stepchild, I’m afraid. All the more reason to keep making it as “normal” as possible! And … by the way we hit the threshold of 500 orders in the past 2+ weeks, so the BIGGER giveaway has been triggered! Drawings at EOD tomorrow!
Well, I wouldn’t past you girlfriend. If and when you are on the Today show, I’m coming to stand outside and watch! I think I’ll start writing NBC and the food network some letters – it’s about time gluten free recipe developers, chefs, cooks, bakers, etc… like you start getting some props. We’ll make it happen!
Yeah right, Jennifer! I appreciate the vote of confidence, but gluten free is still considered “fringe.” It’s maddening!
Unless you are already famous, and then you can use your fame to sell cookbooks and products! And give un-true information about celiac disease on TV!
Yeah right, Jennifer! I appreciate the vote of confidence, but gluten free is still considered “fringe.” It’s maddening!
So, where it says High Quality Gluten Free Flour we can substitute Better Batter? Since my shoe string is really short (SSI income plus food stamps), which route is cheaper?
When I reviewed Better Batter, along with 3 other gluten free flour blends, a couple years ago, I priced everything out and it was cheaper to buy Better Batter. I haven’t priced it in a couple years, though, so if you want to be sure I’d price it all out and compare.
Adaptagirl, I like to check the Better Batter web site frequently because they will often have the flour on discount for one reason or another. Once I bought a big supply of 2-lb bags because they had an over-run, and I guess had more bags of product than they had boxes to put them in. So they came without the box. Great, saved me a step! ;) It’s under “Shop Now”, and then “Discounts/Sales”
Great recipe choice for Publication Day! Makes you want to buy the book! I wish I could secure those specialty ingredients today and could make these today. I’ll have to wait till next week tho. Thank you for improving the lives of Celiac’s and GF folks like us.
I wish you could, too, Lisa! Once the Expandex supply issues are resolved (hopefully very soon!), it will alllll be worth it. I promise!
Have a great time at the Live Q&A! These rolls look beautiful and the videos will be a big help with shaping. Loving my bread book, did we buy enough for someone (me!) to win the day of baking with you? I hope so! Congratulations on your big accomplishment!
We DID IT, Anneke!! We were within a hair’s breadth of victory, and I just got word last night that we hit 500 orders over the last 2+ weeks!! I will draw the first set of winners at the end of the day tomorrow, and then …. the BIGGER giveaway winner!!
So proud of you , Nicole! Great work! Those 500 books will be put to good use!
Thanks, Anneke!!
I bought your book about 2 weeks ago and can’t WAIT to start from the beginning and bake my way to the end! Just waiting for a few more ingredients to get here in the mail and there will be no stopping me. I can’t thank you enough for this book and for all the trial and error you must have endured! Although it has been a real pain trying to find Expandex, i am happy that it flew off the shelves becasue your book is doing so well. Didn’t realize there were so many of ‘us’ out there. Thank you also for the how-to video above! Continued success
So proud of you , Nicole! Great work! Those 500 books will be put to good use!
Thanks, Anneke!!
YAHOO! Crossing my fingers!
YAHOO! Crossing my fingers!