These gluten-free crescent rolls are a must-have at the holiday table! They’re soft, buttery, and fluffy — everything a delicious roll should be!
This post has all the tips and tricks you need to make homemade gluten-free crescent rolls. I hope they bring a smile to your face like they do for our family!
If you think eating gluten-free means giving up warm, buttery rolls, think again! I tested this recipe repeatedly to recreate the soft, fluffy crescent rolls I used to love.
My Mom used to make crescent rolls for Thanksgiving dinner every year. I’ve never been able to successfully make them gluten-free until I discovered this gluten-free bread flour! (Not sponsored!)
These buttery gluten-free crescent rolls can be rolled up into that classic crescent shape just like traditional rolls made with all purpose flour. Better yet, they’re even easier to make!
Since most crescent roll recipes call for two rises of the dough, they can seem intimidating and time-consuming. But with this recipe, the dough only needs to rise once! They really are a lot easier to make than you would think.
I love using whole milk and almond flour to make these crescent rolls rich in flavor and beautifully golden in color. I also have options to make these rolls nut-free and dairy-free.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy, gluten-free rolls
- Light and fluffy
- Perfect for holiday dinners
- Only need one rise
For more favorite gluten-free bread recipes, try these gluten-free biscuits, gluten-free breadsticks, gluten-free pizza crust, gluten-free Detroit-style pizza, gluten-free garlic bread, and gluten-free rolls.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For Roll Dough
- Gluten-free Bread Flour: I’ve been loving using this gluten-free bread flour that contains gluten-free wheat starch and xanthan gum. It makes dough that is very easy to work with and gives the texture of traditional baked goods!
- Almond Flour: I add a little almond flour along with the gluten-free bread flour fore more flavor and browning. I use this same trick with my gluten-free chocolate chip cookies and gluten-free banana bread! For nut-free options, see the tips below.
- Water/milk: Warm water is mixed into the dough with eggs and melted butter. I also like using warm, whole milk to make more flavorful, buttery crescent rolls.
- Sugar: Domino fine granulated sugar is my favorite for this recipe!
- Baking powder: Any baking powder brand will work for this recipe. It’s essential for helping to create tender, fluffy gluten free rolls!
- Instant yeast: Be sure to use instant yeast for this gluten free crescent rolls recipe, which can be mixed right into the ingredients. (Active dry yeast must be mixed in water before adding to the dry ingredients.)
- Eggs: Two large, room temperature eggs are used to help bind the dough and create a rich flavor.
- Butter: I like using salted butter rather than unsalted butter. It has more depth of flavor!
- Salt: I like using fine sea salt for this crescent roll recipe.
Gluten-Free Bread Flour
This gluten-free bread flour really is the secret ingredient for amazing gluten-free crescent rolls. Unfortunately, other flour blends like gluten-free 1:1 baking flour won’t yield the same results.
I like combining gluten-free bread flour with a little of another flour, like almond flour, to give the rolls more flavor. The bread flour yields amazing texture, but can taste slightly bland on its own. If you can’t use almond flour, oat flour, sorghum flour or buckwheat flour are all great choices!
For Finishing the Rolls
- Butter: As with the crescent roll dough, I like using salted butter for the top of the rolls. It makes a real difference in the depth of flavor!
- Egg: Once the crescent rolls rise, you’ll brush them with an egg wash. This adds flavor and enhances the presentation, giving the rolls a nice shine!
You also might like these gluten-free scones or this gluten-free cornbread!
How to Make Gluten-Free Crescent Rolls
Make the Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the gluten-free flour, almond flour, granulated sugar, instant yeast, baking powder and salt. Mix to evenly combine.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly add the water, milk, eggs and melted butter. Turn the speed up to medium and mix for 3 minutes until very smooth. The dough will resemble thick cookie dough. This is normal!
- Use an oiled spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. (Refrigerating the dough makes it easier to roll out.)
Shape the Rolls
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- On a lightly floured surface, scoop out ½ of the yeast-leavened dough. Roll into a 12-inch circle.
- Brush the top of the dough with melted butter, about 2 tablespoons per circle. (You’ll use the rest of the melted butter to brush on the rolls after they bake.)
- Use a pizza cutter to slice the circle into 12 long triangles. (Mine usually vary in size and it’s just fine!)
- Roll up wedges from the wide end and place point side down 2-inches apart on greased baking sheets or a parchment-lined baking sheet. Curve the ends to form crescents.
- Cover the gluten free rolls and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.
Bake the Crescent Rolls
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Bake for 22-26 minutes, until starting to turn golden brown on the edges.
- Remove from the oven immediately and brush the baked crescent rolls with melted butter.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Storage Instructions
These crescent rolls taste the very best when enjoyed shortly after baking.
TO STORE: Place the gluten-free crescent rolls in an airtight container and store at room temperature for up to three days. I like to refresh the rolls by slicing them in half, spreading them with a little butter and broiling the rolls for 2-3 minutes until warm/toasty.
TO FREEZE: Place the cooled rolls in a zip-top freezer bag, press air out and seal tightly. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature and refresh by warming in the oven or microwave.
For more gluten-free holiday sides, try this gluten-free gravy, gluten-free stuffing, gluten-free green bean casserole, gluten-free sweet potato casserole, gluten-free cornbread sausage stuffing and roasted sweet potatoes.
Serve these with gluten-free pot roast or gluten-free beef stew for a comforting meal!
Expert Tips & Tricks
- This gluten-free bread flour really is the secret ingredient for amazing gluten-free crescent rolls. Unfortunately other flour blends like gluten-free 1:1 baking flour won’t yield the same results.
- I like using this silicone baking mat with circle measurements to roll out the dough. It’s helpful for measuring the 12-inch circle.
- I prefer using the paddle attachment on my stand mixer when making these crescent rolls, rather than the dough attachment. I find the it mixes the dough more evenly.
- I highly recommend using salted butter for this recipe. It provides the best depth of flavor!
- Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before shaping to make it easier to work with. Also, be sure to flour your work surface and rolling pin while rolling out the dough.
- NUT-FREE: I like to add another flour to add more flavor to these rolls. The gluten-free bread flour can be a little bland on it’s own. If you can’t use almond flour, oat flour, sorghum flour or buckwheat flour are all great choices! You could also simply use more bread flour in place of almond flour.
- DAIRY-FREE: I like using Elmhurst Unsweetened Cashew milk in place of whole milk. It has a similar fat content to whole milk, and doesn’t have any added gums or stabilizers that could interfere with the rise/crumb of the rolls. I also use vegan butter in place of the butter.
MORE GLUTEN-FREE BREAD RECIPES
For more recipes with gluten-free bread flour, try these gluten-free hamburger buns, gluten-free dinner rolls, gluten-free naan, gluten-free cinnamon rolls, gluten-free cinnamon roll wreath, gluten-free orange rolls, and gluten-free monkey bread.
Buttery, Gluten-Free Crescent Rolls
Video
Ingredients
For the Dough:
- 4 cup (600g) King Arthur Gluten-Free Bread Flour
- 2/3 cup (75g) almond flour or another flour of choice for flavor, see note
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons (20g) dry whole milk powder (optional but makes the rolls softer!)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast 1 packet
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup (236ml) water, warm
- 1 cup (236ml) whole milk, warm see note for dairy-free
- 2 large eggs
- 8 tablespoons (113g) butter, melted plus more for topping after baking
Instructions
Make the Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the gluten-free flour, almond flour, granulated sugar, instant yeast, salt and baking powder. Mix to evenly combine.
- With the mixer running on low, slowly add the water, milk, eggs, and 4 tablespoons of melted butter. Turn the speed up to medium and mix for 3 minutes until very smooth. The dough will resemble thick cookie dough. This is normal!
- Use an oiled spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes. (Refrigerating the dough makes it easier to roll out.)
Shape the Rolls
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- On a lightly floured surface, scoop out ½ of the dough. Roll into a 12-inch circle. Brush the top of the dough with melted butter, about 2 tablespoons per circle.
- Use a pizza cutter to slice the circle into 12 equal wedges. (Mine usually vary in size and it’s just fine!) Roll up wedges from the wide end and place point side down 2-inches apart on greased baking sheets. Curve the ends to form crescents.
- Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45-60 minutes.
Bake the Rolls
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Bake for 22-26 minutes, until starting to turn golden on the edges. Remove from the oven immediately and brush the rolls with additional melted butter.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
- This gluten-free bread flour really is the secret ingredient for amazing gluten-free crescent rolls. Unfortunately other flour blends like gluten-free 1:1 baking flour won’t yield the same results.
- I like using this silicone baking mat with circle measurements to roll out the dough. It’s helpful for measuring the 12-inch circle.
- I prefer using the paddle attachment on my stand mixer when making these crescent rolls, rather than the dough attachment. I find the it mixes the dough more evenly.
- I highly recommend using salted butter for this recipe. It provides the best depth of flavor!
- Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before shaping to make it easier to work with. Also, be sure to flour your work surface and rolling pin while rolling out the dough.
- NUT-FREE: I like to add another flour to add more flavor to these rolls. The gluten-free bread flour can be a little bland on it’s own. If you can’t use almond flour, oat flour, sorghum flour or buckwheat flour are great choices! You could also simply use more bread flour in place of almond flour.
- DAIRY-FREE: I like using Elmhurst Unsweetened Cashew milk in place of whole milk. It has a similar fat content to whole milk, and doesn’t have any added gums or stabilizers that could interfere with the rise/crumb of the rolls. I also use vegan butter in place of the butter.
Nutrition
FAQs
No, Pillsbury doesn’t make gluten-free crescent rolls. However, you can buy gluten-free crescent roll mix from brands like Mom’s Place. Or, if you prefer, you can make homemade gluten-free crescent rolls using gluten-free flour.
Crescent rolls and croissants both have a similar crescent shape, but they’re different in texture and flavor. Croissant dough is laminated, which means that butter is folded into the dough multiple times to create thin, flaky layers. In contrast, crescent rolls are made by rising yeasted dough once or twice to create a bread-like roll.
Yes, crescent rolls are made from a yeasted dough that rises once or twice to create a light, fluffy consistency. If the recipe calls for instant yeast, the yeast can be added right into the dry ingredients. If the recipe calls for active dry yeast, it must be activated in warm water before adding to the other ingredients.
Hi! I’m planning to make these for Thanksgiving. If I could do most of the prep the day before that would be ideal! Is it possible to prep and store at any step before baking?
Hi Allie, we haven’t made this one ahead of time, but you could try making it one day ahead. We’d recommend covering the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerating, then the day of, let it sit out at room temperature for about 30-45 minutes to soften before shaping. The rise time after shaping may take longer to get it to double in size since the dough will be colder. We’d love to hear how it goes!
I have been searching for gluten free roll to make for Thanksgiving for my daughter! I tried these yesterday. I ordered all the flour and items recommended. The taste was great but mean were not light and fluffy. My older daughter said they reminded her more of a pretzel. LOL. Any suggestions? I am wondering if I need to mix more or less? Let rise longer? Bake less. Any ideas would be great if you ran into this while testing. 🙂
Hi Britta, we’re sorry you had this experience! If the crescent rolls came out heavy it’s most likely an issue of undermixing, under-rising, not chilling the dough for the full time, and/or over-baking. Another consideration would be if your yeast was old/expired or if the water or whole milk was too hot and impacted the yeast. We’d start with the mixing and rising and go from there. We hope your next batch is amazing!
If we can’t have wheat, what other flour option would work? I really want something for Thanksgiving
Hi Sarah, this recipe was specifically designed for the KA GF bread flour. No other flour blends, such as GF measure-for-measure flours, will work unfortunately.
I’m having the hardest time to get them to the rolled shape. I’ve done everything to a T and it’s still impossible to make shapes. What could I be doing wrong?
Hi Heather, did you use the King Arthur GF Bread Flour? No other flour blend will work the same with these rolls. Otherwise, if you used the bread flour and it was still too sticky, you can try add a little more flour incrementally and then chilling longer to help it soak up the liquid and become workable. We hope this helps!
I followed this recipe exactly using a scale (including the flour) and my dough was super crumbly and dry. What could be happening here?
Hi Makenzie, did you use the recommended gf bread flour? This recipe won’t work with standard gf measure-for-measure/1:1 flours.
Thank you for sharing! I have been searching for a recipe for these, and this one was perfect Perfectly buttery and delicious. My kids couldn’t even tell these were gluten free
Aww, we’re so happy to hear the crescent rolls were a hit with the whole family! Thank you for sharing your positive feedback with us, Aimee!
Because you don’t fold the dough, these don’t have those flaky layers that traditional crescent rolls have BUT… they are so quick, delicious, and versatile I don’t care!! Not only have I used this recipe for crescent rolls, I’ve used it for pigs in a blanket (rolled up and let rise about 30 minutes) and sopapilla cheesecake (baked right after the refrigeration). I usually do 1.5 recipes and keep some in the fridge for a few days to make recipes throughout the week. Thank you so much!
Hi Suzy, thank you for sharing your positive feedback with us! It’s great to know the recipe worked well for pigs in a blanket and cheesecake too. We’re so glad the crescent rolls have become such a go-to recipe!
I have a recipe that calls for two tubes of the Pillsbury refrigerated crescent rolls. The recipe says to take one tube, unroll the dough, and press it into the bottom of a parchment lined 9 x 13 pan, put in the filling and then top with the second tube of unrolled dough.
How many tubes of the crescent rolls is this equivalent to? Do you foresee any issues with using the dough in this manner?
Hi Genelle, this recipe makes 24 rolls whereas Pillsbury crescent rolls usually only contain 8 rolls per tube. One batch of this recipe will be more than enough. We’ve never tried these crescent rolls this way, but a few things to keep in mind if you decide to give it a try: this dough will require rising time (Pillsbury’s doesn’t), it will be a little more fragile than the canned gluten version, and the baking time will need to be adjusted. We hope these ideas help!
Hi! I’ve started tearing through your cookbook recipes, and I love them! My husband has celiac disease and I am so excited to be able to cook the breads that he loves. He stays your GF sandwich bread is the best he has ever had. Anyway, I had a question about the butter use in this recipe. if I’m understanding this correctly, you add 4 Tbs of butter to form the dough itself and brush the dough with additional butter? I just want to make sure I’m getting it exactly right. Thanks!
Hi Kaitlin, good question! You’ll need 4 TBSP for the dough itself then additional butter for before and after baking. We generally recommend 2 TBSP per circle (the full recipe makes two circles) for covering the dough before baking then you’ll need more to top the baked rolls after. We hope you both enjoy the rolls!
Just curious, if I am using this dough as a base in a casserole almost like a pizza crust, do I need to let it rise first or just prepare it and bake it?
Hi Stephanie, thank you for your question! We haven’t tried these crescent rolls as a casserole base, but we would lean towards skipping the rising step, or at least shortening it, so that the rolls don’t puff up too much to be a base. If you decide to give it a try, we’d love to hear how it goes!
I love making this recipe but I am confused about the update on how to add dry milk. It says to add it and leave out the egg whites but the original recipe doesn’t call for egg whites- but eggs. Could you please clarify this for me because I would love to use the dry milk powder!
Hi Morgan, we’re so glad you love the recipe! The note refers to two changes: the addition of the milk powder and the elimination of the egg wash (consisting of 1 egg, water, and salt) that used to go on the rolls right before they went in the oven. The milk powder goes into the dough with the other dry ingredients. We hope this helps and you enjoy the updated recipe!
Hi! I’ve loved all of your recipes and can’t wait to taste this one. I made and chilled the dough; however, I was hoping to roll up Lil’ Smokies in the dough then bake as a little appetizer. I hadn’t properly read the directions first as I see it states to form rolls then let rise before baking. Do you think it would be okay to roll out the dough, roll up the sausages, then wait a little before baking? Thank you!
Hi Atalie, we haven’t given lil’ smokies a try in this recipe before. You could try cutting the dough into smaller wedges (step 3 of “shape the rolls”), rolling the lil’ smokies up in the dough, then letting them rise before baking (step 4 of “shape the rolls”). We’d love to hear how it goes!
Can the dough be made ahead? How much time between making the dough and baking can I allow? If I can prepare ahead of time, would the crescents be already formed into shape?
Hi Hope, we haven’t made this one ahead of time, but you could try making it one day ahead. We’d recommend covering the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerating, then the day of, let it sit out at room temperature for about 30-45 minutes to soften before shaping. The rise time after shaping may take longer to get it to double in size since the dough will be colder. We’d love to hear how it goes!
I made these as written for Thanksgiving. I prepared the dough the night before, put it in the fridge for the night, then rolled out the dough and finished making the rolls the next morning. They were awesome! I brought a few extra to our Thanksgiving dinner, and several people asked if they could have one since they looked so good. I saved the rest to freeze and enjoy at my leisure later. 🙂
We’re so glad the recipe was a hit, Sarah! Thanks for sharing your positive experience with us. Happy baking!
I was determined to make crescent rolls, but my tired of thanksgiving prep self, was unable to get a perfect crescent roll, so I rolled the dough into dinner rolls and hoped for the best. They ended up being the best dinner rolls and devoured by all (young, old, and eaters of gluten)! Side note, I also used a Blends by Orly, because gluten removed wheat starch kinda scares me, and they still turned out so soft and delicious! So, while I may not have used the recipe as intended, it still was the inspiration for deliciousness!
Yay! We’re so glad the recipe was a hit, Ashlea! It’s good to know that substitution worked for you. Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
Looks like a great recipe and I was wondering if I can use caputo Fioreglut in place of the KA bread flour. I think they’re pretty much the same? Thoughts?
Thanks so much for your recipes!
I’m a teenager with celiac disease. I only trust Meaningful Eats with gluten-free baking, so I was very excited to see this crescent roll recipe! I just got around to making these for Thanksgiving and WOW, these rolls are absolutely INCREDIBLE! By far the best gluten-free yeasted recipe I’ve made to date (and I’ve tried a lot!). They even taste like the Sister Schubert bread rolls I used to love before I went gluten-free. Thank you Mrs. Erin for yet another amazing recipe!
Yay! We’re so happy to hear how much you loved the recipe, Molly! Thank you for taking the time to share your positive feedback with us. Happy baking!