If you used to love Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, I have created the perfect gluten free copycat version! My gluten free crescent rolls recipe is not only fluffy with a slightly flaky outside, it is full of buttery goodness in every bite.
I baked these buttery soft rolls; their taste and texture are so like Pillsbury Crescent rolls I knew I had to share this recipe with you all.
If you are the person who typically clicks the big Jump to Recipe button to get straight to the recipe, I encourage you to read this post and all of the steps. I am including a lot of process shots to help walk you through all of the steps to make this recipe.
If you love baking rolls, you will also want to try these soft gluten free dinner rolls too!
Why you need to try this recipe:
Yes, this recipe will work, but when you take a bite of these fluffy, delicious, buttery rolls, you will be hooked! These gluten-free crescent-shaped rolls taste amazing drenched with jam!
If you love baking as much as I do, be sure to check out my Gluten Free Breadsticks recipe too! They make the best gluten free mini baguettes.
I have family members that are both gluten and dairy free. I was searching for a crescent roll recipe for the holidays and was happy to find this one. I followed your recipe exactly, minus the levain, and I substituted the high fat butter (82%) with vegan Country Crock Plant Butter made with avocado oil (79% fat). Wow! The rolls were amazing! My family loved them and this is now my favorite GF/DF roll recipe!”
Karen S.
This is an awesome gluten-free flour blend for pizza crust, biscuits, and pie crust. It is also great for yeast recipes! Note, this blend does have dry milk powder, so it is not suitable for those who avoid dairy.
Ingredient notes:
- Gluten free flour blend – I tested this recipe using Cup4Cup. That doesn’t mean others will not work. I just have not tested other flours. I did find Cup4Cup rose better than Bob’s in this recipe.
- Please add one teaspoon if your gluten-free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum.
- Butter – I recommend using a high-fat European butter or butter made in Vermont.
- Heavy cream – You only need a little mix into the egg for the egg wash step at the end. Do not use half and half.
- Yeast – I used regular rise Fleishman’s in the red and yellow packets.
How to make gluten free crescent rolls:
Are you ready to give this gf crescent rolls recipe a try? Please read through all of the steps before starting.
Step 1: Add the yeast and one teaspoon of sugar to filtered warm water to a large
*I highly recommend using filtered water because chlorine and other chemicals in water can affect yeast growth.
Step 2: Add the melted butter, sugar, levain (optional), and egg to the yeast mixture. Mix well, then add the gluten free flour. Mix into a wet dough. You can also use a standing mixer for this if you prefer.
What is a Levain? Also known as a very plain sourdough starter, French pastry chef Dominique Ansel recommends this strongly in his croissant recipe that I was trying to convert to gluten free. You can use my gluten free starter recipe to create one if you choose. It takes about five days to grow a levain.
*Although using levain is entirely optional for crescent rolls, I feel it is worth using if you have one. Note to use a starter made from basic flour. Stronger starters with buckwheat and other flours will give an off-flavor.
Step 3: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the crescent roll dough to rise for 1-2 hours. I let mine rise overnight in the refrigerator.
Yeast rising tip:
Getting yeast to rise is tricky. I preheat my oven to 200º F, then turn the oven off. I place my dough bowl into the oven and let it rise for 1 hour.
Step 4: Add more flour (the amount really depends on what gluten free flour blend you use and how starchy it is.) You want your gluten free crescent roll dough to be workable.
Step 5: Place the dough on a gf flour-dusted piece of wax paper and cover it with another piece. Roll the dough to 1-inch thickness. Cover the dough with plastic wrap. Allow it to rise in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
While the dough is rising/resting, take out the butter and put it on the counter to warm so it is workable but not too soft.
Step 6: Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Dust with flour and roll it out to ½ inch thickness. Try to roll it into a more rectangular shape.
Step 7: Put your softened butter between two pieces of wax paper and roll it to ¼ inch thickness. Try to match the shape of the dough.
Step 8: Place the butter in the middle of the flattened dough.
After taking this photo, I realized I needed to roll the butter thinner, and I did roll it more.
Step 9: Fold your dough over the butter on all sides. Dust the flour with gluten free flour liberally so it doesn’t stick.
Step 10: Press the dough closed, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Fold the dough into a tri-fold. Pull one side halfway up to the middle, then pull the other side up to that end. It will make a small rectangle shape that looks like Step 10.
Repeat this folding/rolling step 2-3 more times. This will really help thin and disperse the butter into the dough.
Step 11: Roll the dough thin. Try to keep it in a rectangular shape.
Step 12: After repeating the rolling folding steps several times, lay your dough on a piece of flour-dusted wax paper. Use a pizza wheel or knife to cut the dough into triangles.
*My dough was a bit sticky. It is okay to dust lightly with flour if this happens.
Step 13: Start at the wide end and roll your dough towards the narrow end. Place the roll onto a parchment paper-lined
See expert tips below for some helpful tips. Use a
Step 14: Repeat until you roll all of the dough into crescents. Cover in plastic wrap, let sit, and allow to rise for 1 hour.
Step 15: Preheat the oven to 375º F. Mix an egg, cream, and salt in a cup and use a pastry brush to egg wash all gluten-free crescent rolls.
Step 16: Bake the crescent rolls for 15-20 minutes, depending on their size. Like my photo here, you will know they are ready when they are golden.
If you love this recipe, you will want to check out my easy Gluten Free Bread Recipes!
Dough turned out beautifully. I don’t recommend using wax paper though for rolling the dough- mine stuck terribly despite flouring it heavily. I went with my tried and true method after the first round of rolling- parchment paper sprayed with oil.”
Krista L., Pinterest User
Expert Tips
- Try not to roll your crescent roll dough too tightly. A tight roll will not allow air to bake into the layers, making your rolls denser.
- When placing the rolled crescent rolls on the
cookie sheet , ensure the triangle tip is not tucked under the crescent roll. This will allow the crescent roll to expand more while baking. - Remember not to rush your rises, especially in the cooler winter months. I really advise rising the dough in the bowl overnight.
- I recommend using high-fat butter for this recipe. European butter brands and butter from Vermont have a higher fat ratio than traditional butter brands.
Recipe FAQ:
Unfortunately, you can’t make these rolls dairy-free. The creamy high-fat butter is what makes these so buttery and soft, and I am not sure you can get this effect with vegan butter.
Because the butter gets cold, these crescent rolls will get dense when they are cooled. To warm them and make them fluffy again, I suggest putting them in the microwave for a few seconds before eating.
These rolls will keep up to 3 days in an air-tight container or up to 4 months in the freezer.
If you love crescent rolls, you will love this fun hybrid Gluten Free Cruffins recipe.
More delicious gluten free bread recipes:
- Gluten Free Sourdough Bread
- The best Gluten Free Bagels
- Easy Gluten Free Flatbread
- My favorite Gluten Free Zucchini Bread
Gluten Free Crescent Rolls
Ingredients
For the yeast starter
- 3 teaspoons dried yeast * see note
- 1 cup warm water no hotter than 110º F
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Making Rolls:
- 3 cups gluten free flour blend * see note
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- ⅓ cup levain *optional, see note
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 egg large
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons butter melted
Butter Layers
- 6 ounces European butter
Instructions
- Before starting this recipe, go read the whole post and look at all of the step by step photos. This recipe can be tricky so please do this first so you understand the steps.
- Add the yeast, sugar, and warm water and allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes until frothy. Note I highly recommend using filtered water to rise your yeast.
- Add the melted butter, sugar, levain (optional – you can read more about it and the benefits in the notes below), and egg to the yeast mixture. Mix well then add the gluten free flour. Pour in an additional ¼ cup of water. Mix into a wet dough.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1-2 hours. I let mine rise overnight in the refrigerator.
- Add more flour (the amount really depends on what gluten free flour blend you use and how starchy it is.) You want your gluten free crescent roll dough to be workable.
- Place the dough on gf flour dusted wax paper and cover it with another piece of wax paper. Roll to 1-inch thickness. Allow it to rise in the refrigerator for 1 hour. While the dough is rising/resting, take out the butter and put it on the counter so it can warm a bit.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Dust with flour and roll it out to ½ inch thickness. Try to roll it into a more rectangular shape.
- Put your softened butter between two pieces of wax paper and roll it to ¼ inch thickness. Try to match the shape of the dough.
- Place the butter onto the dough. Center it.
- Fold your dough over the butter on all sides. Dust the flour with gluten free flour liberally so it doesn't stick.
- Fold the dough into a tri-fold. Pull one side halfway up to the middle, then pull the other side up to that end. It will make a small rectangle shape that looks like Step 10. Roll to a thin large rectangle and fold again
- Repeat this folding/rolling step 2-3 more times. This will really help thin and disperse the butter into the dough.
- Roll the dough thin. Try to keep it in a rectangle shape.
- Use a pizza wheel or knife to cut the dough into triangles. My dough was a bit sticky. It is okay to dust with flour lightly if this happens.
- Start at the wide end and roll your dough towards the narrow end. Place the roll onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Use a cookie sheet with sides in case some butter melts out of the dough!
- Repeat until you roll all of the dough into crescents. Cover in plastic wrap and let sit and allow to rise for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375º F. Mix an egg, cream, and salt in a cup and use a pastry brush to egg wash all of the gluten free crescent rolls.
- Bake the crescent rolls for 15-20 minutes depending on their size. You will know they are ready when they are golden.
Notes
- I tested this recipe with Cup4Cup and Anthony’s Gluten Free Flour blends. That doesn’t mean others will not work; I just have not tested other flours. Note King Arthur Measure for Measure and Bob’s 1:1 state on their back that they do not work well with yeast.
- If your gluten free flour blend doesn’t contain xanthan gum or guar gum, please add 1 teaspoon.
- Double-check that the brand you use is gluten free. Red Star Platinum is NOT gluten free!
- These rolls will keep up to 3 days in an airtight container or up to 4 months in the freezer.
- Try not to roll your crescent roll dough too tightly. A tight roll will not allow air to bake into the layers, making your rolls denser.
- When placing the rolled crescent rolls down on the cookie sheet, make sure the triangle tip is not tucked under the crescent roll. This will allow the crescent roll to expand more while baking.
- Make sure not to rush your rises, especially in the cooler winter months. I really advise rising the dough in the bowl overnight.
- I recommend using high-fat butter for this recipe. European butter brands and butter from Vermont have a higher fat ratio than traditional butter brands.
SPECIAL NOTE
Please know that every gluten free flour blend has a different starch to grain ratio. If you use a blend I didn’t test, you may need to adjust your moisture levels in your baked goods.
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
I am allergic to eggs. I also have celiac disease. Can I leave out the egg or use a substitute?
Hi Joy, I am so sorry to hear you are allergic to eggs. I haven’t tested this recipe without or with an egg replacer, so I am not sure how the recipe would work. My biscuits recipe is egg free, so I would suggest making these instead.
Hey, Joy.
I know it’s been months since you asked this question but I wanted to make this suggestion anyway. I’ve also refrained from using eggs for some time and in thr meantime, I have used replacers like Bob’s Red Mill Egg replacer, aquafaba and even flax eggs. The latter gives the final bread a dotted look but it tends to work fine. You could also do what I have done before: make half or even a quarter of the recipe with certain egg replacers, see which one you like best (taste, appearance. density, etc.) and THEN make the whole recipe.
I hope this helps! 😁
This is great advice. I tend to use Bob’s Egg Replacer, but honestly, I haven’t tested it in many recipes because I have to get the protein into my daughter. I do keep a spreadsheet of reader recommendations in recipes, so you can always reach out and I can check the spreadsheet to see if a reader made something egg-free.
Can the crescent rolls be frozen? If so, would you freeze them before or after baking? Thanks 😊
Hi Christine, I would recommend freezing them after baking. They thaw nicely in the microwave.
Hello,
I have looked on the back of Bob’s 1:1 flour and I don’t see where it states doesn’t work well with yeast?
Hi Kim, This is from their website directly: Replace the Flour, not Your Recipe.™ Bob’s™ has created a special 1-to-1 blend of gluten free flours, starches, and xanthan gum, making it easy to transform traditional cookies, cakes, brownies, muffins and pancakes into gluten free treats. This flour is designed for quick breads and not recommended for use in yeast recipes. If you are looking to bake yeast breads or cinnamon rolls, our Gluten Free All Purpose Flour will do the trick!
I have family members that are both gluten and dairy free. I was searching for a crescent roll recipe for the holidays and was happy to find this one. I followed your recipe exactly, minus the levain, and I substituted the high fat butter (82%) with vegan Country Crock Plant Butter made with avocado oil (79% fat). Wow! The rolls were amazing! My family loved them and this is now my favorite GF/DF roll recipe!
Hi Karen, I am so glad you loved this recipe. Thank you for letting me know it worked well with the vegan butter, that info will help other readers.
I was wondering, what I could substitute for the sugar . Any ideas ?
Thanks
Hi Rena, The sugar is for growing the yeast so if you do not want to use sugar, I would recommend honey.
I’m looking to try these and wondering if they could be made a day in advance? Like if I made them for thanksgiving and finished them the day before. Thank you!
Hi Heather, I would recommend making the dough, shaping it, then refrigerating them overnight to bake the next day. You can bake them the day before and reheat them in the oven as well.
I made these Crescent Rolls. They are excellent even without the levain! My granddaughter thought I had purchased the rolls from a dedicated GF bakery! My biggest difficulty was that by following the pictures I cut the triangles too narrow at the wide end, so they were not shaped like nice crescents. The taste, though, was wonderful!
Thank you so much! I am so glad you loved the recipe. I will try to get a few more photos of the steps when I make them again for the holidays.
Thank you!! I used this recipe to make a boudain king cake. OH MY!!! You have made our Mardi Gras season!! I can’t wait to make a cinnamon roll and cream cheese king cake next.
Wow! I am so intrigued by your king cake. Can you please send a photo?
I would like to make this dough as a crust for veggie bars. Recipe calls for 2 packages Original Pillsbury Crescent rolls. 1) do you think this would work and 2) would I need to double the recipe in order to cover a 13 x 18 Half Sheet pan? Please advise. Thanks.
Hi Mary, that is a good question. I haven’t tested this recipe in that way so I am not sure how much it would cover of a 13×18 sheet pan. I am not sure that this recipe would work as a crust…often gluten free dough needs to be baked before the filling (as in a pie crust.) If you try it, let me know how it turns out.
Has anyone used a yeast substitute to make these?
It is a brand new recipe so I don’t think anyone would have tested it out yet. This recipe definitely needs to rise. Perhaps using a sourdough starter if you tolerate this type of yeast?
These were delicious! Buttery, flaky, and SO GOOD right out of the oven. Noms!
You made my day! Thanks for coming back to let us know.
I love these rolls with soup! A little bit of butter in the soft center and each bite is truly heavenly. Thank you for sharing!
You are very welcome 🙂