Gluten Free Hamburger Buns or Kaiser Rolls

The Kaiser roll, also called a Vienna roll, is available in different textures. Some are hard, while others are not. This version is hard, but you can easily soften them by following the suggestion listed. Use these extremely hearty rolls for sandwiches and burgers and load on the fixings.

These rolls are hearty and definitely closer to kaiser rolls than a hamburger buns.

My intention was to create a gluten free hamburger buns recipe that was useful as a sandwich roll, as well. I started out by creating a new bread recipe and cooked them in 6 individual ramekins. They worked out perfectly because my ramekins are extremely shallow, only 1″ high and about the same size as Hawaiian sweet rolls, 5-inch round. The buns shrunk up to 4 1/2″ once baked, which was even better. All this talk about sweet rolls has me creating a new recipe as I type. However, this gluten free hamburger buns recipe was delicious! Enjoy!

UPDATE – June 25, 2022: baking powder has been added to this recipe to make it lighter and softer. You’ll love them!

UPDATE – June 27, 2013: See Kay’s comment below on her dairy-free and egg-free version.

UPDATE 2015 – I no longer use this recipe for hamburger buns, only for Kaiser rolls. Now, I use my Gluten Free Slider Buns Recipe. They’re much softer and closest to hamburger buns than I’ve ever had in a gluten free version.

Prep: 25 minutes
Inactive: 30 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes

Gluten Free Hamburger Buns

Yield: Makes six 5-inch rolls

Gluten Free Hamburger Buns

Use as a hamburger bun or a sandwich roll. Make them any size you desire. This gluten free recipe is definitely worth the effort!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup water, warmed to 110°F
  • 1 Tablespoons agave syrup
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
  • 1 large egg white, at room temperature
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup oil of your choice (olive, grape seed, etc.)
  • 3/4 cup sorghum flour
  • 1 cup +1 1/2 Tablespoons potato starch
  • 1/2 cup tapioca starch/flour
  • 1/3 cup white rice flour
  • 1 Tablespoon non-fat dry milk powder (or Gluten Free Rice Milk Powder, for dairy-free
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum*
  • 1/2 teaspoon guar gum
  • 1/3 teaspoon sea salt
  • Sesame seeds and 1 beaten egg white (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Oil or spray oil (I use olive oil spray) the bottom of six 5" ramekins (or whatever size width you are using) and set aside.
  2. Preheat oven to 170°F.
  3. Add agave and yeast to warm water, stir and set aside until foamy, at least 5 minutes, or longer, when needed.
  4. In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients together.
  5. In the bowl of your mixer beat egg white until soft peaks form.
  6. Add the one egg, oil, vinegar, and yeast mixture to the egg white and blend well on low speed, (No. 2 of Cuisinart mixer, if you have one).
  7. All at once, add the dry ingredients to wet and mix on high speed (No. 10) for 3 minutes.
  8. Add 1/3 heaping cup to each ramekin dish and even out the tops out with your fingers or a rubber spatula dipped in filtered water several times, until smooth. My ramekins are 1" high and 5" round and were filled about 3/4 up to the top; large, I know. If using sesame seeds, brush top of dough with beaten egg white, sprinkle sesame seeds on top and press the seeds into the top of dough.
  9. Place all 6 ramekins on a cookie sheet; turn oven off; and place them all in the oven to until they rise about 1/2" or more above the rim, 30 minutes.
  10. Remove the buns from the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F.
  11. Place buns back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
  12. As soon as the come out of the oven place them in a ziplock bag to allow them to steam, to soften the outside crust or leave out for a bit for the steam to naturally soften it as it cools. You can baste the whole thing with butter as soon as it comes out of the oven, however, this would make it greasy to the touch. Believe me I tried it. It never fully soaks in. You could try basting it with butter while still in the baking cycle, when it's almost done, but I'd rather skip those extra calories.
  13. Slice with a serrated knife and serve.

Tips

*To make your own molds/rings, fold sheets of aluminum foil 4-5 times, creating strips. Form each strip into a ring. Tape the outside of the ring with masking tape. The homemade version is a bit more difficult as they move around a lot when you're trying to fill them.

*You can also use English Muffin Tins or a mini cake pan, or even mini springform pans for molds. It will make more, though.

For corn-free diets, use corn-free xanthan gum (found online) or substitute the xanthan gum for additional guar gum.

Coating these with butter will create a greasiness to the outside of the roll, therefore, steaming is your best option. I bet these turn out much lighter when using rice flour instead of sorghum.

12 Replies to “Gluten Free Hamburger Buns or Kaiser Rolls”

  1. GF Hamburger Buns – your recipe is AMAZING! I made two small changes to suit our needs; I left out the nonfat milk powder and used one Tapioca Gel Egg from your recipe, and the other egg I used Ener-g egg replacer, whipped it to a soft peak. The other thing is, I didn’t have any way to make them round, so I put the dough into a rectangle pan. SIMPLY INCREDIBLE! Delicious, light. fluffy, bouncy, delicious! We just cut it into squares for sandwich bread. How awesome are you, anyway! We have a stack of recipes to try now and my GF family is happy to be eating like ‘normal’ people again! For those who need it, here’s the egg replacer link. Thanks, for that, too! http://glutenfreerecipebox.com/gluten-free-egg-substitute/

  2. Sounds like a great recipe. Do you suppose that an egg-free substitute would work in place of the eggs? Or are the eggs/egg whites the ingredients that make these buns so light?

    Sandy

  3. These are delicious, and the texture came out PERFECTLY!! Thank you for sharing :) The only thing different I did: I used a jumbo muffin tin and used a moistened ice cream scoop to make 8 buns. And I didn’t have guar gum, so I used more xanthan gum.

  4. These buns are delicious! They are so easy to make and come out of the oven looking like a picture! I did make some substitutions. I used tapioca flour for the potato starch and arrowroot for the tapioca flour. I’ve never had a GF bread come out with this texture! I used a cookie sheet with parchment paper and placed the buns by using an ice cream scoop. They were smaller than yours, but as I figured it, 145 calories per bun! This will be my bread of choice from now on…Thanks, Carla! =)

  5. This looks great! I love that you give a substitution for corn-free as I have recently found out I’m class II allergic to corn. Do you think that there is a substitution for the rice flour that won’t change it dramatically? I’m also mildly allergic to rice as well. I can handle it in small doses though if there isn’t a good sub for it. I could just simply wait a few days between eating it and I should be fine.

  6. These buns are absolutely brilliant. I’m relatively new to gluten-free baking (although not new to baking) and have had my share of disappointments. I’m happy to say these buns had a crusty, light exterior, a moist, chewy interior, and were light as air. Thank you for saving hamburgers!

  7. Do you have a recipe for buns that is yeast free or do you know of a substitute, my son is also allergic to yeast!

    thanks

    1. Hi Vickie, I have only tried creating a yeast-free gluten-free hamburger bun once. Unfortunately, it was not successful. I haven’t given up yet, though. You should subscribe to my newsletter to make sure you receive the recipe once perfected. You may sign up at the top left corner of most pages. Sorry!

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