Soft, Doughy Gluten-Free Pizza Rolls (Extra Easy)

Enjoy homemade gluten-free pizza rolls with this easy, fool proof recipe ready in about one hour! A soft and doughy gluten free roll wraps around a cheesy, pepperoni center perfect for pizza night or a snack. Learn how to use simple ingredients to make the dough easy to work with, yet still fluffy and tender after it is baked!

Gluten-Free Pizza Rolls with Pepperoni

If you loved pepperoni bread, pizza bites, or even Totino’s pizza rolls, then get ready to enjoy another recipe you thought had to disappear with a gluten-free diet!

Gluten-free pizza rolls may be a homemade recipe, but they are easy enough for even a novice baker to pull off! We enjoy these similar to how we indulge in pizza slices, served alongside a dinner salad, as an after-school snack for kids, or even a quick grab-and-go lunch.

The dough comes together in minutes and doesn’t even require a rolling pin to shape. Simply pat out in a large rectangle, spread on sauce, sprinkle with cheese, pepperoni, and roll. Slice for traditional pizza rolls or even shape into pepperoni bread.

To achieve an extra soft, yet rollable dough, the recipe relies on two essential gluten-free dough ingredients. Incorporating a little potato starch with the dry ingredients structures the dough without drying it out.

In addition, adding a touch of psyllium husk powder helps absorb moisture, something GF starches have a hard time doing. I use this magical ingredient in many well-tested gluten-free bread recipes because it also keeps dough pliable.

Read on to learn how to make gluten-free pizza rolls, including expert tips for rolling and slicing the dough, alternative variations, and the best way to freeze and reheat leftovers.

Ingredient Notes

• Gluten-free flour – Using a good gluten free flour makes or breaks the quality of GF baked goods. Cup4Cup gluten-free flour is what I tested the recipe with and use for all my baking. For more info and alternatives see, the Recommended Gluten-Free Flour section.
• Potato Starch (not flour) – Secret ingredient to make gluten-free breads soft and fluffy, just like these highly-reviewed gluten-free dinner rolls. Instead of relying on additional flour to structure the dough, I substituted another gluten-free starch. Use for best results, but tapioca starch may be substituted.
• Psyllium Husk Powder – Helps maintain moisture and enhances a soft texture. I recommend using psyllium in gluten-free breads to absorb moisture, making the dough pliable enough to be shaped without adding additional flour.
• Baking powder – I like to couple baking powder with yeast to assist the rise and make a light, airy texture, which is harder to achieve in gluten-free breads.
• Instant (Rapid Rise) Yeast – I would suggest buying this is bulk and storing in your refrigerator. It doesn’t require mixing with warm liquids to proof and can be mixed right into dry ingredients. To substitute active dry yeast add it to the warm water and let it sit for 5 minutes before adding to the dry ingredients.
• Oil – Helps coat the GF starches to eliminate a gritty, dry texture.

how to make Gluten-Free Pizza Rolls

(Below shows step-by-step photos and modified instructions. For the complete recipe, along with ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card.)

1. I recommend using a stand mixer for this recipe because it uses a lot of flour and the dough gets pretty stiff. In a large stand mixer bowl, using a paddle attachment, combine the GF flour, potato starch, sugar, psyllium, yeast, baking powder and salt on low speed.
2. Add the warm water, egg, and oil. Combine on low speed until blended. Increase to medium low speed and beat for 5 minutes, stopping to scrape down the bowl once or twice.
3. Use a spatula to scrape the dough onto a 18X13-inch baking sheet lined with greased parchment. Spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray (or rub with a little olive oil) and evenly pat down the dough to fill the entire sheet pan. Try to the get the dough as evenly dispersed as possible.
4. Spread with the marinara sauce, leaving about ½-inch gap around the edges. Distribute the cheese over the marinara and then sprinkle with the Italian seasoning. Cover the mozzarella cheese with pepperoni slices.
5. Start with farthest long edge and roll towards you. Stop when you have about 3-4 inches of dough left closest to you. Take the parchment closest to you and lift it up to meet the roll. Roll the whole log, with the parchment, away so the seam is now against the baking sheet. Peel away the parchment.
6. Use a long sharp knife to cut into 12 even slices, using a gently sawing motion. Once a slice has been cut through, move it to a greased 9X13-inch pan, positioning the rolls in 3 X 4 rows.
7. Set the pan in a draft-free place to rise for 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 375℉.
8. Remove the plastic wrap and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the bread reaches 190℉. I use an instant read thermometer to check, which is perfect for GF breads because they can be tricky to know when they are done. Cool about 5 minutes before serving with additional pizza sauce for dipping.

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step-by-step web story instructions for this recipe!

Tips for Rolling

When making homemade pizza rolls there’s a balance of adding enough flour to make the dough easy to shape, but not so much that is dries out the crumb. I generally use less flour so the end product is very soft and tender, but rely on other techniques to assist with shaping.

For pizza roll dough greased parchment paper does the trick. To start off, lift the farthest long edge parchment and start to roll towards you. Once the entire length of dough is rolled toward you, peel off the parchment and continue to roll the dough.

Stop when you have about 3-4 inches of dough left closest to you. Take the parchment closest to you and lift it up to meet the roll. Roll the whole log, with the parchment, away so the seam is now against the baking sheet. Peel away the parchment and slice.

REcommended Gluten-Free Flour

I had already rigorously tested the best-performing gluten-free flour blend when developing this perfected gluten-free bread recipe. Therefore, when making gluten-free pepperoni rolls I reached for my preferred brand, Cup4Cup.

As far as taste, Cup4Cup is the clear winner. There is nothing “gluten free” tasting about it and landed on top in blind taste tests. As far as texture, the added cornstarch and milk powder makes for a soft, squishy crumb.

However, I know this blend can be pricier and hard to come by. Generally I find King Arthur Measure-for-Measure to be a good runner up if you don’t have Cup4Cup available.

I’ll be honest, I tested this recipe so much I ran out of time to test it with King Arthur as well. I do find that KA doesn’t absorb moisture quite as well as C4C, so you made have to add a couple tablespoons more.

Leave me a note in the comments if you try this recipe with another flour!

Gluten-free Pepperoni Bread

This recipe was actually inspired by a reader longing for old school gluten-free pepperoni bread recipe! Fortunately this gluten-free dough can also be used to replicate a classic recipe!

1. Prepare the dough and roll the log as described in the pizza rolls recipe.
2. Slice in half and position the two logs on the baking sheet about 6-inches apart. Coer and rise as directed.
3. Before baking, gently brush the dough with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water). Bake as directed, being sure to check the internal temperature of the bread. It should be 190ºF.
4. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

More variations

Instead of making pepperoni rolls, use the gluten-free pizza rolls recipe to make other variations. Just like pizza toppings, the possibilities are endless!

Spread on the tomato sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella or any preferred cheese. Replace the pepperoni or add any of these toppings in addition to. Since the bake time is short, you may want to precook any veggies

• Bell peppers
• Olives
• Mushrooms
• Ham or Canadian bacon
• Bacon
• Sausage

Storage, Freezing, and Reheating

Since gluten-free baked goods have a tendency to dry out and lose moisture quickly, homemade pizza rolls with pepperoni are best enjoyed the day they are made. I recommend freezing and rewarming as directed below.

Freezing: Cool completely before storing. Wrap the cooled rolls individually in plastic wrap and transfer to a ziplock freezer bag. Freeze up to 2 months.

Rewarming: Thaw at room temperature for 1 hour if reheating in the microwave. Wrap in a slightly damp paper towel and warm for 30-60 seconds at 50% power.

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