It’s that time of year when BBQs and picnics are sprouting up every weekend and hardly a day goes by without firing up the grill. It’s time to make easy gluten free buns (hamburger or hot dog buns, that is!).
Whether you like traditional burgers or dogs, veggie burgers or just enjoy a good bun for a sandwich, there’s nothing like a real, soft and yummy bun. Most of us have suffered through one too many frozen gluten free buns that frustratingly crumbles into a dry heap, leaving an unappetizing mess where a hand-held burger ought to be.
Don’t settle for that kind of sad sandwich state of affairs ever again! Empower yourself with one of my easy gluten free hamburger bun recipes and grab one of the many easy kitchen hacks for making bun rings.
Bake your way to your happy place with these tips and recipes.
How to Shape the Gluten Free Buns
To make gluten free buns, you have several options*:
✤ Hamburger bun or Hot Dog bun pans (this is the silicone hot dog pan pictured above) made for this very purpose!
✤ English Muffin rings make great, thick buns of uniform size.
✤ Mason Jar rings make slider buns (regular size bands) or larger ones (wide mouth bands), depending on the ring size you choose.
✤ Shape rings or hot dog forms out of aluminum foil for one-time use.
✤ Bake with yogurt in place of liquids like gluten free beer, soda water, gingerale, milk or water in your recipe, and the dough should be thick enough to shape by hand and bake directly on parchment-lined baking sheets. This method even makes giant sized rolls!
Recipes for Gluten Free Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns
Use one of my easy recipes below:
How to Use Rings to Make Buns
If using individual rings, like English Muffin rings, Mason jar rings or hand-shaped foil rings, oil the rings and place them on a parchment lined baking sheet, as below.
Fill the rings 2/3-3/4 full, as below, and lightly brush the tops with oil then sprinkle with any toppings like sesame seeds or sea salt.
After rising 20-30 minutes, brush with oil again or an egg wash made from one whole egg plus 1 tablespoon water, as below.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean and the tops of the buns are lightly browned, as below.
No matter which method you choose, embrace the bun! Homemade gluten free buns can be so good, everyone at the picnic will want one, so don’t settle for anything less!
Now that you know how easy it is to make hamburger or hot dog buns this soft, light and pretty, doesn’t it make you want to fire up the grill?
*Some links in this post may be referral links. If you do decide to purchase a product at a retailer after following my link, I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you, which I use to pay for web hosting and services for this blog. Read my disclosure policy here.
Loading...
Can I freeze hamburger buns made using your bread mix? How do you recommend for best results?
Absolutely! I have homemade buns in my freezer at all times! I recommend slicing them and putting parchment between the buns and putting them in a freezer zip-top bag with as much air squeezed out as possible. Thaw at room temp or wrap in a paper towel and microwave gently or wrap in foil in a low temp oven.
~jules
In your write up on Cheerios, you mentioned that they do not carry a correct gluten free label. The latest box carries a label “Proud sponsor of Celiac Disease Foundation”. Does this mean that they are safe to eat? Thank you. Will be making scones for breakfast tomorrow!
Hi Margaret, happy to answer any questions on Cheerios or other label clarifications! It’s part of the trickiness of the labeling issue that consumers see that kind of thing on a label and misperceive that to mean that CDF is endorsing the safety of what’s in the box. Not so. General Mills is donating money to CDF and putting that information on the box which allows them to use the CDF logo … but CDF is not inspecting, auditing, certifying or in anyway vouching for the gluten-free status or safety of what’s in the box. And in fact, when there have been Cheerios recalls for gluten, CDF has have had to apologize to the community for the fact that it certainly looks like they are somehow endorsing Cheerios by allowing them to use their logo in this way. You can see the accredited organizations which do inspect and certify products for their gluten free status in this article linked here; CDF is not one of them. I hope that clears it up!
Enjoy those scones!!!
~jules
Hi. Would empty tuna cans work? I can’t remove the bottoms because the edges are rounded.
Hi RoseAnn, yes, I think that would be a fairly ingenious solution!
Let me know how it goes!!!
~jules
These are amazing and so easy.. THANK YOU so much, simply the very best ever! The taste is perfect.
So happy to hear it, Karen!!! That’s fantastic! Bring on the burgers!
~jules
Just wondering if my elevation of residence is making the difference as why my rolls, buns and bread doesn’t rise properly? I use your products Jules, and instructions to a T, but just can’t get the proper rise out of it? Help!!
Hi Sussi – I’m sorry you’re having difficulty with the breads rising. This article might help you with some high altitude GF baking tips. Also, this article on baking GF breads. I would first look to your leavening agents: yeast, baking soda, baking powder. Are they fresh? Next time you try a yeast bread recipe, proof the yeast first following the directions in my Top 18 Bread Baking Tips. What kind of pans are you using? Do you let them rise long enough? Is there too much liquid? These are all considerations, particularly at altitude. After reviewing those articles, if you still have problems, please don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected] and I can walk through your method with you as well, so we can figure out what might be going wrong. Hope all this helps! I want you to have yummy, fluffy breads!
~jules
Hello, I made these and they did not rise very well. I used Mills flour. I didn’t put xanthan in the recipe wasn’t sure if I had too as it was not in the flour. I also used club soda for the liquid.
Hi Maureen, I’m not familiar with something called mills flour. I don’t know what is in it and whether there is xanthan gum or not. I use my gfJules all-purpose flour for this recipe because it makes the buns rise well, and keeps them nice and light and fluffy. If you were not happy with the results with another flour I would suggest that you give my flourr a try In this recipe next time. You can try a sample for only $5, if you like. Here’s the link to the sample page: https://gfjules.com/product/sample/.
Oh, my! Jule’s flour is the best and I had tried almost all of them before I found Jule’s flour! I use it for gravies, cookies, cakes…. It is absolutely interchangeable with any recipe, gluten free or not. You will love her flour. I used the sample pack and after one bite of the muffins, my daughter and I swore off of any other gritty flour. Jule’s flour is the only one that is not gritty and I tried a ton of them. Try it, you’ll love it!!
Oh Beth, that’s so fantastic to hear! I’m so happy we’re able to offer samples because it really does make a difference for people to get to “try before they buy,” so to speak. There are so many bad GF flours out there that it’s easy to think you’re stuck with the mainstream brands but we’re not! SO happy you and y our daughter are happy!!!
~jules
Do these buns freeze well? A single person can’t eat a dozen.
They do indeed freeze well! I have a bag of them in my freezer as we speak, and I took one out on Sunday for a BBQ! I put wax paper in between sliced buns and put them in a freezer bag — they turn out great!
~jules
Very smart idea to use mason jar lids to make the buns!
The fun part is that you can use any side lid so you can make anything from sliders to very large buns. Thanks for popping over, Sylvie! Hope you get to try the recipe soon!
~jules
Love all your ideas for making gluten free baking easy, so many options!
Mason jar rings are a great idea! I usually just use homemade foil rings 😉
I made these buns with Mason jar rings and they are great!
That’s wonderful, Samantha! So glad you tried it!
~jules
I love all the options you give here, Jules. Thanks for sharing this at Savoring Saturdays. I’m going to feature it at this weekend’s party – hope to see you there! 🙂
Thanks so much, Raia! Love you Saturday roundups!
~jules
Love your recipes, your inspiring emails and products. Keep ’em coming. So happy to see you and your business thriving.
Thank you so much, Lynn!!!
~jules
Your creativity is inspiring, Jules! What a GREAT way to not spend money you don’t need to spend and use something most of us have lying around anyway! Plus, it’s another great way to engage other family members–for the sheer novelty of it! And any time you can get a youngster to look up from their small screen and get their help making a meal, the more meaningful the meal! Thanks for sharing this Jules! I’ve going to share this on Pinterest and Facebook as well!
Thanks, Jeff! I totally agree – anything to get the family into the kitchen, creating together!!!
~jules
I really love the idea of using mason jar rings. Thanks for sharing!
You bet, Amanda! Enjoy!!!
~jules