So apparently I'm into what you could call a rolling frenzy. First, these vegan Ho Hos, and now these pizza rolls, I'm basically spending my days rolling things. Hopefully, this trend will ease soon.
This recipe is inspired by Recreating Happiness's gluten-free cinnamon rolls, I adapted it to make it vegan and savory instead of sweet. So I'm basically swapping the cinnamon sugar filling for tomato sauce, mushrooms, and caramelized onions. I know it sounds weird but please bear with me because this recipe is delicious!
It's like eating a pillowy pizza in form of rolls! Plus each pizza roll is glazed with a savory and cheesy tahini "frosting".
The dough consists of a mix of gluten-free flours plus some almond flour to make them soft and moist.
For the yeast, you can use dry or fresh. I tried both and my preference went for the fresh one, it seems a bit more powerful than the dry one and makes the rolls slightly fluffier. I also like the yeasty flavor it gives them, reminding me of bakery-style, rustic yeast bread.
For the filling, I went with something simple, caramelized onions and sautéed mushrooms. But that doesn't mean you can't use your favorite pizza toppings, I'm thinking coconut bacon, crumbled blue cheese, vegan parmesan, oregano, basil, etc, would make great additions. Just don't add too much or you will have trouble rolling and cutting the rolls since the dough is very soft and can break easily.
Once it's rolled, you cut it into 6 even rolls and place them cut side up in a baking dish filled with your favorite tomato sauce. I went with marinara sauce. This step requires handling the rolls carefully as they will be very soft. I recommend you place your baking dish as close to the rolls as possible so you can transfer each one quickly.
After a quick 45 minute rise, you can bake them.
Buns will spread a bit as they bake but not as much as regular buns. Nevertheless, the bread is still super soft, moist, fluffy, and absorbs the flavors of the marinara sauce. Obviously, these rolls have a higher ratio of bread to filling, but I'm not complaining! One never has too much bread, except maybe my mom!
These pizza rolls are not meant to be eaten with your hands as they come with a marinara sauce on the bottom of the dish. Serve these the same way you would serve lasagna or enchiladas.
This pizza roll bake makes the perfect family dinner, it's comforting and makes a great alternative to traditional pizza, or enchiladas. Serve with a green salad and drizzle with hot oil or garlic butter sauce!
Let me know in the comments if you try this recipe!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Pizza Rolls (GF)
Ingredients
Filling
- 2 teaspoon oil
- 1 small onion diced
- 4-5 mushrooms sliced
Pizza Rolls
- 1 tablespoon active yeast or 1 packet dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- â…” cup almond milk lukewarm
- 1 flax egg 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tablespoon water
- ½ cup potato starch
- 11 tablespoon brown rice flour
- 2 tablespoon almond flour
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- â…“ cup olive oil
- 1 and ½ cup marinara sauce or your favorite pizza sauce
Cheesy "Frosting"
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tablespoon tahini
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
Filling
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and cook for 7-10 minutes, or until soft and caramelized. Next, add the sliced mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Pizza Rolls
- In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in ⅓ cup lukewarm almond milk. Stir in the maple syrup and let it sit 15 minutes. Prepare the flax egg: mix 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds with 3 tablespoon water and let it sit 10 minutes, or until it has a viscous consistency.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the potato starch, brown rice flour, almond flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Pour in the yeast mixture, flax egg, the rest of the milk (â…“ cup), and the olive oil. Using a wooden spoon, mix well for 2-3 minutes, or until the dough is smooth. It will be very soft and sticky at this point.
- Cover a large cutting board with plastic film. Lightly dust with tapioca starch. Place the dough in the center of the cutting board and cover with plastic film (I used two sheets of plastic film since it was not large enough). Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large rectangle of about 14x10 inches.
- Remove the plastic film on top. Spread about ½ cup to ¾ cup of marinara sauce on top of the dough, you don't want to add too much, just a thin layer. Top with the cooked mushrooms and onions.
- Carefully roll the dough into a cylinder, starting from the short bottom side. Use the plastic wrap to help you roll the dough tightly. You don't want to roll it too tightly though, otherwise, the filling will escape on the sides.
- Pour the rest (about 1 cup) of the marinara sauce into a 9x7-inch baking dish. Using a very sharp knife, cut the roll into 6 pieces. I usually cut the sides and discard. Very carefully transfer the rolls cut side down to the baking dish. The rolls will be very, very soft, so make sure your baking dish is next to your rolls, this way you won't have to handle them for too long.
- Cover the baking dish with plastic film and let the rolls rise for 45 minutes. Rolls will rise a bit, but don't expect them to double in size!
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Remove the plastic film from the baking dish and bake for about 25 minutes. Let it cool 3-5 minutes and drizzle with the cheesy tahini sauce. Serve hot with a green salad!
Cheesy "Frosting"
- Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth.
Notes
- Recipe adapted from Recreating Happiness's Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls.
I am curious as to why you use yeast and baking powder and baking soda? I don't think I've ever seen that conbination used in a baked product before.
Thank you so much for all your creative and wonderful recipes that you share with us.
Since this recipe is gluten-free it can't rise like gluten bread and requires additional rising agents. So first, yeast makes them rise a bit at room temperature (during the 45 minute rise), creating small holes in the dough. Then baking powder + baking soda activate while it's baking, making them fluffier. Yeast also adds flavor to the rolls.
Could white rice flour be substituted for the brown rice flour?
I'm not sure this will work, it's the combination of different flours that gives the buns a soft texture. I'm afraid the rolls would be more fragile and have a harder texture if using only white rice flour.
These were yummy - at least to 4 out of 5. I did pay for eating yeast later though.
Thanks for the feedback Sylvia!
Sorry to hear you have trouble digesting yeast!
Is it possible to sub the variety of gluten flours for a premixed all purpose gluten free flour ( ie king arthur's) that has potato starch, rice four, tapioca starch? Thanks!
Hi Sarah,
I think that should work, but you might have to adjust the amount of liquid.