Product Review: Soft’n Hearty Gluten Free “Easy Roll Mix”

Here it is, the height of summer, and I am doing a review on a dinner roll mix. I suppose it does seem a little out of place considering that when I think of dinner rolls I think of cold evenings and holiday dinners. There is a method to my madness, though, so bear with me.

Soft’n Hearty Gluten Free “Easy Roll Mix” is made by Homestead Gluten Free, LLC. They were nice enough to provide me with a sample to review. I’m glad they did, now I’m hooked!

This mix is very worthy of the name “easy”. It is also pretty versatile. The website gives suggestions for using the mix for rolls, hot dog buns, hamburger buns and many other types. There is even a recipe page that gives directions for cinnamon rolls.

The dough mixes quickly with very few ingredients and is very sticky. Novice baker that I am, I have never mastered the “shape the dough with a wet spoon” part of the directions. I went the easy way and used the recipe from the site to make “Hi Top Rolls”. To do this, I borrowed a “Slice Solutions” Bake-Lift-Serve Brownie Pan from my mother in law. (On a side note, these pans are so cool! I definitely need to get one of my own soon.)

I put the dough in the pan - using a wet spoon to spread it evenly (it really does work!) I let it rise and then baked it. Honestly, the process was so simple that I wasn’t expecting much from the end result.

The rolls that came out of the oven smelled like fresh baked wheat bread. You could smell the yeasty-soft-yumminess! The smell alone brought everyone in the house running for a taste. I waited as long as I could (about a minute) then tried one.

The rolls tasted as good as they smelled. They were very soft with a perfect crumb and a hint of sweetness. The outside was crispy and golden-brown. The thing that impressed me the most was that they had elasticity - something I have yet to see from any other gluten free bread.

The website also states that the rolls can be frozen then thawed to eat later. I found this to be true, but also noticed that some of the amazing texture was lost through the process.

I can tell you without hesitation that I will be using this mix again. The flavor and texture that it produces is even worth shaping the sticky dough. I look forward to trying the other suggested recipes on the site.